Plastic waste and pollution reduction: the need for action
Plastic is a valuable material and resource because of its functionality, durability and low cost. We use plastics in almost all aspects of our lives. In Canada, plastic production is a $35 billion industry employing close to 100,000 people in nearly 2,000 businesses that make and recycle plastic products.
Yet every year Canadians throw away nearly 5 million tonnes of plastic waste from our homes and businesses.
The way we currently make, use and manage plastics affects our ecosystems and wildlife, and burdens our economy. It is time to shift towards a more resource efficient and circular economy for plastics.
Protecting our environment from marine litter
Marine litter is solid waste that has been discarded, disposed of or littered into the environment, including our freshwater and marine ecosystems. Most of it, about 80% to 90%, is plastic. It comes in all shapes and sizes including microplastics (small plastic particles less than or equal to 5mm in size) and consists of items like fishing gear and packaging.
In 2021, approximately 40,000 tonnes of plastic waste was leaked into our environment in Canada. Close to 10,000 tonnes of plastics enter the Great Lakes every year from Canada and the United States. Litter that you see on the sidewalk can be blown into a river or lake, or go down the storm drain and end up in the ocean. Marine litter can have many negative effects. It can transfer contaminants, damage habitats, impact fisheries or seriously harm wildlife if it is ingested or they become entangled in it.
Through litter collected across Canadian shorelines, the most commonly found littered items are single-use or short-lived products, many containing plastics such as:
- cigarette butts
- plastic pieces
- paper
- foam pieces
- food wrappers
- bottle caps
- soft plastic packaging
- beverage cans
- plastic bags
- plastic bottles
- coffee cups and lids
- straws
Building a circular economy
Currently, we manage plastics on a “take-make-waste” model - we extract resources, we make products and then we throw them away. If current trends continue, the plastics thrown away in Canada will be worth $11 billion by 2030.
In a circular economy, the lifecycle of materials and products is extended as long as possible. It follows a “make-use-return” model so that materials and products are reused, repaired, re-manufactured or recycled. By creating a circular economy for plastics, we could:
- reduce plastic and carbon pollution
- generate billions of dollars in revenue
- create as many as 42,000 jobs by 2030.
The Government of Canada is putting in place an ambitious, science-based and complete plan to reduce plastic waste and pollution. This plan will help build a strong and resilient circular plastics economy that works for all and protects the environment and human health.