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A Vision Vancouver councillor wants a bylaw to stop coffee cups from stacking up in landfills.
"To come in with a tax off the bat, boom, isn't necessary," Coun. Tim Stevenson said yesterday.
"But bringing in bylaws to make sure the shops always have recycling bins prominent at the front of their stores is feasible.
"And we have to make sure there are recycling bins in other prominent places, like near bus stops."
While Toronto is considering a tax, starting Dec. 1, on disposable coffee cups in order to encourage people to bring their own, there's no green tax brewing in Vancouver.
"Rather than charging, say, $1.70 for coffee, I think the price should be $1.60 for the coffee and 10 cents for the cup," said NPA Coun. Peter Ladner, who is running for mayor.
Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson said singling out coffee cups would not be as effective as addressing all in-store packaging.
"I'm interested in a comprehensive approach," Robertson said. "Coffee cups are a small percentage of the waste stream, but it's symbolic."
COPE Coun. David Cadman said giving a discount to people who bring their own cups is the solution.
"I would like to get rid of all disposable receptacles and coffee is a good place to start because people can bring their own mugs," Cadman said.
Brian Davies, Vancouver's assistant city engineer, said coffee cups are not a landfill problem.
"By weight, they don't amount to much in the landfills but it's the nuisance factor of littering that we're concerned about," Davies said.
Province readers are concerned about coffee cups in landfills, even if the city isn't.
"I was just thinking about this while drinking a Starbucks on the weekend. It seems like such a waste and unnecessary burden on our landfill," one reader commented on The Province website.
"I would fully support a levy on all cups. In addition, major vendors like Tim Hortons, Starbucks, McDonald's as well as food courts should have bins in each store specifically for such cups to be recycled."
Chains like Tim Hortons and Starbucks offer a 10-cent discount to customers who bring reusable cups.
Tim Hortons spokesman Nick Javor said the company recycles.
"It's an urban myth that cups aren't recyclable when they are being recycled in many places in Canada," Javor said.
Some municipalities, such as in P.E.I., have facilities to recycle the petroleum-lined paper and even polystyrene plastic. Otherwise, it's up to Tim Hortons to hire companies to compost the cups -- just as it's doing in a pilot project in five North Vancouver stores.
Coffee chain Blenz took recycling matters into its own hands last year, implementing biodegradable cups.
"We are starting to make the move ahead of time, before it's required," said president George Moen. "I mean, I live here, too."
Said Chris Sealy, at Tim Hortons on Main Street in North Vancouver: "People should get a discount for bringing their own cups. You find empty cups littered around the parking lot.
"We might not notice the difference [which recycling coffee cups makes] in our lifetime, but in two or three generations we might not see anything left for my grandson if we don't."
Paul Lee, the manager of the store, said customers react well to the recycling program.
"They tell us it's a good idea," Lee said.
"The program is good because there is less garbage. The area is also cleaner because more people are taking the time to recycle."
kmercer@theprovince.com
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