Canada’s Single-Use Plastic Disposables Ban To Arrive Soon

Canada’s ban on the manufacture and import of certain types of plastic products is now in effect.

Companies can no longer make or bring into Canada several items, including grocery bags, straws, cutlery, stir sticks and some take out containers.

You’ll still be seeing a lot of it around as it won’t be illegal to sell those products for another year.

Next summer, the government will extend the ban to cover plastic rings used to package six-packs of canned drinks, and their sale will be banned a year after that.

While many Canadians have already made changes to reduce the amount of plastic they use - mostly grocery bags and plastic straws - the government says banning the use of single-use plastics will eliminate 1.3 million tonnes of plastic waste - and a million garbage bags worth of pollution.

Here are some of the single-use disposable products that will be banned in Canada during the first phase:

Checkout bags

Paper or plastic will no longer be something your grocer’s clerk asks at your local supermarket. Instead, checkout bags that are made completely or mostly of plastic used to carry goods from any business will also be banned under the initial phasing out beginning on Dec. 20.

Cutlery

Any cutlery including knives, forks, spoons, sporks, and chopsticks which contains polystyrene or polyethylene or change their properties after being run through dishwater 100 times.

Fast Food Takeout Containers

The ban also includes clamshell containers, lidded containers, boxes, cups, plates, and bowls made completely or in part from plastic which is intended to transport on the go and ready-to-eat food. All of these plastic products will be banned if they contain the following:

Expanded or extruded polystyrene foam also known as Sytofoam

Polyvinyl chloride used to preserve food in sandwich cartons and salad containers

Carbon black or black plastic food containers that are usually used as disposable coffee cup lids or meat or produce trays

Oxo-degradable plastic.

Stir Sticks

All types of plastic stir sticks including those used to mix beverages or stop the spilling of liquid from a lid will all be prohibited under the new regulations.

Straws

All straight and flexible plastic drinking straws which are packaged together with beverage containers including juice boxes or pouches will be banned. Single-use plastics which are not packaged together with a beverage container are excluded under certain circumstances including providing accommodation to those with disabilities.

Overall there are five categories of single-use plastic disposables that come into effect starting Dec. 20 of this year which begins with banning any commercial or retail distribution.

Following this, a ban on the sale of these products initiates on Dec. 20, 2023. A full ban on the manufacture, import, and sale for export of plastics comes into effect on Dec. 20, 2025.

In addition to this, prohibition on the manufacture and import of ring-carriers or six-pack rings which are used to carry plastic bottles or aluminum cans will start on June, 20, 2023, with the full ban for the sale of these beginning on June, 20, 2024 and the complete ban for manufacture, import and sale for export starting on Dec. 20, 2025.

For full details, visit the Government of Canada.