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There’s a higher concentration of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes than in the ocean garbage patches. Let that sink in for a minute … Things are so bad in the lakes that they’ve set some sad world records — a fish pulled from Lake Ontario was found to contain the most microplastics ever recorded in any fish. Anywhere.

Yes, plastic pollution is a Great Lakes problem. A really big one. More than 10,000 tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the lakes every year. That’s the weight of the Eiffel Tower. That number is set to triple by 2060 if we don’t make a change now.

It’s not only littered cups, straws and bags causing this catastrophe. It’s also microplastics — fragments, threads and pellets smaller than five millimetres — and even nanoplastic, which can only be seen through a microscope. Fish and other aquatic creatures confuse microplastics for food. If we eat those fish, this pollution ends up inside of us.

Plastic enters our watersheds at every phase of its life cycle. Right from the start, plastic pellets — the raw material used in making plastic products — are found littered on nearly every beach in the Great Lakes. The highest concentration is on Baxter Beach in Sarnia — right next to Ontario’s biggest plastic producers: Imperial Oil and Nova Chemicals. This area contains 40 per cent of Canada’s chemical industry and the pollution disproportionately impacts Indigenous community members from Aamjiwnaang First Nation.

Once the pellets are made into plastic products, those products shed plastic particles as we use them. Finally, when we throw these items away, 91 per cent end up in landfills, incinerators or our environment. It’s simple math: the more plastic being made, the more harm is caused to our environment and our health.

But despite what you may have been told, this crisis is not a waste management problem. The plastic industry would like you to believe this because it wants to keep on making and selling more plastic … and then blame someone else for the mess. But the truth is, plastic recycling has never worked in Canada, or anywhere.

So, if not recycling, what is the answer?

First, we need to expand the recently announced federal ban on harmful and unnecessary single-use plastics. The first six — straws, stir sticks, cutlery, six-pack rings, checkout bags and takeout containers — will be phased out starting in December. That’s a good start but will make only a small dent in the plastic pollution problem that plagues the Great Lakes.

Second, the government must make sure reusable products and packaging are widely accessible, convenient and affordable across Canada.

Third, the government must regulate the manufacture, transport and use of plastic manufacturing pellets to prevent spills and hold companies accountable when they happen.

In the end, we need to make, use and throw away much less plastic. Particularly if we’re going to reach the federal government’s goal of zero plastic waste by 2030. To get there, we need the government and industry to step up, and quickly.

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