Traders fear the end of the bags thin

Catherine Montambeault

Saturday, 16 December 2017 22:18

UPDATE
Saturday, 16 December 2017 22:18

Look at this article

Merchants of Montreal say they are in agreement with the green that represents the banning of plastic bags light weight, but fear having to deal with many unhappy customers.

“I think it is a very good idea for the environment, but it is sure that we fear that people chialent. It is hoped that customers will quickly get used to dragging their reusable bags, ” says Mathieu Bois-Joli, assistant-gérant at Jean Coutu of the Jean-Talon street.

From the 1st of January, it will be prohibited to merchants in montreal to distribute to their customers plastic bags conventional of a thickness of less than 50 microns or 0.05 mm.

Until June

The City will, however, offer until June 5, 2018, the time to sell their stocks.

Valerie Zenga, manager at the IGA on rue Saint-Zotique, explains that his grocery store will have a greater variety of reusable bags to the entry into force of the new regulation.

“Probably that there will be customers who will be angry of having to buy reusable bags, but we will do everything we can to accommodate them “, she says.

Transition

In Brossard, the reign of the plastic bag has ended there are already more than a year.

From September 2016, the traders had to find alternative solutions so that their customers could carry their purchases, since only the bags that are thicker than 100 microns are now allowed.

In most of the shops visited by The Newspaper, paper bags and plastic bags thicker were sold a few under, and reusable grocery bags, a few dollars.

In the grocery store, cardboard boxes were also often offered free of charge to consumers.

The plastic bins were on sale near the check-outs at Max.

“In the beginning, there was a bit of grumbling from customers, but I would say that after about a month, everyone was accustomed to,” says the manager of the grocery store on the boulevard Taschereau, Philip Robert.

The supermarket and April, the transition has been more difficult.

“It took a good six months before people adapt to it, says the supervisor, Francine Paradise. We sell paper bags for 5 ¢, but at the beginning, people were really angry. “

Profitable or more expensive ?

A few montreal companies have expressed concern the additional costs that could result in the banning of plastic bags.

But in Brossard, traders interviewed by The Newspaper were adamant : their turnover has not been affected.

Although paper bags are more costly to merchants than those of plastic, the profits generated by the sale of reusable bags typically allow you to make such an extra expense.

“It is not evil to the same for us, there is no difference, economically speaking,” says Ms. Paradise.

Bags allowed

Cloth bags