Edmontonians will soon have to say goodbye to some single-use items

If you want cutlery and napkins with your to-go order, you'll soon have to ask for them.

The Edmonton Single-use Item Reduction Bylaw, aimed at keeping single-use items out of the landfill, will come into effect on July 1.

The bylaw was passed in October 2022. It brings in requirements similar to incoming Federal single-use plastics regulations, which will phase out the manufacturing, importing and sale of six categories of single-use plastics in Canada.

The bylaw will require that food service establishments provide reusable cups for customers dining in and allow people to bring their own clean reusable cups for take-out drinks.

Utensils, straws, napkins and condiments will only be given by request and plastic bags will be banned, with mandatory charges for paper or reusable options.

One local business is finding the changes hard to swallow.

Lida Shirzad, owner of Shah's Kitchen, used the last of her plastic bags Thursday. She said the price difference of the paper ones she bought Friday will reduce already thin profit margins.

"It's very, very costly. And for us, at this time when the groceries are up high, and we can't even bring our prices high because it's harder for our customer base [and] they wouldn't like that," she said. "So here as restaurant owners, we get roasted."

Where Shirzad could previously buy five hundred plastic bags for $30 or $40, she said a case of 250 paper bags costs her around $70.

Even with the bylaw's required 15-cent charge per bag, she's losing money.

"That's not even going to cover half," Shirzah said. "I'm paying out of my pocket [an] extra 30-something dollars for those paper bags that's going to go to the trash.

"So I am paying to contribute into the trash."

The city reports that around 450 million single-use items are thrown in the garbage each year in Edmonton, with more being recycled or ending up as litter.

Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz said he understands the extra costs will be hard for businesses already under pressure from inflation.

However, Edmontonians are already paying for single-use items through higher waste management costs, he added.

"I think we all agree with the principal, 'If you make the waste, you gotta clean up the mess,'" Janz said. "And that's part of what this is."

Janz said the bylaw is an important step that will save Edmonton money and help the city hit waste-reduction and climate goals.

"There’s a cost to the landfill, there’s a cost to the garbage, there’s a cost to all the pickups and all of that waste and everything else," he said. "It's really important to just keep all of that broader picture in context."

Shirzad has been informing her customers about the incoming changes. While many people have been understanding so far, she still worries about what will happen July 1.

"If we use paper bags, we have to charge our customers and that's another harder part too, to convince the customers that this is by law," Shirad said.

"I feel every restaurant owner's pain, I feel them," she said. "And I feel our customer's frustrations."

The incoming bylaw will not apply to charities and some kinds of businesses. More information on organizations that are exempt can be found here.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson