This week, the Liberal government announced that it will ban some single-use plastic items in an effort to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030, but only a limited number of products fall under the ban and some of the bans are not will apply until 2025.
The six categories of disposable plastics that are banned account for about three percent of the plastic waste that is generated annually in Canada, and while the list is short, not all of it is fully banned.
For example, some plastic straws are banned, but there are exceptions that only restrict others.
CBC News took a look at the regulations to see what is banned and when, how it will affect the policy announced this week the campaign to reduce plastics worldwide and what was left out of the list of banned.
We also put a list of questions in Environment Canada, including some that were sent by readers to the Ask CBC team. Some of Environment Canada’s answers to these questions can be found below.
What products are banned by this new regulation?
There are six categories of disposable plastic products that are being banned, including:
- Cash bags.
- Cutlery.
- Takeaway utensils with plastics that are difficult to recycle.
- Holds aluminum plastic cans.
- Stir in the sticks.
- Pallets.
Why aren’t disposable plastic drink caps on the list?
While plastic cup lids are one of the main items found in coastal cleanups, the federal government said it was established for all six product categories for several reasons: they are found in the environment during the cleaning, pose a threat to wildlife. , are difficult to recycle and can be replaced by alternatives.
“In particular, with regard to plastic lids used for single-use coffee cups, limited alternatives to this article were identified as available at this time,” the government said in a statement. .
The federal government said it continues to monitor data and testing and will decide whether other single-use plastic products can and should be banned in the future.
Will this greatly affect Canada’s plastic waste?
Not a big one.
According to environmental groups such as Greenpeace Canada, the six product categories account for only about five per cent of the total amount of plastic waste generated in Canada in a year, according to 2019 data.
The federal government’s estimate is even lower. In the details of the regulation published on Wednesday, it was estimated that about three percent of the plastic waste created with data from 2019, or about 150,000 tons of plastic waste.
When do bans start?
The new rules will prohibit the manufacture and import of most of the items on the list for sale in Canada before December 20, 2022. After that date, the products may still be sold in the country for a period of time. another year.
Plastic ring holders, such as those used to hold a pack of six cans together, receive an additional six-month grace. They can continue to be major and manufacturer for sale in Canada until June 20, 2023 and their sale is not prohibited until June 20, 2024.
If the federal government wants to ban plastics, why give such a long deadline for an export ban?
CBC News asked the federal government this question and was told that after consultation with the industry, it was decided that a 42-month phase-out period would meet Canada’s international commitments while minimizing harm to the industry.
“A phasing out allows Canadian companies to minimize disruption to their operations while leaving the market for banned items in line with regulatory and global market trends,” the government said in a statement.
Does this mean that no banned product will be shipped across Canada after December 20, 2025?
Not exactly. The new rules will continue to allow banned plastic products made in another country to be shipped across Canada to an unrestricted third country.
CBC News asked the federal government why this was the case if the goal is to remove plastics from the environment and was told that Canada’s participation in the World Trade Organization’s Article 11.8 Trade Facilitation Prohibits in Canada to apply technical regulations to goods in transit.
A shopkeeper puts her products in her car outside a supermarket. Canadians will have to find alternatives to disposable plastic bags by the end of next year. (Mark Baker / The Canadian Press)
I thought plastic straws were being banned, but aren’t they?
While most single-use plastic straws are being banned, flexible or flexible straws are not, although they are being restricted.
Retail stores can sell flexible pallets in a package of 20 more, but the package cannot be displayed where a customer can see it without the help of a store employee.
Flexible sticks can also continue to be sold from company to company and for a limited time can also be sold when packaged with a beverage container as long as the packaging has been made by the company that made the beverage, such as they do this when sold with juice. boxes.
Juice box straws can only be sold until June 20, 2024, before they are also banned.
The decision not to ban flexible straws was made because they are still useful and necessary for people with physical disabilities or for people cared for in a medical or long-term care facility.
Will Canadian companies still be able to manufacture these items for export?
In order to “allow the industry to adapt to change,” the federal government said it would allow the industry to make plastics until Dec. 20, 2025. Exporters must keep detailed records of who buys their products to comply. with the rules.
Cash bags are often used more than once by consumers who reuse them. Why are they banned, but garbage bags that are only used once are not?
CBC News asked the federal government this question and was told that “reusing an article for one additional use does not make the article reusable by definition.”
As defined by the federal government: “A reusable item is designed and intended to be used multiple times, for the same use, without losing its original functionality. Using disposable plastic bags for the second time as a bag junk or lunch bag. doesn’t mean it’s reusable. “
TARGET | Ottawa will ban many disposable plastics by the end of 2023:
Ottawa is moving to ban many single-use plastics by the end of 2023
The federal government is in the process of banning many disposable plastics over the next 18 months, including plastic bags, take-away packaging and disposable plastic straws. Companies will be banned from manufacturing or importing them later this year and selling them by the end of 2023.
The federal government said any benefit to consumers who reuse cash bags is offset by the environmental damage caused by the product itself, noting that “16,971 units were collected off the coast of Canada in 2021 via the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup “.
By contrast, the government said it has no knowledge of data showing the same problem with garbage bags. The government said the lack of an alternative to plastic garbage bags is also a factor.
Will single-use dog bags also be banned?
The federal government said it does not ban single-use waste bags for pets because the regulations were created to ban “bags designed to carry goods purchased from a company.”