The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Derek Bennett, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities:

Mr. Speaker, I rise to mark today, October 1, as the first official day of the provincial ban on retail plastic bags in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In April 2019, the Provincial Government amended the Environmental Protection Act and began drafting regulations to ban the distribution of retail plastic bags. Today, I am proud to say that those regulations are now in effect, and we are the second province in the country to implement such a ban.

Mr. Speaker, over the last year, residents, businesses, governments and organizations have been actively decreasing the amount of plastic waste created by single use plastic bags and working to put alternatives in place. It has been encouraging to see many communities, businesses and residents being proactive ahead of the official ban coming into effect today.

This provincial ban builds on the province’s ongoing work with the Council on the Zero Plastic Waste Strategy as part of the Ocean Plastics Charter.

Our Government continues to implement and build on its five-year Climate Change Action Plan. The Action Plan supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; helps stimulate clean innovation and growth; and build resilience to climate change impacts.

I was happy to be invited to participate in the recent Fridays for Future rally and walk with young people, who are speaking out about how climate change will affect their lives.

Mr. Speaker, protecting the environment for future generations is imperative as we all do our part to reduce plastic waste. Banning the distribution and use of retail plastic bags protects the environment and improves the waste management system in our province.

Thank you.