MONTREAL -- Beaconsfield, on the West Island of Montreal, has adopted a bylaw banning single-use plastic shopping bags in the city's retail stores.
The bylaw, which will take effect April 1, will prohibit "oxo-degradable, oxo-fragmentable, biodegradable and traditional plastic bags less than 50 microns thick."
The city cited the fact that manufacturing the bags requires petroleum and large amounts of water, which generate greenhouse gases, as well as their impact on wildlife and vegetation and their contribution to visual pollution among their reasons in banning the bags.
"We are proud to follow this initiative already adopted by other municipalities," Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle said in a statement Tuesday. "Cities play a central role in climate protection. By adopting this bylaw, we demonstrate our commitment to fight climate change. Reusable bags are the most ubiquitous items known by all, but all too often forgotten.
"This way, we play a positive role and we hope to motivate our residents to adopt a more sustainable behaviour towards the use of these types of bags."
The city says it will launch a campaign in the coming months to raise awareness of the new bylaw among residents and merchants.
Beaconsfield is the latest of several Quebec cities, including Montreal, that have banned the use of most single-use plastic grocery bags.
