The Canadian government are investing more funds into research on the environmental impact of light-weight plastic.
In June of 2019, Prime Minister Trudeau expressed the probability that single use plastic would be banned by 2021. This came as a result of discussions on the environment, following the G7 summit, in which many nations vowed to limit the use of single use plastics.
In 2019, an government official spoke to press and told them that, ‘specific items to be banned will be determined based on a science-based review, but they are considering items such as water bottles, plastic bags and straws.’
Other countries have already adopted this stance. In 2018, the EU voted to ban all single-use plastics and items such as plastic straws are no longer welcome in large stores and restaurants. There has been a great deal of discussion in the UK, for example, around plastic packaging in stores. The issue has largely been raised by the public and the press and, as a result, some stores have stopped packaging fruit and vegetables in plastic wrapping altogether, favoring bags made of recyclable material instead.
A press release from January 30 provides an update on Canada’s endeavor to eradicate single-use plastics . We are going to see greater investment in scientific research on the negative effects plastic has on our environment.
According to the press release, there has already been a ‘Draft Science Assessment of Plastic Pollution’ and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change has said that:
‘Science confirms that plastic pollution is everywhere and is negatively impacting our environment. This assessment will inform our decisions as our government follows through on our commitment to ban harmful single-use plastics as soon as 2021 because Canadians expect us to.’
How will this impact our everyday lives?
All that the government has announced so far is that there has been a ‘Draft Science Assessment’ and that more money will go towards further investigation of the issue. There has been no talk of any change coming into effect imminently. So, it seems unlikely that we will see any changes in our day to day lives as a direct result of this latest announcement.
We will have to wait to see how the government will use legislation to act on this issue before the 2021 target deadline for banning single use plastics.