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CCCA welcomes federal list of banned plastic products, calls for recycling management

The Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association (CCCA) has released a statement welcoming the announcement from Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson about the federal government’s initial list of banned plastic products.

The product ban is part of the government’s zero plastic waste by 2030 plan. Regulations for the ban will be finalized by the end of 2021. The list of single-use banned plastic products includes grocery checkout bags, plastic cutlery, straws and stir sticks, six-pack rings and food takeout containers made from certain plastics.

The statement is as follows:

“It is refreshing to learn the chemical producers are very much in favour of Extended Producer Responsibility as a key plank in this strategy.

“With only nine per cent of plastics actually being recycled, there is a lot of work to do on this front. The corrugated cardboard industry has developed the infrastructure to collect and recycle more than 90 per cent of our production across Canada. It has not been easy and was not cheap, but we are proud of the results.

“We also believe that the federal Environment and Climate Change Minister must include steps to implement national, consistent regulations for the management of these targets. The myriad of rules created by multiple waste-management entities is foreboding – and we speak from experience on that also – and we could experience unintended results.

“The road to a Canada with reduced reliance on plastics is a long and winding one, but Canadians have a history of resiliency and innovation to get us there. The CCCA looks forward to playing a major role in Canada’s green economic future.”