B.C. community bans sale of most single-use plastic water bottles

Plastic bottles collected during a cleanup at Kits Beach in Vancouver, B.C. (Greenpeace)

The municipality of Tofino, B.C., has moved to ban the sale of most single-use plastic water bottles, approving a bylaw that the local government describes as the first of its kind in Canada.

The District of Tofino says the amended bylaw will take effect in April 2026 and will prohibit the sale of disposable plastic water bottles that are one litre in size or smaller.

“By eliminating single-use plastic water bottles one-litre and less, Tofino is taking another meaningful step to protect our oceans, beaches, and wildlife from plastic waste,” Mayor Dan Law said in a statement announcing the ban Thursday.

“This bylaw reflects our shared responsibility to the environment and to future generations and demonstrates what’s possible when communities strive for sustainability.”

The prohibition has been years in the making, with a delegation from the Surfrider Foundation environmental group pressing the district council to pursue the one-litre bottle ban in August 2023.

The delegation reported then that more than 60,000 plastic bottles had been recovered by volunteers on beaches along the west coast of Vancouver Island since 2015.

The district says more than 70 businesses in the area are already voluntarily observing the ban in an effort to reduce the amount of plastics that end up in the ocean.

The district council received a letter in July from the B.C. government granting it permission to adopt the bylaw.

‘Serious risks to marine life’

Under the terms of the amended bylaw, anyone found in contravention of the ban be found liable for a financial penalty for each day that the contravention continues.

The district says exemptions to the ban will be allowed for water bottles sold in packages of more than one bottle.

The sale of single-use water bottles will also be exempted during declared local, provincial, or federal emergencies, and during periods of stage-three and stage-four water conservation, when tap water restrictions are in place.

The coastal B.C. community has been an early adopter of bylaws banning other disposable plastic items, including a 2020 ban on single-use plastic bags, straws and polystyrene foam containers, and a 2022 ban on single-use plastic cutlery.

In announcing the latest ban Thursday, the district said plastic water bottles are among the most common single-use items that end up in landfills and waterways, and cited an Ocean Legacy Foundation estimate that more than one million single-use water bottles are lost from the recycling stream in B.C. each year.

“Once in the marine environment, plastic bottles break down into microplastics, which pose serious risks to marine life and ecosystems,” the statement said.