Walmart Canada will start charging customers five cents for plastic bags as of February 9th, reports Canadian Press (CP). There is increasing awareness in Canada about the problems caused by plastic pollution. Bags made of the material break down slowly, end up in landfills and oceans, and are sometimes swallowed by fish and other marine creatures.
Montreal considers outright ban
Some stores have already taken similar action, reports CBC. In the province of Quebec the Loblaw, Provigo and Maxi chains began charging five cents per bag and selling reusable ones in April 2009. The use of plastic bags dropped by more than half in that province between 2007 and 2010.
The city of Montreal is considering banning the bags by Earth Day 2018. If it goes ahead, it would likely be the first city in Canada to do so.
Hopes to reduce bags by half
Walmart Canada told CP charging a small fee for plastic bags has helped it reduce the number of plastic bags by more than half in other countries. It adds that some of the proceeds will go towards recycling initiatives, and it plans to work with suppliers to reduce plastic in product packaging.
Walmart has almost 400 stores in Canada.
With files from CBC and CP.
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