Canada announces ban on single-use plastic items

In Canada, national ban on manufacturing and importing plastics bags or straws to take effect next month.

It appears that Canadians are using fewer plastic grocery bags and straws. As of Dec. 20, it will no longer be legal to manufacture or import most plastic bags or straws.

About 22 million tonnes of plastic ends up where it shouldn't every year, including in lakes, rivers and oceans worldwide, he said. In Canada, about 29,000 tonnes of plastic garbage, mainly packaging, ends up in the environment each year. Landfills also get another 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste. Only about 10 percent of the plastic that Canadians discard is actually recycled.

In a bid to cut down on all plastic waste, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in 2019 that some single-use plastics would be banned by 2021. It took the government a year longer than it planned to figure out which items to ban and how to do it.

The final regulations were published in June, and as of Dec. 20, it will no longer be legal in Canada to manufacture or import most plastic shopping bags or straws, along with stir sticks, cutlery and takeout containers. One year later, the sale of those items will also be banned.

Source: CTV News

According to Statistics Canada, between 2019 and 2021, the number of people who brought reusable bags to grocery stores increased significantly. In specific, 97 per cent of Canadians used their own reusable bags or containers when grocery shopping, up only slightly from 96 per cent in 2019. But the number who said they always used them went from 43 per cent in 2019 to 51 per cent in 2021. This is considered a positive sign in solving the problem of environmental pollution caused by single-use plastic bags, as well as evidence that consumers are becoming more concerned about environmentally-friendly reusable bags and actively supporting environmental protection.

The proportion of Canadians who regularly use plastic straws decreased as well.

Meanwhile, the country is pushing the world stage for a global treaty to eliminate plastic waste entirely by the year 2040.

TLPPACKAGING FOR SHOPPING BAGS