The Energy Mix

Top Menu

  • About
  • Latest Digest/Archive
  • Partners
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact

Main Menu

  • News Archive by Category
    • Climate & Society
      • Carbon Levels & Measurement
      • Carbon-Free Transition
      • Climate Action/”Blockadia”
      • Climate Denial & Greenwashing
      • Climate Policy/Meetings/Negotiations
      • Culture, Curiosities, & Humour
      • Demographics
      • Energy Politics
      • Energy Subsidies
      • Energy/Carbon Pricing & Economics
      • Finance & Investment
      • First Peoples
      • Insurance & Liability
      • International Agencies & Studies
      • Jobs & Training
      • Legal & Regulatory
      • Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion
      • Methane
      • Travel, Leisure & Recreation
    • Climate Impacts & Adaptation
      • Biodiversity & Habitat
      • Drought, Famine & Wildfires
      • Food Security
      • Forests & Deforestation
      • Health & Safety
      • Heat & Temperature
      • Human Rights & Migration
      • Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise
      • International Security & War
      • Severe Storms & Flooding
      • Soil & Natural Sequestration
      • Water
    • Demand & Distribution
      • Air & Marine
      • Auto & Alternative Vehicles
      • Batteries/Storage
      • Buildings
      • Cities
      • Electricity Grid
      • Energy Access & Equity
      • Off-Grid
      • Petrochemicals & Plastics
      • Supply Chains & Consumption
      • Transit
      • Walking & Biking
    • Jurisdictions
      • Africa
      • Arctic & Antarctica
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • International
      • Mexico, Caribbean & Latin America
      • Middle East
      • Oceans
      • Small Island States
      • South & Central America
      • Sub-National Governments
      • United States
    • Non-Renewable Energy
      • CCS & Negative Emissions
      • Coal
      • Nuclear
      • Oil & Gas
      • Pipelines/Rail Transport
      • Shale & Fracking
      • Tar Sands/Oil Sands
    • Opinion & Analysis
    • Renewable Energy
      • Bioenergy
      • Demand & Efficiency
      • General Renewables
      • Geothermal
      • Hydrogen
      • Hydropower
      • Research & Development
      • Solar
      • Wave & Tidal
      • Wind
  • Special Reports
    • Alberta’s Bitumen Pipe Dream
    • Canada’s Drive to Net Zero
    • Carbon Farming
    • City and Sub-National Action
    • Drawdown
    • Drive to 1.5
    • 26-Week Climate Transition Program for Canada
    • America’s Electoral Climate 2020
    • Canada’s Climate Change Election 2019
    • The Energy Mix Yearbook 2018
      • Climate Extremes
      • Fossils Go For Broke
      • Renewables (R)Evolution
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Canada’s Contradiction
      • COP24
      • Pipeline Politics
      • Jobs and Just Transition
      • Cities and Sub-Nationals
      • Finance and Divestment
      • Climate Litigation
  • Webinars & Podcasts
  • About
  • Latest Digest/Archive
  • Partners
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

logo

  • News Archive by Category
    • Climate & Society
      • Carbon Levels & Measurement
      • Carbon-Free Transition
      • Climate Action/”Blockadia”
      • Climate Denial & Greenwashing
      • Climate Policy/Meetings/Negotiations
      • Culture, Curiosities, & Humour
      • Demographics
      • Energy Politics
      • Energy Subsidies
      • Energy/Carbon Pricing & Economics
      • Finance & Investment
      • First Peoples
      • Insurance & Liability
      • International Agencies & Studies
      • Jobs & Training
      • Legal & Regulatory
      • Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion
      • Methane
      • Travel, Leisure & Recreation
    • Climate Impacts & Adaptation
      • Biodiversity & Habitat
      • Drought, Famine & Wildfires
      • Food Security
      • Forests & Deforestation
      • Health & Safety
      • Heat & Temperature
      • Human Rights & Migration
      • Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise
      • International Security & War
      • Severe Storms & Flooding
      • Soil & Natural Sequestration
      • Water
    • Demand & Distribution
      • Air & Marine
      • Auto & Alternative Vehicles
      • Batteries/Storage
      • Buildings
      • Cities
      • Electricity Grid
      • Energy Access & Equity
      • Off-Grid
      • Petrochemicals & Plastics
      • Supply Chains & Consumption
      • Transit
      • Walking & Biking
    • Jurisdictions
      • Africa
      • Arctic & Antarctica
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • International
      • Mexico, Caribbean & Latin America
      • Middle East
      • Oceans
      • Small Island States
      • South & Central America
      • Sub-National Governments
      • United States
    • Non-Renewable Energy
      • CCS & Negative Emissions
      • Coal
      • Nuclear
      • Oil & Gas
      • Pipelines/Rail Transport
      • Shale & Fracking
      • Tar Sands/Oil Sands
    • Opinion & Analysis
    • Renewable Energy
      • Bioenergy
      • Demand & Efficiency
      • General Renewables
      • Geothermal
      • Hydrogen
      • Hydropower
      • Research & Development
      • Solar
      • Wave & Tidal
      • Wind
  • Special Reports
    • Alberta’s Bitumen Pipe Dream
    • Canada’s Drive to Net Zero
    • Carbon Farming
    • City and Sub-National Action
    • Drawdown
    • Drive to 1.5
    • 26-Week Climate Transition Program for Canada
    • America’s Electoral Climate 2020
    • Canada’s Climate Change Election 2019
    • The Energy Mix Yearbook 2018
      • Climate Extremes
      • Fossils Go For Broke
      • Renewables (R)Evolution
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Canada’s Contradiction
      • COP24
      • Pipeline Politics
      • Jobs and Just Transition
      • Cities and Sub-Nationals
      • Finance and Divestment
      • Climate Litigation
  • Webinars & Podcasts
Advanced Search
Biodiversity & HabitatCanadaDrive to 1.5Health & SafetyLegal & RegulatoryPetrochemicals & Plastics
Home›Climate Impacts & Adaptation›Biodiversity & Habitat›Canada to Enact Single-Use Plastics Ban in 2021

