City Zeros in on Single-Use Items to Reduce Waste

The City of Victoria is moving forward with the development of a new bylaw to reduce single-use items and make reuse common practice.   

Council voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare a bylaw that will require businesses to only distribute food ware accessories, such as utensils, stir sticks and straws, when requested, and use only reusable dishware when consuming food or beverages on-site.  

New data from a Capital Regional District waste composition study indicates that 220,000 single-use items are thrown away every day in Victoria such as disposable containers, drink cups and cutlery.  

Packaging materials, including single-use items, contributes 13 per cent of the material sent to Hartland landfill and are the main sources of plastic pollution. The new bylaw will complement federal and provincial bans on problematic single-use plastics rolling out in 2023.  

The City has been working closely with businesses since 2019 to develop an approach to reduce the impacts of single-use item waste.   

Reducing single-use items is a priority under Zero Waste Victoria, the City’s plan to reduce waste by 50 per cent by 2040.   

For more information, visit victoria.ca/reducesingleuse