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Calgary’s Single-Use Items Charter Bylaw (1H2023), which will take effect on January 16,  2024, aims to reduce waste by focusing on single-use items that can easily be avoided or  replaced with reusable options. Council approved the bylaw in 2023. The goal is to reduce  single-use items made from all types of materials, not just plastics.  

Single-use items such as shopping bags, straws, utensils, napkins, and condiment packets  are designed to be used only once before being thrown away. They are convenience items  that are part of our daily routines but they also end up creating a staggering amount of  garbage.  

We’re encouraging Calgarians to refuse and reuse to help reduce the number of single-use  items in our environment and going to our landfills. Citizens can choose to refuse things like  shopping bags or foodware accessories, asking for them when they are needed and bring  their own reusable options instead. Businesses can provide such items but only if requested  and they must charge a fee for new paper or reusable shopping bags.  

Federal government actions on single-use plastics  

Calgary’s plan to reduce single-use items aligns with the Government of Canada’s Single use Plastics Prohibition Regulations that ban the manufacture and import of six categories  of single-use plastics including: checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware that contains  expanded or extruded polystyrene foam, polyvinyl chloride, carbon black or an oxo degradable plastic, ring carriers, stir sticks; and straws (with exemptions). The federal  government will prohibit the sale and provision of these items in Canada as of December  20, 2023.  

Our strategy to reduce single-use items waste also includes voluntary programs. We are  encouraging businesses to adopt a reusable takeout container program and use reusable  cups, visit calgary.ca/singleuse

Sean Chu

Sean Chu arrived in Calgary from Taiwan in 1985 speaking not a word of English, and within 7 years he was a sworn officer with the Calgary Police Service. From that point on Sean worked with the Calgary Police Service as on Officer for 21 years in a number of roles until 2013.

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