When the federal government revealed its plan to ban shopping bags and other single-use plastic, the executives of the Co-op weren't all that worried. The grocery chain, which runs dozens of supermarkets, liquor stores, cannabis shops and gas bars, had already swapped plastic shopping bags for compostable ones.
Ken said that they didn't think there was any impact to their bags. This isn't plastic and it was about plastic.
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There isn't enough evidence that plant-based "compostable" plastic alternatives will break down in nature. The government says that the bags will be treated the same as their plastic counterparts. They will not be allowed as of the end of next year.
We were going to walk away. "That can't be." We looked at each other and said we did the right thing. We can't be part of it.
His fears were confirmed by a call to the federal environment and climate change department.
The final decision has been made and we were told.
The grocery industry is going to push for change.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers supports the fight between the co-op and the federal government.
Gary Sands, the senior vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, said there will be hundreds and hundreds of businesses in the same situation as the Calgary Co-op. More businesses should support what we are saying.
The public consultations on the rules were held from October to December 2020. Further consultations were held late in the year.
He said that they did this during the trial. Plastic bags were not on the minds of the grocery clerks. It was still going strong.
The government said it wouldn't budge.
There are no plans for the government of Canada to reopen the consultations on the existing regulations.
She said that compostable plastic can end up in recycling facilities and that they are often screened out of composting facilities because they take longer to degrade than food.
She said that they have not proven to perform better than conventional plastic.
The co-op said its bags are an example of a company and a waste system working together. More than 100 million plastic bags have not been used since the company switched to compostable ones.
Rob Morphew, the company's director of health, safety and environment, said he worked with the city to make sure the bags didn't end up in recycling facilities. He said that the Co-op made sure the bags fit in the compost bins the city gives out for residents to use.
He said that they would know about it if they were in the recycling facility.
The Co-op bags were successfully broken down after being tested at the city's composting facility.
Plastic shopping bags will be banned by the end of the year by the federal government. Manufacturers have to stop making them for export by the end of the year.
According to Jerry Gao, the founder of Leaf Environmental Products Inc., the ban will cause his company to lose half of its sales.
He stated that it was in the millions.
The ban on compostable bags will chill innovation in Canada because they are often made with corn, a crop grown in abundance here.
He said it was bad news.
A professor who studies these materials said that allowing them to be composted could be a bad idea.
The Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing at the University of Toronto is led by a mechanical engineering professor.
He said that it might biodegrade, but over a longer term. There is a bug that you need to eat. That bug may not be in the trash.
The government is banning the use of compostable plastic. There is a standard test created by the American Society for Testing and Materials that can be used to determine if a material is completely compostable.
He said there was a very clear path.
The email address is jedmiston@postmedia.
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