Govt. of Canada rolls out new regulations to ban single-use plastics

The Government of Canada has recently announced that it will ban the import and manufacturing of several harmful single-use plastics, with some new regulations coming into place by December 2022.

The new rules announced recently will apply to plastics that are used to make utensils, food-service products, and checkout bags that cannot be recycled, with some exemptions announced by the government in a release.

Steven Guilbeault, Environment Minister of Canada, has said that the government is all in considering reducing plastic pollution. That is why they have announced today on delivering on its commitment to ban harmful single-use plastics.

This momentous step is undertaken toward keeping the lands, oceans, and communities clean and tackling plastic pollution.

The sale of such items is expected to be forbidden starting from December 2023, a reasonable period for businesses to adopt the changes and wind down their current supplies.

The federal government listed plastics as forbidden last year under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which offers a way for regulations to ban some.

However, a group of plastic producers is litigating the government due to the toxic designation in an instance projected to be perceived later this year.

The government is also planning to ban the export of 6 types of plastics by the end of 2025.

According to the government, Canada uses 15 billion plastic-based checkout bags and 16 million straws per day.

Additionally, a report published by the UN states that the global use of plastic is estimated to be tripled by 2060, and the yearly production of fossil fuel plastics is expected to hit around 1.2 billion tonnes by the same year. The waste developed by such production levels will be more than 1 billion tons per year.

Such reports have resulted in rising concerns around the globe considering the prevalence of plastics and the problems caused by them to the environment.

Source Credit - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/20/canada-announces-ban-on-single-use-plastics