This city dumped its coffee

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VANCOUVER—Vancouver is one coffee-slurping city.

On top of big international outlets, caffeine-infused residents have many local chains and independent shops to patronize. A steaming cup of joe is never more than a few yards away in most parts of the city. One could argue it's the lubricant of the urban machine on the Pacific.

With that java jungle comes a lot of waste.

According to the city, about 82 million disposable cups were used in 2018 and they accounted for about 15 per cent of the city's litter.

The previous council tried to tackle the cup chaos with a bylaw implementing a 25-cent charge. On Wednesday, the new faces of power in the city, elected in October, repealed it.

They argue the fee made no difference in the cup-use habits of Vancouver's coffee fiends.

"People who are mindful around their carbon footprint, let's say, or their climate impact as an individual are already bringing cups anyway," said Vancouver Coun. Rebecca Bligh, who was behind the motion to repeal the fee.

For people "who aren't thinking about it, or for one reason or another aren't able to bring their cup that day, a fee is not going to make that difference."

The trashing of the bylaw shows well-meaning environmental efforts by municipalities often lack the scale or organization to be effective, says one expert.

Calvin Lakhan, a York University researcher and expert on waste, said the chance of a charge actually curbing cup use is low.

Lakhan said municipal councils, while well-intentioned, often don't understand that their regional attempts at environmental protection through such initiatives are ineffective.

"Twenty-five cents is a drop in the bucket relative to what would be required," Lakhan said. "I would agree with the consensus it's not doing much and at the end of the day you’re just nickel-and-diming consumers."

The major systemic change it would take to make real progress on a problem like coffee-cup waste would require co-ordinated efforts by government, consumers and retailers.

A similar scenario has played out with plastic-bag charges, he said, where the actual systemic idea of using fees to pay for recycling infrastructure hasn't materialized.

Though at the same time, he added, the fee did create some awareness and encouraged people to bring their own bags more often.

In Vancouver, the fee on cups had been in place since last January. Starting this year businesses were supposed to report how many cups they had distributed in the last year. The revenue was kept by merchants, who mostly opposed it, according to Bligh.

In her view, discounts on coffee, she said, have a better chance of resulting in people bringing their own cups.

Repealing the charge is the most recent reversal by Vancouver council after many councillors and the previous mayor were swept from power in last October's election. A new, more centrist slate of councillors was elected in its place, with a majority from the ABC Vancouver party.

A study on instituting a transport tax, which would charge people to drive into the downtown core, was also shelved last year, and a controversial bike lane has tentatively been stopped under the new park board, also with an ABC Vancouver majority.

The cup charge was a case idealism, Bligh said, an approach she said her party rejects.

"I’m all for great climate policy," she said. "But climate policy for climate policy's sake is not a good approach."

Not only did restaurants dislike the charge and say it wasn't working to reduce waste, she said, it also was a hindrance for low-income residents.

Others on council disagree. Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr said council axed the charge too soon. A report from city staff on its effectiveness was due to be released in September, Carr said.

"I really believe in evidence-based decision making," she said. "Councils should not be making decisions based on anecdotal evidence or consumer complaining."

There's no proof of anything related to the cup charge, she said.

Carr said the charge was meant to encourage restaurants to find ways to reduce waste, whether through a universal system, different cups or other ideas. With the repeal of the charge, any initiative is now in jeopardy, she said.

Lakhan maintains many city officials simply don't understand the barriers and the infrastructure needed to implement their plans for waste reduction.

"Cities kind of react first based on that emotional or political narrative of ‘this must be good because what's happening is bad, therefore we’re trying to do something,’ " he said. "But the interconnectedness of the issues and the scale of the issues are far beyond any individual city."

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