The true amount of plastic pollution in Canada is a mystery, despite Ottawa budgeting millions to eliminate it, according to a federal government report.
The report from Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Jerry V. DeMarco comes after in-house research showing that few Canadians consider plastic waste a serious problem.
Ottawa has set specific targets to eliminate plastic waste at a cost of $279 million, but the new report is inconclusive on how much plastic waste has been leaked into the environment.
Entitled Zero Plastic Waste, the report says plastic waste increased from 3.5 million tonnes per year in 2012 to approximately 4 million tonnes in 2018. To reach the goal of zero plastic waste by 2030, the federal government needs to work more with provincial and local governments, it says.
“We found the federal government did not know whether its reduction activities would eliminate all plastic waste by 2030,” Mr. DeMarco said when speaking to reporters this week. “Although the initiative refers to ‘zero plastic waste,’ its targets refer only to reducing plastic waste and are not measuring against the end goal of zero plastic waste.”
“We need more real time data on how significant the problem is and how well we’re doing in addressing those problems,” he added.
The report was undertaken to measure the amount of plastic pollution and assess whether reduction policies are having an effect. Plastic pollution affects wildlife that can get tangled in the waste or die from eating it. It can also contaminate food chains.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced last month that the federal government would be creating a plastics registry to track the amount of plastic being produced in Canada.
“We’re implementing a comprehensive plan to reduce plastic waste and pollution, and today I’m excited to announce a new federal plastic registry which will increase transparency and help make producers responsible,” Mr. Guilbeault said.
Canadian companies that produce plastic, such as for packaging, electronics, or single-use plastic products, will be mandated to report the amount of plastic they produce along with where the products end up.
As part of the government’s attempt to reduce the amount of plastic waste, the cabinet has budgeted at least $279 million to tackle the issue, Blacklock’s Reporter noted.
The plastics ban has been criticized by provincial leaders in Alberta and Saskatchewan, with both governments intervening in a court challenge of the ban last year.
Saskatchewan argued that the ban was beyond federal jurisdiction, while the Alberta government claimed the plastics ban was a violation of the constitution’s separation of powers.
