COUNTDOWN TO BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTICS IN CANADA BEGINS TODAY

Mon 20 June 2022:

The Canadian government announced final regulations on Monday to outlaw the manufacture and import of “harmful” single-use plastics, with the ban set to take effect in December.

The ban will apply to single-use plastics such as checkout bags, cutlery, food serviceware made from or containing hard-to-recycle plastic, ring carriers, stir sticks, and straws, according to a statement released by the Canadian government.

“The ban on the manufacture and import of these harmful single-use plastics, barring a few targeted exceptions to recognize specific cases, will come into effect in December 2022,” the statement added.

The federal government listed plastics as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act last year, which paved the way for regulations to ban some of them.

However, a consortium of plastics producers is suing the government over the toxic designation, in a case expected to be heard later this year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first promised in June 2019 that his government would phase out the production and use of hard-to-recycle plastic items as it aims for zero plastic waste by the end of the decade.

Initially, he said the ban would happen in 2021, but the scientific assessment of plastics needed to put the ban in motion was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plastic waste has become a rising problem around the world, with just around 10% of manufacturing plastic being recycled.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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