Items

New updates have been proposed to assist the city reduce waste through “mandatory activities by a retail business establishment operator” as a part of the “new Single-Use and Takeaway Items Bylaw (SUTI Bylaw).” These activities include: “confirm a customer needs a single-use accessory food item prior to distribution; confirm a customer needs a paper shopping bags prior to distribution; charge customers a minimum amount for a reusable shopping bag, with the minimum amount to increase one year following the proposed SUTI Bylaw comes into force; accept the use of reusable shopping bags by a customer; confirm a customer needs a single-use beverage cup prior to distribution; and accept the use of a reusable beverage cup by a customer.” In addition, this report discusses “the Circular Food Innovators Fund (CFIF),” which is a proposed program “to incentivize businesses to reduce single-use and takeaway items” and “implement reuse systems” that reduce the amount of single-use items used.

“Plastic pollution is recognized by the Government of Canada, as well as governments and scientists around the world, as damaging to the environment. Residents of the City of Toronto are seeing the impact, now more than ever, of the amount of waste and recycling we create every week when we put out our bins having stayed at home during the pandemic…Municipalities bear a significant burden of managing plastics - as collectors of plastics in the recycling and garbage streams, and as the collector of plastics that end up in the environment in our greenspaces and Waterways. This requires substantial investment in waste management and clean-up costs both from the City and its residents.”

“The purpose of this [item] is to have the City of Toronto take a leadership role in eliminating single-use plastic waste in all City of Toronto facilities.”