A big thank you to John Hughes, Director of Special Projects with the PEI Department of Communities, Land & Environment, for presenting to the membership in regards to the incoming Plastic Bag Reduction Act and what it will mean for businesses.
This law, the Plastic Bag Reduction Act, applies to all businesses that provide checkout bags (not just grocery) as of July 1, 2019. The following key points apply to businesses of Prince Edward Island:
-as a business, you can no longer provide plastic checkout bags to customers;
-no biodegradable or compostable checkout bags as an option;
-paper bags (minimum charge of $0.15 per bag) or reusable checkout bags (minimum charge of $1.00 per bag) are an option;
-no FREE paper or free reusable checkout bags. There is an exception to provide small recyclable paper bags (size: 15cm x 30cm = 600sq cm) at no charge;
-limited exemptions include bags used to protect prepared foods, loose items, food safety, medications, dry cleaning or some bulk items (refer to sub-section 5 of the Act for list of exemptions);
-your business will retain the fee (subject to HST) collected for both the paper and reusable checkout bags. The fee must be displayed on the customer receipt;
-A business may use up existing bag supplies purchased prior to the coming into force of the Act.