Council shelves plastic bag ban
Posted Jun 20, 2012 06:10:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A fledgling campaign to ban plastic bags in HRM has been abandoned for now in favour of a study of how many bags are actually ending up in local landfills.
Coun. Dawn Sloane (Halifax-Downtown) brought the issue to Tuesday’s council meeting, as expected, but did not move to have city staff investigate the ramifications of such a ban.
Instead, she asked for a study of the diversion rate to be included in an ongoing review of the city’s waste management strategy.
“I would like the study of the amount of films and plastic, which are not recycled, to be looked into or a part of the solid waste strategy review happening in September,” Sloane told colleagues.
Although the motion did not include the controversial ban proposal, it was contentious nonetheless and met with some opposition.
“It’s a do-nothing motion…because at the end of the day our staff would have come up with looking at this,” said Coun. Bill Karsten (Portland – East Woodlawn).
“It shouldn’t even be here. It should be ruled out of order in my opinion because it was already asked for and was already being looked at,” said Coun. Russell Walker (Fairview – Clayton Park).
There was also concern that the motion would set a precedent to allow councillors to add or change the direction of existing projects.
But Deputy CAO Mike Lebrecque said the request offered council greater clarity about what staff should focus on with regards to plastic bags in the larger context of the review.
“The way that motion is currently crafted is not inconsistent with the work we’re planning to do,” he said. Lebrecque.
Coun. Steve Streatch (Eastern Shore – Musquodoboit Valley) was one of the councillors who eventually voted in favour of Sloane’s revised motion.
“As long as we’re not talking about taking choice away or banning anything,” said Streatch. “I do applaud the councillor for at least raising awareness on this issue.”
Sloane said she has not ruled out seeking a ban on plastic bags, but that she will wait for the results of the staff report before moving on the issue.
