Canada to ban single-use plastics

This may be late news but well-worth posting as country bans for single-use plastic products continue to ramp up.

On June 10, the Government of Canada announced plans to reduce Canada’s plastic waste, support innovation, and promote the use of affordable and safe alternatives. Working with governments and businesses across Canada, the Government of Canada will:

• ban harmful single-use plastics as early as 2021 (such as plastic bags, straws, cutlery, plates, and stir sticks) where supported by scientific evidence and warranted, and take other steps to reduce pollution from plastic products and packaging
• work with provinces and territories to introduce standards and targets for companies that manufacture plastic products or sell items with plastic packaging so they become responsible for their plastic waste.

Only less than 10% of the plastic used in Canada reportedly gets recycled. Canadians throw away over 3 million tonnes of plastic waste. This represents up to $8 billion per year in lost value and wastes valuable resources and energy. Without a change in course, Canadians will throw away an estimated $11 billion worth of plastic materials each year by 2030.

About one-third of the plastics used in Canada are for single-use or short-lived products and packaging. Up to 15 billion plastic bags are reportedly used every year in Canada and close to 57 million straws are used daily.

The ban would reduce pollution from single-use plastic products and packagings – such as shopping bags, straws, cutlery, plates, and stir sticks. The specific products and measures included in the ban will be determined following a State of the Science assessment on plastic pollution in the environment, which is already underway and will include a peer review, public consultations, and socio-economic considerations. Additional regulatory actions could include requiring products to contain a set amount of recycled content or be capable of being recycled or repaired.

Last year, Canada also enforce prohibiting the manufacture and import of all toiletries that contain plastic microbeads (such as bath and body products) as of July 1, 2018. A complete ban comes into force on July 1, 2019.

The Government of Canada announced that it will accelerate research along the lifecycle of plastics and on the impacts of plastics pollution on humans, wildlife, and the environment. It will support evidence-based decision-making and innovative approaches to sustainable plastics production, recycling, and recovery. Canada’s Plastics Science Agenda will also identify priority areas for multi-sector research partnerships to help achieve Canada’s zero plastic waste goals.