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Plastic bags and straws may become a part of the city’s past.

At Monday afternoon’s (April 4) committee of the whole meeting, city council approved a number of recommendations for an updated solid waste master plan for Guelph. Among those proposals, which are still subject to ratification by council at its April 25 meeting, the city is looking to begin phasing out single-use plastics, and encouraging residents and businesses alike to make more sustainable choices.

“This disposable society we have is the current generation and we have to be the solution to the problem because we are living in an unsustainable, giant landfill and our planet cannot continue to be sustained as a landfill,” Coun. Leanne Caron said ahead of the vote.

Under the plan, the start of 2023 would see a number of non-recyclable materials banned in the city, including plastic shopping bags, polystyrene take-out containers and plastic straws.

City staff had originally proposed these changes begin in March 2023, but that date was bumped up following a unanimously approved amendment from Mayor Cam Guthrie.

“We’ve been talking about this since 2018. I think we’re ready to move,” he said.

It was in July 2018 that city council first voted in favour of having city staff investigate the potential ban of single-use plastic bags in the city

The plan from city staff goes beyond just plastic bags, with a second phase of the updated plan set to come into effect in March 2024. At that time, businesses will be required to charge a $0.25 fee for disposable cups.

Coun. Mark MacKinnon had proposed raising that fee to $1, saying it would incentivize businesses to move to more eco-friendly options, pointing to ones used by fast food chain A&W as an example.

“I feel that a 25-cent charge is small enough that people will not notice it,” Coun. Rodrigo Goller later said. “One dollar is significant enough that it will make it worthwhile to bring your reusable mug.”

The Ward 6 councillor’s motion failed, only gathering support from Goller and councillors Bob Bell, Cathy Downer and James Gordon.

The staff plan also lays out changes to how some businesses in the city would have their waste collected, with the current three-stream pickup to continue if the business is on an existing collection route, has a residential component to the property and waste fits into the city’s carts.

Bell spoke out against the proposal, saying the approximately 200 businesses impacted by the change, including his own, would not take the time to properly sort their waste, thus putting items that would typically go into the green, or blue bin, into the garbage pile.

“What will happen in that small business when that truck (drives by) is that it will go to a solid waste collection company and rent-a-bin and all the waste will go into a single bin. That's what we will do -- we will stop separating because otherwise we would have to buy three bins,” he said.

During questions from council, Jennifer Rose, the city’s general manager for environmental services, said this would put Guelph in line with other cities.

“Most municipalities do not provide waste services to business unless they’re historically in the downtown core or business improvement areas,” she said.

Bell, along with councillors Christine Billings and Mike Salisbury, voted against the policy change.

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