New rules to reduce the distribution of single-use items such as cups, utensils and condiments — already in effect in many restaurants around Victoria — were officially approved on Thursday.
As of December, restaurants in the city will only be able to hand out single-use items when customers ask for them.
Victoria council, which unanimously adopted the new waste-reducing bylaw, also put the restaurant industry on notice that as of March 2026, it will have to provide re-usable plates, cups and cutlery for customers dining on-site.
The draft bylaw was given the green light by the province’s Environment and Climate Change Strategy Ministry this summer.
“This is a significant step forward in our commitment to fostering a circular economy,” said Mayor Marianne Alto. “The new bylaw will reduce waste, lessen the strain on our regional landfill, and create a cleaner community for residents and visitors.”
Rory Tooke, the city’s manager of sustainability and asset management, told council Thursday that many businesses, including quick-service restaurants, are already following the new rules.
Tooke said other jurisdictions that have made the transition have found that up-front costs were largely offset by savings on single-use items.
As for enforcement, Tooke said the city will start with education and awareness, as with the plastic- shopping-bag ban passed in 2018.
Businesses were no longer permitted to provide customers with single-use plastic bags and instead had to offer paper bags or reusable bags and charge customers for them — although there is also a long list of exemptions, with plastic bags still allowed for bulk items, frozen foods, meat, poultry and fish.
“Given our previous experience with the checkout bag regulation bylaw, we saw near full compliance with our education and have not issued a single ticket,” Tooke said.
The city estimates more than 220,000 single-use items are thrown away in Victoria every day.
Packaging materials, including single-use items, add up to 17 per cent of the material currently sent to Hartland Landfill. The new bylaw is expected to prevent up to 60 million single-use items from being distributed each year.
The rules were developed in consultation with businesses.
Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said the bylaw is fair, and was established as the result of a careful and cautious approach.
The new bylaw is part of the city’s Zero Waste program, designed to reduce waste by 50 per cent by 2040.
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