Ottawa school board bans single-use plastics

Paper straws are seen at a market in Montreal on Thursday, June 13, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson 

Single-use plastics are being expelled from Ottawa's French public school board.

The Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario says the purchase, sale and distribution of plastic straws, water bottles and other single-use plastics will be banned from all schools and the head office starting with the 2023-24 school year.

The board says the initiative is part of its efforts to reduce waste sent to landfill by adopting the 3-R approach – reduce, reuse and recycle.

"The CEPEO hopes that this decision will reduce its contribution to the problem of plastic pollution," the board said in a statement.

"Thus, beyond the improvement of the residual materials management system currently underway in schools and at head office, the CEPEO wants to reduce single-use plastics at the source so as to avoid the very production of waste."

The CEPEO worked with its food service providers to ban the sale and distribution of plastic bottles from all its buildings.

In December, Council voted to require city facilities to stop buying single-use plastics, such as straws and stir sticks, immediately.

Affected items include plastic checkout bags, plastic cutlery, straws, takeout containers and stir sticks.