CNN reports that “Canada will ban many single-use plastic items by 2021, including bags, straws, cutlery and stirring sticks, to cut harmful waste damaging the country's ecosystems.”
The move comes as “the European Parliament passed a similar ban on single-use plastic items in late March, including a target to recycle 90% of plastic beverage bottles by 2029. In May, the United Kingdom followed suit with a plastic ban by 2020. Officials estimated 4.7 billion plastic straws and 316 million plastic stirrers are used in England every year.
“A report by the European Commission found that 80% of litter in the world's oceans is plastic, due to its slow decomposition. Plastic has been found inside marine animals including sea turtles, seals, whales and birds.”
In a prepared statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the plastic issue was “"a problem we simply can't ignore … Plastic waste ends up in our landfills and incinerators, litters our parks and beaches, and pollutes our rivers, lakes, and oceans, entangling and killing turtles, fish, and marine mammals.”
Trudeau said the Canada government “will work with companies that use or create plastic products to set targets on waste.”
The move comes as “the European Parliament passed a similar ban on single-use plastic items in late March, including a target to recycle 90% of plastic beverage bottles by 2029. In May, the United Kingdom followed suit with a plastic ban by 2020. Officials estimated 4.7 billion plastic straws and 316 million plastic stirrers are used in England every year.
“A report by the European Commission found that 80% of litter in the world's oceans is plastic, due to its slow decomposition. Plastic has been found inside marine animals including sea turtles, seals, whales and birds.”
In a prepared statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the plastic issue was “"a problem we simply can't ignore … Plastic waste ends up in our landfills and incinerators, litters our parks and beaches, and pollutes our rivers, lakes, and oceans, entangling and killing turtles, fish, and marine mammals.”
Trudeau said the Canada government “will work with companies that use or create plastic products to set targets on waste.”
- KC's View:
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I wonder if it will be like in the US, where too many companies decide to litigate the issue and overturn the decision rather than addressing the challenge. (Am I too cynical?)
