On the eve of a federal ban on single-use plastics, Calgary Co-op is asking Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to reconsider its previous rejection of their 100 per cent compostable shopping bags and provide them with an exemption to the ban. Calgary Co-op’s bags contain no plastic whatsoever and can be broken down completely in composting facilities within a 28-day cycle. Moreover, the bags are extremely popular with Calgary Co-op’s more than 400,000 members, many of whom reuse them as bin liners for organic waste – which constitutes a second use and as such, should not be included in a single-use ban.
Ken Keelor
In this video interview, Ken Keelor, CEO of Calgary Co-op, discusses the issue.
The federal ban prevents retailers like Calgary Co-op from selling their compostable bags at the checkout but does not prohibit them from being sold a few feet away on shelves. The federal government can reconcile this discrepancy by allowing compostable bags to be sold at checkouts.
Calgary Co-op said it is ready and willing to work with ECCC on developing composition and labelling standards for compostable bags to ensure that they do not end up in the country’s landfills or recycling streams, as has successfully been done in other global jurisdictions like California, Italy, and France. It is confident that by working together to develop common-sense regulations, it will end the scourge of single-use plastics while encouraging innovation that will lead to better environmental outcomes for Canadians.
Mario Toneguzzi
(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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