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Slowly but surely Canada has begun to deal with our pervasive plastics problem. However, the timeline in which we are addressing plastic production and waste management has brought us to this sort of awkward if not hypocritical point.

Cardboard bread tags on plastic bags of bread, paper straws stuck through plastic cup lids, other plastic covered products placed into reusable shopping bags. As a consumer, it is difficult to find ways of reducing household plastic waste when plastics have become so prevalent within manufacturing and food processing.

The federal government has started targeting the production side of our plastics problem by implementing a regulation that bans the manufacturing, sale, import and export of certain plastic products.

Six categories of single-use plastics have been targeted under the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulation (SUPPR) which came into effect on June 22, 2022. This regulation is part of the broader strategy, from back in November 2018, to reach a target of zero plastic waste by 2030.

Grocery bags, cutlery, food service ware, stir sticks, and straws are the first to be banned from being manufactured and imported for sale by Dec. 20, 2022. Ring carriers used to hold together packaged beverages are to be banned from being manufactured and imported for sale on June 20, 2023.

The sale of grocery bags, cutlery, food service ware, stir sticks and straws will be banned by December 20, 2023, and entirely banned from being manufactured, and imported to be sold for export by Dec. 20, 2025. Ring carriers will be banned from sale by June 20, 2024, and further banned from being manufactured, and imported to be sold for export by Dec. 20, 2025.

Over the last two years, the federal government has done an extensive amount of work researching, consulting, and discussing banning single-use plastics prior to implementing the full SUPPR.

In October 2020, the government released a 195-page science assessment of plastic pollution detailing the prevalence and some of the impacts that plastics have on our environment.

Now, I think we can all agree that our reliance on plastic products is unhealthy in general. Any potential reduction of our environmental impact through minimal effort should be taken.

The problem I have is where we are focusing our efforts, how long it will take us to get to where we should be and what the overall impact will be in the grand scope of the environment.

For instance, despite the science assessment detailing concerns around microplastics, the current SUPPR fails to address this form of plastic pollution. Instead, SUPPR targets the simplest to manage culprits of plastic waste.

The new regulation also fails to address the vast majority of plastic packaging. Think of how cucumbers are currently packaged as an example or other food wrappers.

Then there is the concern around the environmental impacts that some replacements for plastic products may have.

Another problem is the timeline. Of course, it will take time for industries to adjust to changes before plastic products are banned. Many have already taken that step well ahead of the government’s own set timelines.

Take plastic grocery bags or straws as an example. It seems that most larger retailers and food chains have already stopped providing plastic bags and straws in favour of reusable or paper ones, well in advance of the ban.

At the current rate of dealing with the problem of plastic, Canada is still far away from reaching the target of zero plastic waste by 2030.

By the time the current SUPPR is fully in effect in 2025, seven years will have passed from when this issue first started being discussed in depth. There are still hundreds of plastic products to address.

Next week I will be looking more into the overall impact that plastic waste in Canada has, as well as another major contributor of GHG emissions that no one has been talking about.

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