Government will ban some single-use plastics over the next 18 months

The federal government is banning companies from importing or making plastic bags and takeout containers by the end of this year, from selling them by the end of next year and from exporting them by the end of 2025.

The move will also affect single-use plastic straws, stir sticks, cutlery and six-pack rings used to hold cans and bottles together.

"Our government is all-in when it comes to reducing plastic pollution," Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Monday at a news conference on a St. Lawrence River beach in Quebec City.

The Liberal government has set 2030 as the target date for halting the flow of plastic waste that ends up in landfills or as litter on beaches, in rivers, wetlands and forests.

Federal data show that in 2019, 15.5 billion plastic grocery bags, 4.5 billion pieces of plastic cutlery, three billion stir sticks, 5.8 billion straws, 183 million six-pack rings and 805 million takeout containers were sold in Canada.

Bags, takeout containers and straws are among the top 10 items most commonly found during shoreline and beach cleanups in Canada, along with bottles, bottle caps, coffee cups and cigarette butts.

A 2019 Deloitte study found less than one-tenth of the plastic waste Canadians produce is recycled. That meant 3.3 million tonnes of plastic was being thrown out annually, almost half of it plastic packaging.

Sarah King, head of the oceans and plastics campaign for Greenpeace Canada, said banning the six items is a step forward but disagrees with Guilbeault's claim that it shows Canada is all-in on ending plastic waste.

King said the six items on the list make up only about five per cent of the plastic waste Canada generated in 2019.

"It's a drop in the bucket," she said. "Until the government gets serious about overall reductions of plastic production, we're not going to see the impact we need to see in the environment or in our waste streams."

King said recycling is not going to solve the problem — that the only way to end plastic waste is to stop producing most plastic.

France, which banned most of the items on Canada's list last year, began phasing in a ban on plastic packaging for more than 30 fruits and vegetables this year. It is also in the process of banning plastic wrap used on newspapers, non-biodegradable plastic in tea bags and the free plastic toys handed out to kids with fast food meals.

Guilbeault acknowledged Canada is not first in banning plastics but insists it is among the leaders. He said that while more items may end up being added to the list, he doesn't think "we can ban our way out of plastic pollution."

"Banning certain items is certainly part of the solution but regulating to ensure that companies who produce plastics use more and more recycled plastic as part of your content is also part of the solution," he said.