We Won’t Make – or Import – Single-Use Plastic Anymore, Decides This Country

As of December 2022, manufacturing and importing single-use plastic will be banned in Canada, an electoral promise coming to reality as a decisive effort to fight climate change and pollution alike.

“Over the next 10 years, this ban will result in the estimated elimination of over 1.3 million tons of plastic waste and more than 22,000 tons of plastic pollution,” explains Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “That’s equal to a million garbage bags full of litter.”

Straws, cutlery, and most grocery bags will be part of the ban, with the exception of specific medical needs. Businesses will have until the end of 2023 to deplete their existing stock, and by the end of 2025, the exportation of such harmful single-use plastics will also be banned. “With these new regulations, we’re taking a historic step forward in reducing plastic pollution and keeping our communities and the places we love clean,” says Steven Guilbeault, environment and climate change minister.