Single-use Items: Businesses and Events

What Do I Need to Know About the Bylaw?

The bylaw addresses these items:

Minimum fees for shopping bags are 25 cents for a paper bag and $2 for a new reusable bag. Businesses keep these fees and will continue to charge GST where required. This fee encourages customers to bring their own bags and helps businesses recover the cost of the bags.

Single-use plastic shopping bags (including compostable or biodegradable plastic shopping bags) can no longer be distributed. Businesses must charge a minimum fee for paper shopping bags and new reusable shopping bags (including those provided by restaurants for take-out orders).

Exceptions:

Bags for all types of bulk items
Produce, baked goods and other unpackaged foods
Medications from a pharmacist
Wrapping that is in direct contact with food, such as burger wrappers and fry boxes
Bags used to protect items from becoming dirty or exposure, such as dry cleaning, plants, newspapers

Foam (“Styrofoam”) Plates, Cups and Containers

These items can no longer be used.

Cups

Restaurants are expected to serve dine-in drink orders in reusable cups and have a written policy for accepting reusable customer cups. Reusable cups are made from durable materials like metal, ceramic or hard plastic, and can withstand repeated washing, sanitizing and use.

Drive-thrus are encouraged, but not required, to accept reusable cups. Reusable cups can be politely refused if it is deemed unsafe or unsanitary to accommodate.

Some restaurants hold food handling permits that require single-use cups. These permits must be posted in a visible location.

Foodware Accessories

Accessories such as utensils, straws, condiment packets and napkins will only be available by request or self-serve. When buying food at a drive-thru, restaurants will ask if you need napkins, condiments, straws or utensils.

Single-use plastic foodware accessories are prohibited by Canada’s Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulation. Learn more about the federal regulations.

Your Business and the Bylaw

Reusable items can be used safely by following proper health and safety protocols. Learn about best practices for using customers’ reusable bags, cups and containers in the Best Practice Guide.

For more information, please review Alberta Health Services’ Practices that Support the Safe Use of Reusable Food Containers.

General Tips for Businesses

Review the Bylaw Guide. The bylaw guide simplifies and explains which requirements apply to your business type. It is available in English and Chinese.
Find sustainable alternatives to banned items. Review the Guide to Sustainable Cups, Containers and Cutlery. Once you’ve determined what type of cups and containers work best for your business, review the list of Food Serviceware Suppliers to find a vendor that sells them.
Ask customers if they need a bag. If customers do not want a bag, there should be a procedure in place to provide the order or retail item without using a bag. If the customer wants a bag, the minimum fee must be charged for each bag.
Ask customers if they need straws, napkins, utensils or condiments. These items should only be provided upon request.
Get to know the bylaw requirements for events if you plan to host an event with over 1,500 attendees.

Restaurant Resources

Tools and best practices to help dine-in and fast food restaurants, drive-thrus and cafes safely comply with the bylaw.

Individual Restaurant Policies

Restaurants are required to set their own policy for accepting customers' reusable cups. They are not required to accept reusable cups through drive-thrus, but are encouraged to do so.

If you feel it would not be safe or sanitary to fill a customer’s own reusable cup, you can politely refuse it.

Best Practices Guide
Scripts for Customer Interactions
Using Reusables for Takeout poster
Safely using Drink Dispensers poster
Safely using Customers’ Reusable Cups poster
Drive–thru poster (customer facing)
Employee-facing Drive-thru poster

More Ways to Encourage Single-use Waste Reduction at Your Business

If you have already followed the general tips and are looking for additional ways to support your customers, here are some additional resources that can help!

For Retailers

Set Up a “Take a Bag, Leave a Bag” Station (Retailers)

A “take a bag/leave a bag” station is a place for customers to take and leave clean reusable bags.

Sharing reusable shopping bags helps:

Customers skip the bag fee
Keep bags out of the landfill
Reduce emissions from making, shipping and disposing of new shopping bags
Prevent bags from piling up in customers’ homes

How To Set Up Your “Take a Bag/Leave a Bag” Station

Choose an item to store bags. It could have compartments, bars or hooks that bags can be attached to. Check Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace for items like:
- Coat trees or racks
- Hanging organizations systems with shelves or pockets
- Magazine racks
- Large boxes or bins
Choose a location, like the front of the store or near the point of sale
Add a sign. You can print this sign or make your own.

For Cafes

Set Up a “Mug Library”

Provide an alternative to single-use cups by setting up a mug library.

How to set up a “Mug Library”

Collect a range of reusable mugs and cups and ask customers to donate.
Set up an easily accessible location for customers to pick a mug to use and return or donate their used mugs (a basket, a box or shelf).
Print our borrow and return signs and display them so that customers are encouraged to use the mug library if they forget their cup and drop off their used cups.
Wash returned and donated mugs and place them back into the library so they can be used again and again.

Bring Your Own Cup Poster

If you offer a discount for customers that bring their own cups.

Choose to Reuse Poster

If you do not offer a discount but still want to encourage customers to reduce waste.

Events

Events expecting more than 1,500 attendees are required to comply with these parts of the bylaw:

Single-use plastic shopping bags cannot be distributed
Foodware accessories like straws, condiment packets, napkins and single-use cutlery can only be provided by request or at self-serve stations
Polystyrene foam (“Styrofoam”) plates, cups, bowls and containers cannot be used
The organization must have a written policy for accepting customers’ reusable cups

If the event is organized by a charity or community organization, different rules may apply. Check out the Charities Toolkit for more information.

Events are not required to charge the minimum fee for paper or new reusable bags, or serve dine-in drinks in reusable cups. Event vendors (such as food vendors) must also comply with the bylaw.