(Toronto) Ontario Premier Doug Ford is ordering the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to immediately reverse its decision to no longer offer paper bags in its branches.
The LCBO announced in April 2023 that it would begin phasing out paper bags from its stores. The state-owned company claimed that this measure would divert 2,665 tonnes of waste from landfills and save the equivalent of more than 188,000 trees each year.
Since September 5, paper bags are no longer available in branches. Customers can bring their own bag, purchase a reusable bag at checkout, or use the cardboard boxes provided free of charge by the LCBO.
Mr. Ford wrote to the president and CEO of the LCBO to emphasize that families were already struggling to make ends meet and should not face the additional costs of purchasing reusable bags – or being forced to carry their alcohol “in broad daylight” in public.
The Prime Minister also maintains that the environmental virtues of this decision are “questionable to say the least” since used paper bags can be recycled.
The LCBO indicates that it cannot yet specify the date on which paper bags will be available again in stores.