Canada must reduce plastic pollution and plastic waste. In 2016, approximately 86% of Canada’s plastic waste ended up in landfills, only 9% was recycled, 4% was burned for energy, and 1% was discharged to the environment as litter. Plastic litter harms and kills wildlife, and microplastics are inadvertently consumed by people through seafood, drinking water, and sea salt. In light of these issues, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development (the Committee) studied plastic pollution in Canada over seven meetings beginning on 1 April 2019, and made 21 recommendations to the federal government.

Although the targets contained within the Ocean Plastic Charter and Canada’s Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste are encouraging, the Committee would like Canada to move faster to address plastic pollution and waste. The Committee recommends that Canada establish a more ambitious goal of reaching zero plastic waste by 2030. The Committee also recommends that the federal government commit to banning harmful single-use plastic products – such as straws, bags, cutlery, cups, cigarette filters and polystyrene packaging – in Canada, and, where warranted based on existing scientific evidence, take other steps under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 to regulate their use, composition and disposal. The Committee identified a need for a funding program and incentives for scientific and industry research into sources of plastic pollution and plastic waste management innovation.

In order for Environment and Climate Change Canada to manage toxic plastics with the regulatory tools afforded by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), the Committee recommends that plastics which are scientifically assessed as toxic be added to the List of Toxic Substances pursuant to the CEPA 1999. For plastics that are suspected of being toxic, Environment and Climate Change Canada should conduct scientific toxicity assessments pursuant to the CEPA 1999, while other plastics should be added to the Priority Substances List pursuant to the CEPA 1999.

To ensure that plastic products are designed for reuse and recycling, and to support economies of scale in the plastic recycling industry, the Committee recommends that standards be developed for plastic products made or sold in Canada, and that plastic recycling systems be standardized and harmonized. Standardization could be informed by a national model recycling system and extended producer responsibility framework for plastics, for which the Committee would like the federal government to take the lead.

Witnesses described that new plastic made from fossil fuels is currently cheaper than recycled plastic, which provides an economic disincentive to recycle plastic waste or to use recycled resin in manufacturing. To address this issue, the Committee recommends that fossil fuel subsidies related to new plastics be thoroughly examined and eliminated, and that plastic goods made or sold in Canada be required to contain at least 50% recycled plastic by 2030. A directive should be issued by 2022 to federal departments and agencies so that their purchases support recycled plastics and innovative alternatives to plastic, while eliminating their use of single-use plastics.

Finally, the Committee heard that Canadians want to make more environmentally responsible choices but do not always have the information needed to do so. The Committee recommends more detailed labelling of plastics made or sold in Canada, and that plastic manufacturers and importers be required to disclose the chemical composition or their products and resins. The federal government should ensure that extended producer responsibility funds support information campaigns about the life-cycle environmental impacts of plastic goods, how to properly dispose of plastics so that they do not enter the environment, and how to reduce plastic use and waste. The Committee encourages all Canadians to help fight plastic pollution by reducing, reusing, recirculating, recycling, and recovering plastics in their daily lives.