plastic victory: federal ban on six single-use plastics

While we continue the daily duty of picking up plastics off of the beach and other environments, we have also collected a coastal victory: a federal ban on numerous harmful single-use plastics. Both new and shiny, this is truly a milestone in the movement that we can all celebrate.

On Monday, June 20th, the federal government announced the regulations that will prohibit the manufacture, import, sale and eventually export of 6 categories of single-use plastic (SUP) items. The categories of items are checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics, ring carriers, stir sticks and straws. 

Here is breakdown of how the bans will unfold:
The ban on harmful single-use plastics will come into effect by the end of 2022. Companies will no longer be able to manufacture or import single-use plastic stir sticks, checkout bags, cutlery and certain takeout containers. 

The sale of these items will be banned as of December 2023.

The same rules will apply to six-pack rings six months later, starting in mid-2023. 

Flexible straws will continue to be available but only in packages in retail stores intended for people who need them.

By the end of 2025, Canada will no longer allow the export of all six single-use plastics to other countries. 

First and foremost, this is a people’s victory, and taking a moment to relish in this achievement is an imperative part of fuelling climate hope and optimism - something many of us need more of.

However, we also need to be earnest about the regulatory reality. This ban is coming in late and is a humble beginning to a lot of work ahead of us to truly address the roots of the plastics crisis that plagues the aquatic environments, the vast amount of biodiversity in this country, the climate, and as we’re increasingly finding out, our own bodies.

In regards to the impacts on the marine environment, there are many other forms of plastic materials that need to be addressed in order to prevent plastic pollution at the source and shift to a circular economy, including fishing and aquaculture gear, nurdles and cigarette butts, all of which Surfrider campaigns on and is continually removing from sensitive environments in British Columbia alongside First Nations, fellow environmental nonprofits and the public.

Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) from the commercial fishing and aquaculture industries have dominated the results of Surfrider volunteer-led cleanups for over a decade, and we need national action on these materials to reduce gear loss and abandonment, support recovery of gear from the marine environment and enable proper processing and end of life management of retrieved materials.

The federal government also needs to develop policies and systems that improve the environmental monitoring, regulation, and enforcement of pre-consumer plastic production pellets, also known as plastic nurdles. Nurdles devastate the environment and marine life but, despite being one of the biggest sources of pollution in the oceans, they are often overlooked.

Year after year, the number one type of plastic pollution found on Canadian shorelines by number is cigarette butts. Cigarette butts are a pervasive, long-lasting, and are a cocktail of toxins making its way into the waterways. We need policies and programs that prioritize the reduction of cigarette butt litter. 

The single-use plastic regulation that the Canadian government has introduced shows leadership in addressing plastic pollution. However, the evidence makes it clear that these materials are only a small component of the plastic pollution found in the environment in Canada’s jurisdiction: the six items on the ban list make up only about five per cent of the plastic waste Canada generated in 2019. More needs to be done that prevents ALDFG, nurdle and cigarette butt pollution upstream to truly reduce plastic pollution in this country.

NOW is not the time to ease the pressure, it’s the time to double down because drastic action is required. The environmental, biodiveristy and climate crisis isn’t an abstract future, it’s here and now, unravelling before us. You can depend on Surfrider to continue being a progressive voice and actor on this issue, and we hope you’ll join us as we strengthen our efforts. The tides are rising, but so are we.