Canada is banning plastic straws, bags, take-out containers to kick off zero plastic goal by 2030

GATINEAU, PQ., Oct. 7, 2020 — Today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Jonathan Wilkinson, announced that the Government of Canada is banning single-use plastic items by late 2021, as part of the Trudeau government’s plan to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030.

The federal government’s zero plastic goal is intended to protect wildlife and our waters, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs.

A key part of the plan is a ban on harmful single-use plastic items where there is evidence that they are found in the environment, are often not recycled, and have readily available alternatives. Based on those criteria, the six items the Government proposes to ban are:

• plastic checkout bags
• straws
• stir sticks
• six-pack rings
• cutlery
• food ware made from hard-to-recycle plastics.

“Canadians see the effects of plastic pollution in their communities and waterways and they expect the Government to take action,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. “Our Government is introducing a comprehensive plan to get to zero plastic waste. Our plan embraces the transition towards a circular economy, recycled-content standards and targets for recycling rates. We also intend to ban plastic bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery, and hard-to-recycle take out containers. These items are harmful to our environment and their value is lost from the economy when they are tossed in the trash. This proposed ban will help drive innovation across the country as new and easier to recycle items take their place in our economy,” said Wilkinson.

Plastic is polluting our rivers, lakes, and oceans, harming wildlife, and generating microplastics in the water we use and drink.

Every year, Canadians throw away 3 million tonnes of plastic waste, only 9% of which is recycled, meaning the vast majority of plastics end up in landfills and about 29,000 tonnes finds its way into our natural environment.

Minister Wilkinson also took the opportunity to announce over $2M through the Zero Plastic Waste Initiative for 14 new Canadian-led plastic reduction initiatives. These projects are led by communities, organizations, and institutions, and will promote the development of new and innovative solutions to prevent, capture and remove plastic pollution from the environment.

“By improving how we manage plastic waste and investing in innovative solutions, we can reduce 1.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year and create approximately 42,000 jobs across the country,” said Wilkinson.

As part of the plan, the Canadian government is also proposing improvements to recover and recycle plastic, so it stays in the economy and out of the environment. The Government of Canada is proposing to establish recycled content requirements in products and packaging. The feds say this will drive investment in recycling infrastructure and spur innovation in technology and product design to extend the life of plastic materials.

Canada’s Government wants to hear from Canadians and stakeholders on this approach to protect the environment from plastic pollution and reduce waste through a more circular economy. Comments will be accepted until December 9, 2020. Regulations will be finalized by the end of 2021.

Together, all federal, provincial and territorial governments agreed to the Canada-wide Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste that lays out a vision for a circular economy for plastics, as well as a two-phase action plan that is being jointly implemented.

Provinces, territories, and municipalities are leaders in the recovery and recycling of plastic waste. The Government of Canada says it is continuing to work with them to strengthen existing programs and increase Canada’s capacity to reuse and recover more plastics. This will include collaborating to develop pan-Canadian targets to ensure that rules are consistent and transparent across the country, and make producers and sellers of plastic products responsible for collecting them.

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