441-02279 (Environment)

Whereas:

• In December 2023, the Government of Canada will outlaw single-use plastics across the country, including Calgary Co-op's 100% compostable shopping bags;

• This is despite the fact that the Calgary Co-op states that their bags contain no plastic whatsoever and are engineered to break down at local composting facilities within a 28day timeframe;

• Calgary Co-op says their bags are extremely popular with their members and are often reused as bin liners for household organic waste, constituting a second use;

• Calgary Co-op has successfully kept over 100 million plastic bags out of landfills with the use of their compostable shopping bags;

• The City of Calgary supports the use of the Calgary Co-op compostable bags, stating that they do fully break down in their composting facilities;

• Furthermore, the federal ban as it stands now allows for Calgary Co-op to sell its compostable bags on store shelves but prevents them from selling these same bags a few feet away at the checkout, which makes little sense and does very little to limit their use; and

• This unnecessary ban could send signals that stifle the adoption and development of environmentally responsible products.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to recognize that compostable bags do not constitute single-use plastic and are therefore worthy of an exemption to the upcoming ban.