B.C., federal and municipal plastic regulations
Last updated on April 19, 2024All levels of government are taking action on plastics. B.C.'s Single-Use and Plastic Waste Prevention Regulation aligns with, and builds upon federal and municipal regulations. Find out more about regulations in your area.
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B.C.’s regulation aligns and builds on the federal regulation. It establishes a consistent, province-wide approach.
The federal regulation sets minimum requirements for single-use plastics nationally.
Municipalities can set their own bylaws in order to establish community specific requirements.
Businesses must follow all relevant local, provincial and federal laws.
Provincial regulation
Many people living in British Columbia are concerned about plastic waste.
In 2019, the Province shared the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan (1.4MB). This outlined our commitment to:
- Phasing out single-use plastics
- Transitioning to a circular economy
In April 2022, the Province released the Preventing Single-Use and Plastic Waste in British Columbia Intentions Paper (PDF, 1.3KB), outlining the proposed provincial regulation.
In response to feedback, we then introduced B.C.’s Single-Use and Plastic Waste Prevention Regulation.
Learn more about how regulations are being phased in together by continuing reading or downloading overview federal and provincial of single-use plastic regulations 2023 to 2030 (PDF, 373KB)
Federal regulations
In June 2022, the Government of Canada published the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations. These ban the manufacture, import, sale and export of several single-use items, including:
- Plastic checkout bags
- Cutlery and stir sticks
- Straws
- Ring carriers
- Food service ware made from problematic plastics
You can review the federal overview of Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations for implementation timelines.
B.C.’s regulation aligns with the federal rules to further reduce plastic waste and support the use of reusable options.
Municipal bylaws
In July 2021, the B.C. government gave municipalities the authority to regulate four single-use items:
- Checkout bags
- Straws
- Utensils
- Polystyrene foam containers
This allowed municipalities to take early action to address plastic waste at a local level. The option for municipal bylaws will remain. This gives local governments the ability to implement and enforce local single-use bylaws.
Today, the provincial regulation establishes minimum province-wide requirements for single-use items. Municipalities can set their own bylaws to address single-use and plastic waste in there communities. This may include stricter requirements than in the Provincial regulation.
Find out which municipalities have approved bylaws municipal bylaws for single-use plastics.