Canada to Enact Single-Use Plastics Ban in 2021

February 3, 2020
February 3, 2020
 
99
0
Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  Print This Story
Ben_Kerckx/Pixabay

The Trudeau government will move ahead with a ban on single-use plastics next year, after a federal science report found more than enough evidence that plastics pollution causes harm, with 29,000 tonnes of plastic garbage ending up as litter in 2016.

“We will be moving towards a ban on harmful single-use plastics and we will be doing that in 2021,” Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Thursday, after releasing a draft of the assessment that will be open for public comment until April 1. While businesses will be given time to adapt to the new rules, “I think the Canadian public wants to see action quickly, so certainly if there is a phase-in period, it won’t be an extensive one.”

Like this story? Subscribe to The Energy Mix and never miss an edition of our free e-digest.

SUBSCRIBE

A specific list of banned products will be available in the next few months, Wilkinson added.

The assessment was required under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act before the ban could take place, and documented pollution equivalent to 2.3 billion single-use plastic water bottles landing on Canada’s beaches, parks, and lakes, and even in the air, the Canadian Press reports.

“Some of the litter is easily visible: pieces bigger than five millimetres are called ‘macroplastics’,” the news agency explains. “But much of it is plastic most of us can’t easily see, called ‘microplastics’ and ‘microfibres’. These are tiny remnants of plastic smaller than five millimetres resulting from larger pieces of plastic breaking apart, or being shed from items like clothes made of synthetic fabrics, fleece blankets, and tires.”

The federal review “looks at the impact of all types of plastics and points to evidence that macroplastics are hurting wildlife: dead birds found with plastic in their intestines, or whales washing up on shore with stomachs filled with tonnes of plastic they ingested as they swam, including flip flops and nylon ropes,” CP adds. “In one case, a turtle was found emaciated and dying. When the plastic was removed from its digestive tract, the turtle recovered.”

There’s less certainty on the impact of microplastics on people and wildlife, so Ottawa will fund a two-year, C$2.2-million research program, after the assessment report called for further study.

Citing a recent industry audit, CP says less than 10% of the plastic produced in Canada is currently recycled.

TagsCanada Net Zero - Federal PolicyDrive to 1.5Drive to 1.5 National Plans & Responses
Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  Print This Story

Find more stories about
Biodiversity & HabitatCanadaDrive to 1.5Health & SafetyLegal & RegulatoryPetrochemicals & Plastics

    Leave a reply Cancel reply

    Recent Posts

    • EXCLUSIVE: Study Shows Governments’ Oil and Gas Revenue Crashing as Decarbonization Takes Hold
      EXCLUSIVE: Study Shows Governments’ Oil and Gas Revenue Crashing as Decarbonization Takes Hold
      February 12, 2021
    • Countries Must Cut Emissions 80% Beyond Paris Pledges, but Study Author Sees Glimmers of Hope
      Countries Must Cut Emissions 80% Beyond Paris Pledges, but Study Author Sees Glimmers of Hope
      February 12, 2021
    • Fund Low-Income Building Retrofits in Upcoming Budget, Efficiency Canada Urges Ottawa [Sign-Ons]
      Fund Low-Income Building Retrofits in Upcoming Budget, Efficiency Canada Urges Ottawa [Sign-Ons]
      February 12, 2021
    • Big City Mayors Cheer as Trudeau Offers Permanent Federal Transit Funding
      Big City Mayors Cheer as Trudeau Offers Permanent Federal Transit Funding
      February 12, 2021
    • India Was Forewarned About Himalayan Flood Disaster Risks
      India Was Forewarned About Himalayan Flood Disaster Risks
      February 12, 2021

    News Feed

    Top News

    • Enviros Warn California Blackout Prevention Plan Could Drive Up Gas Consumption
      February 11, 2021
    • London Hedge Funds Bet on US$100 Carbon Price
      February 11, 2021

    Read More

    Carbon-Free Transition

    • London Hedge Funds Bet on US$100 Carbon Price
      February 11, 2021
    • Smart Cameras on Wind Turbines Cut Eagle Deaths by 82%
      February 11, 2021

    Read More

    Canada

    • Alberta Looks to Lithium in Oil Deposits to Stock Electric Vehicle Batteries
      February 11, 2021
    • Students Demand Faster Action After UVic Moves $80 Million to Low-Carbon Investment Fund
      February 11, 2021

    Read More

    U.S.

    • Enviros Warn California Blackout Prevention Plan Could Drive Up Gas Consumption
      February 11, 2021
    • U.S. Fossil Utilities Fund Republicans in Georgia Runoff Elections
      February 11, 2021

    Read More

    International

    • Students at France’s Elite Universities Want Climate at Heart of Curriculum
      February 11, 2021
    • South Africa Aims to Buy 6,800 MW of Renewables this Year
      February 11, 2021

    Read More

    • About the Energy Mix
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy and Copyright
    Copyright 2020 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.