CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI (NEWS 1130) – PEI could be the first province in Canada to ban retailers from giving out plastic bags after a private members bill passed third reading Friday morning.
The Plastic Bag Reduction Act, introduced by Liberal MLA Allen Roach, would eventually prohibit retailers from providing customers with plastic bags, encouraging them instead to distribute paper or reuseable cloth bags.
The change would come in phases: starting July 1, retailers would begin charging customers 15 cents per plastic bag.
The fee would increase to 25 cents in July 2019, before becoming an outright ban in January 2020, where businesses could face fines for giving away plastic bags after the ban is put in place.
Jackie Bourgeois of the Southeast Environmental Association supports the bill, saying single-use plastics wreak havoc on Canada’s waterways and marine life.
She hopes other provinces will follow the Island’s lead in discouraging the use of plastic bags.
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