A survey conducted by the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce and the Fundy Regional Service Commission shows that 75 percent of businesses in the area would support the banning of plastic bags.
“We are seeing more and more of the larger retail stores adopt plastic checkout bag bans, as regulations come into effect across the country. However, it is much more difficult for a small independent store to implement these changes,” said Chamber CEO David Duplisea in a release. “A bylaw would create a level playing field for all small retailers in our area, and the survey indicates they would support it.”
The survey respondents were mostly small business owners, 50 percent of which had five or fewer employees. Many of the businesses were small retail, grocery-type stores that currently use plastic bags.
Of the respondents, 63 percent would strongly support a plastic bag ban, 13 percent would somewhat support, 8 percent would somewhat oppose, and 10 would strongly oppose. 83 percent said a potential ban would have little to no impact on their operations, while 10 percent indicated a ban would have a significant impact on their operation beyond six months of being implemented.
The Fundy Regional Service Commission has asked the Fundy region municipalities to adopt a plastic bag reduction bylaw for June 30 of next year.
“The proposed bylaw to reduce plastic checkout bags in the Fundy Region, would remove one of the most difficult items from the waste stream and environment, as PEI has demonstrated, plastic bags disappeared almost overnight with its adoption,” said Marc MacLeod, Executive Director of Fundy Regional Service Commission.
Related: Federal Government Wants To Eliminate Single-Use Plastics By The End Of 2021
This story was written by Liam Floyd, a reporter for Huddle. Huddle is an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
