Trudeau announces single-use plastics ban

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a major announcement regarding single-use plastics in Canada that will take place nation-wide in 2021.

Trudeau’s announcement was made during his visit to the Gault Nature Reserve in Mont St-Hilaire in the Montreal area.

Though a list of banned single-use plastics has not been announced, a source near the Trudeau Liberals told the CBC that list could include items such as cotton swabs, plates, drink stirrers, balloon sticks, and straws. Styrofoam, polystyrene, and other materials generally used for fast-food containers or take-out trays will also be banned, according to the source,

During his visit, Trudeau also announced that his government will be conducting more research to determine which items should and should not be banned. They will follow the model set out by the European Union, who have recently also banned oxo-degradable plastics such as plastic bags.

Trudeau’s pledge also included corporate liability, stating that he intends to make companies that manufacture plastic products be responsible for recycling their plastic waste.

Less ocean dumping

Environment and Climate Change Canada say Canadians use more than 34,000,000 plastic bags every day. That figure is nearly one per person in Canada, per day, and each bag can take up to 1000 years for them to fully decay.

Canada, along with France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, and the European Union signed on to the Ocean Plastics charter at last June’s G7 summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, agreeing to find ways to manage their marine litter.

Canada could be looking to fix up their public image regarding the trash economy, after Philippines President Duterte publicly called out Canada for dumping garbage contaminated recyclables on several Philippino islands.