Canada plans to eliminate the use of plastic
In the next year and a half, plastic bags, dishes, and food containers will be completely banned.
As part of a complete phase-out of single-use plastic, planned for 2025, Canada is doing away with the use of plastic packets, containers, and disposable utensils and cutlery.
The ban must go into effect by December 2023. And by the end of this year, companies must stop producing and importing bags, food containers, straws, cutlery, and stir sticks.
The federal government says about 15 billion plastic bags are used each year. In addition, single-use plastic products account for most of the poorly recycled waste littering the sea and shoreline.
The new measures are expected to eliminate more than 1.3 million tons of plastic waste and more than 22,000 tons of plastic pollution.
Rashid Sumaila, director of UBC's Fisheries Economics Research Unit, said the government is taking the right steps, although the problem is much more serious.
