Vancouver targets take-out trash with bring-your-own plan

Encouraging the use of reusable containers part of 2040 zero waste plan

VANCOUVER— The City of Vancouver is preparing to launch a bring-your-own-container pilot project to help curb a major source of garbage: take-out.

Disposable cups and take-out containers make up roughly half the garbage that’s tossed in Vancouver’s public waste bins, said Monica Kosmak, a senior project manager of zero-waste projects with the City of Vancouver.

It’s a “significant problem” that costs tax payers about $2.5 million a year to clean up, she said. That’s alongside the pressure all that garbage puts on local landfills and the resources and pollution associated with manufacturing one-time-use containers.

The pilot project, which is being developed in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health, is part of the city’s effort to become a zero-waste community by 2040. It is expected to launch by the end of summer or early fall.

The project will allow customers to use their own reusable containers for take-out food at a select number of restaurants participating in the pilot.

Danielle Hoogenboom, a Vancouver yoga teacher who has been trying to reduce her use of plastics for the last few years, said she’s excited about the project. However, she added, it’s “a decade overdue for a city that wants to be the greenest city.”

While a spokesperson for Vancouver Coastal Health said that, at this point, businesses are typically not allowed to fill their customers’ reusable take-out containers, Hoogenboom said there are restaurants in the city that fill her reusable containers anyway.

In fact, if a business won’t take her container, she won’t eat there.

The concern, from Vancouver Coastal Health’s perspective, is that a customer’s container could be contaminated if it has been improperly cleaned or stored and could lead to cross contamination when it comes into contact with service utensils or equipment.

Reusable cups, in contrast, typically wouldn’t come into contact with any utensils or equipment used to serve other customers, said Tiffany Akins, the health authority’s spokesperson, in a statement.

“Gastro intestinal illness, salmonella, norovirus, Hepatitis A are some of the food-borne illnesses that can spread and make people sick,” Akins said.

To minimize these risks, Van- couver Coast Health environmental health officers will work with restaurant staff so they can learn how to assess the safety of a customer’s container as part of the pilot.

Hoogenboom is happy to see the pilot taking shape, but it’s going to take more than a new policy for a widespread shift to take place. It’s going to require businesses and customers to change their practices, she said.

“If you eat and drink on the daily like all humans have to, you have to look at how you’re doing that and how that’s making an impact,” she said. She also carries reusable cutlery with her to avoid using plastics forks, knives and spoons.