Six single-use plastic products banned in Canada as of 2023

Starting next year, Ottawa plans ban the manufacture, import and sale of harmful single-use plastics that result in litter that pollutes our beaches, parks, streets and pathways, and is harmful to nature and our wildlifeindicated Mr. Guilbeault during the press briefing.

The six single-use plastic products that will now be banned are shopping bags, utensils, hard-to-recycle take-out food containers, beverage wrap rings, stir sticks and straws.

These products can no longer be used in Canada as of December 2023, but their export by companies in the country will however be permitted until 2025. Certain products will continue to be used according to specific needs, such as flexible straws in hospitals. – but users will have to request it.

Government assistance will also be available to stimulate innovation and the modernization of businesses in their transition to banishing these plastic accessories.

Mr. Guilbeault considered that Monday’s announcement is in line as part of a comprehensive plan to ensure that these materials no longer end up in our environment. The new regulations will, he said, eliminate 1.3 million tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic products from our landfills.

The Minister of the Environment has also raised the possibility of eliminating other single-use plastic products. A scientific assessment of plastic pollution will be carried out in this direction.

Circular economy

Mr. Guilbeault did not deny, however, that certain plastic products can be useful in homes and in the economy. But rather it aims to eliminate plastic waste and move to a circular economy that recycles and uses plastics so they stay in the economy and out of the environment.

He recalled that 4 million tonnes of plastic are generated in Canada every year [mais] only 8% is recycled. This is a loss for the Canadian economy.

In 2016, waste [de plastique] caused losses of eight billion dollars in the country, insisted Mr. Guilbeault.

For him, it is important not only to reduce pollution by plastic objects, but also to reduce to the source production, to bet on the recycling and reuse of products, and to banish certain elements that are more harmful to the environment – ​​which were announced on Monday.

However, the transformation of the industry is essential in the banishment process, which is why Mr. Guilbeault wanted a better product design and a higher rate of repair and refurbishment objects made of plastic, which can be reused.

This will reduce plastic pollution, Guilbeault said, but will also generate multi-billion dollar revenue [et créera] approximately 42,000 jobs in Canada by 2030.

Canada is also actively participating in negotiations for a new legally binding global agreement on plastic waste, the Minister of the Environment said during his press conference.