Province targets plastic bags

The provincial government wants Ontarians to cut in half the number of plastic shopping bags they use over the next five years.

Today, Environment Minister Laurel Broten will announce a partnership with the Recycling Council of Ontario and grocer and retail associations to come up with a system of consumer incentives to meet the target, the Toronto Star has learned.

"Each of us can help clean up our environment by doing little things like reducing the number of plastic bags we use," a provincial source said.

The program will be voluntary but if the carrot approach doesn't work, the province has the ability to drag out the stick in the form of mandatory per bag charges or outright bans.

The recycling council will work with all retail businesses – from large grocery chains to small corner stores – to provide incentives such as store points that can be redeemed for products, air miles or cash to customers who use reusable cloth or canvas bags.


Source: Toronto Star

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http://www.thestar.com/News/article/211921