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Plastic Grocery Bags

Res #: 11-07A
Number: 11
Year: 2007
Midterm: No
Expired: Yes
Responses Received: No
Departments: Saskatchewan Environment

Resolution No. 11 – 07M
Plastic Grocery Bags

WHEREAS plastic grocery bags do not decompose and are being blown out of waste disposal sites and can be found hanging from trees and fences throughout our province;

BE IT RESOLVED that retail outlets be prohibited from providing plastic bags and instead be required to use either paper or cloth bags.

Response from the Honourable Nancy Heppner, Minister of Environment

Although there is currently no provincial program for recycling plastic, the Ministry of Environment does promote the principles of stewardship and extended producer responsibility.  These concepts ensure that the producers, who manufacture and sell the product, and the consumers, who use and derive benefit and utility from the product, accept the responsibility for and bear the costs of recycling, or disposal, of the product at the end of its useful life.

The Ministry of Environment is currently working on the development of a Solid Waste Management Strategy to deal with a host of issues including the recycling of plastics.  As part of the strategy, the ministry is currently in discussions with key stakeholders and partners regarding the feasibility of a multi-material recucling program.

The multi-material recycling program would address paper plastic (including plastic bags), glass and tin with the intention of diverting these materials from the waste stream and into recycling opportunities.

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