City of Prince Albert bans plastic bags in waste reduction effort

The City of Prince Albert has put a ban on plastic shopping bags, making it the first city in Saskatchewan to do so.

The bylaw was put in placeMonday during acity council meeting and it went into effect as soon as it was approved.

The bylaw will not be enforced untilAugust 1, giving businesses in the city time to accommodate the move away from plastic.

Elise Hildebrandt, the CEO of the Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce, said she has heard concerns from businesses about the timeline of the ban.

"Six months is not a very long time for some of our small mom and pop shops to change over from plastic to paper or a more reusable product than just the plastic," Hildebrandt said.

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Some businesses won't be able to get rid of their plastic bags fast enough, Hildebrandt said.

Businesseshave raised concerns about possibly having to throw out hundreds of plastic bags on August 1, she added.

The city said the point of the ban is to encourage people to bring reusable bags to reduce waste as Saskatchewan was found to be the second highest waste producer in the country.

The city said it is estimated that 3 million plastic bags were distributed last year in Prince Albert alone.

There areexceptions to the ban,such asitems purchased in bulk.