Starting February 1, the City of Regina will fine retail stores, restaurants, and individuals for using plastic bags — with 12 exceptions..A fined individual could make a voluntary payment of $75 for a first offence and $150 for a second offence, while a corporation could pay $375 for a first offence and $750 for a second one..The bylaw lays out different penalties if the matter goes to court..“We are joining municipalities across the country in our move to ban plastic checkout bags and become a more sustainable city,” Coun. Bob Hawkins said in a press release. .“Regina residents made it clear that this is the right move. Over 10,000 residents took part in public engagement on this initiative, and 77% indicated that the reduction of single-use plastic items is an important issue to them.”.The administration said Canadians use 200-300 plastic checkout bags annually, and given Regina’s population of over 200,000, the result is millions of bags in the landfill. The city wants to divert 65% of household waste away from landfills, and single-use plastics account for 1% of that total..The city issued a seven-page “Plastic Checkout Bag Ban Business Toolkit” to raise awareness of the bylaw for businesses and customers..“The ban only applies to bags provided to customers at checkout. Businesses may only provide plastic bags for the following purposes:.carrying fruits or vegetablescarrying freshly prepared bakery items or other food items that are not pre-packagedtransporting wrapped flowers or potted plantscontaining bulk food items or bulk hardware itemstransporting live fishcovering clothes immediately following professional laundering or dry cleaningcovering newspapers or other printed materials intended to be left at the customer’s residence or place of businesscarrying prescription drugs received from a pharmacycarrying fresh or frozen meat, poultry, fish or frozen foods whether prepackaged or notprotecting linens, bedding or other similar large items that cannot easily fit in a reusable containerprotecting tires that cannot easily fit in a reusable bagusing at the customer’s residence or place of business, provided such plastic bags are prepackaged and sold in packages of multiple bags..City council voted for the ban in May of 2020, but delayed its implementation due to the pandemic. At that time the Retail Council of Canada discouraged retailers from handling reusable bags due to their potential to spread disease..Now, the city is encouraging a “Bring Your Own Bag” policy, forbids retailers to issue plastic bags (even if they are biodegradable) and are forbidden to restrict or deny customers from using any reusable container or reusable bag..Nevertheless, every city website includes a COVID-19 update banner that says, “The City of Regina’s top priority remains the health and safety of our community and employees.” And the September 14 press release that first warned of the February 1 change said, “The ban will not be in effect should public health officials deem reusable bags a transmission concern in a health emergency.”
