Restaurants prepare for incoming single-use plastics ban

Phase one of Canada’s single-use plastics ban is about to begin and on the prohibition list is a number of items many restaurants and retailers use everyday.

If you want a soup to-go at Whatta Sandwich Deli & Catering, it will be served in a wax-coated cardboard container. Owner Nebil Chamat says it’s only one of many compostable packages he uses.

“So far I have switched 80 per cent of our take-out containers to paper products. We’re trying our best,” says Chamat. “We still have some plastics but they are all recyclable.”

Chamat says he only has a small supply of plastic packaging left and all new stock coming in will be made of compostable materials. He’s prepared.

On Dec. 20, Canada will ban the manufacturing and import-for-sale of several categories of plastics affecting a range of products such as checkout bags, cutlery, food-service containers, including Styrofoam, ring carriers for beverages, stir-sticks and straws.

A ban on the sale of these products will start in December 2023. Until then, businesses can continue to use plastic packaging.

However, many plastic products will continue to populate store shelves, like plastic bags to package fruits and vegetables and other loose bulk items, as well as meat, poultry and fish.

Bags intended to hold organic waste for composting are also excluded, and garbage bags are as well.

Ahead of the formal start of the federal plastics ban on Wednesday, a motion will be brought forward by Ottawa Coun. Theresa Kavanagh, seconded by Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, which calls on the city of Ottawa staff to cease buying single-use plastics like straws and stir-sticks immediately, and develop ways to reduce as much plastic waste as possible.

“We have to start somewhere and this is really just the start of the immense problem that we have with the overflow of plastic,” says Kavanagh. “So if the city does it themselves, we’re setting a good example. Obviously we have to go much further than that and just little things like refusing to take utensils and things that are single use is helpful… Every little bit helps and I think that we all have to be conscious that those efforts add up.”

Restaurants Canada has voiced its reservation on the ban. Vice president of national affairs, Olivier Bourbeau, explained that the federal government should consider extending its timeline and needs to ensure that non-plastic containers and other take-out essentials are available and affordable. Bourbeau says that supply-chain problems have affected many small and mid-sized restaurants from ordering non-plastic products.

Chamat notes that during the pandemic, he had little choice but to order plastic products for his two locations as paper was in short supply.

“So far, we are switching back to paper. We are trying our best,” he says. “Plastic is a little cheaper for now, but all the prices are going up.”

Canada’s new plastic rules include exceptions for single-use plastic straws in order to accommodate people with disabilities.