Not content with banning plastic bags, Montreal is hoping it can ban the use of plastic water bottles too.
Coke, Pepsi and Nestle won’t be going down without a fight.
Montreal is fast becoming a pioneer for environmentally ethical solutions to the use of plastic products and the harm they inflict on our planet. Last month it was announced that Montreal will ban the use of single-use bags by 2018 after Mayor Denis Coderre declared them a environmental concern.
“We spoke about plastic bags and now we’re onto plastic bottles,” Coderre said. “The reality of plastic in our environment is a problem.”
However, The Canadian Beverage Association, which represents more than 60 brands of juices, bottled waters, sports drinks, carbonated soft drinks, and other non-alcoholic beverages, was surprised by the news.
The Association, which includes Coke and the aforementioned drinks retailers, signed on Quebec’s registry of lobbyists to oppose the move. In a document submitted on March 8, they said they wanted the City of Montreal to reject this proposal since all the bottles across the province are 100 per cent recyclable.
Mayor Coderre is yet to announce any firm dates about if and when the ban comes into action.
While we’re all for bettering the environment and reducing our impact on the planet, water bottles, unlike plastic bags, are recyclable and something we get more than one use out of. Plus, it seems pretty difficult to imagine a world where we can’t fill up an empty water bottle and throw it in our bag on our way to work or the gym.
If the ban is implemented, we anticipate a black market for the ones that weren’t handed in during a citywide amnesty, or a hipster pop-up bar that uses retro water bottles instead of mason jars.
Watch this space.
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