THE FIGHT AGAINST PLASTIC POLLUTION - PART 2; tHE BAN ON PLASTIC
Last week, we discussed the dangers of plastic pollution. Just to recap, plastic is a terrible pollutant that has wreaked havoc on ocean ecosystems, wildlife, and humans. It’s also recognized as a toxic material in Canada. So the question is… why do we continue to find a place for it in our day-to-day lives, for which it ultimately ends up in the oceans? The answer lies in policy, or rather, lack thereof.
On December 20, 2022, the Canadian government decided to act on this. Similar to Dolphin Dude and the rest of the Aqua Avengers, the government tackled the issue of plastic pollution! The federal government introduced the first federal plastics ban in Canada, to be in effect December 2023. Banning several plastic materials is a huge win for the oceans and ocean wildlife. While this was a terrific first step to reducing plastic pollution in Canada significantly, and therefore helping ocean ecosystems to recover, it is often criticized as not being enough. In reality, the plastics ban in Canada was quite limited in its effect. It managed to effectively ban the manufacture, import, and sale of six types of plastic:
Single-use plastic checkout bags (grocery bags)
Plastic cutlery
Food service ware made from or containing problematic plastics (styrofoam take-out food containers)
Ring carriers
Stir sticks
Straws
It’s estimated that the plastics ban would only reduce plastic waste in Canada by 3%. Not a whole lot. The reason for this? Well, there are 2 reasons:
The plastics lobby is powerful in Canada
Advocacy groups and ocean conservancy organizations know how powerful the plastics lobby is, so they only focused on banning the types of plastic that they knew they could, and expand the ban in the future
For a country that dedicated to going zero plastic waste by 2030, it appeared that the ban was actually a decent first step to expand upon, right? Wrong. Shortly after this policy was passed, the plastics industry decided to sue the federal government over the inclusion of “plastic manufactured items” in the Toxic Substances List: Schedule 1 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA)… which is what the plastics ban was entirely based on. If that falls, so does the plastics ban, and all that progress goes in the same place as plastic waste: the garbage (because we all know the vast majority doesn’t actually get recycled).
And then it fell on November 16, 2023… one month before the ban was to come into effect. The federal court declared that having “plastic manufactured items” in the Toxic Substances List: Schedule 1 was invalid and unlawful. Of course, this was done in the interest of the plastics industry, to allow them to continue to manufacture and sell their products, regardless of the countless studies that have stated that plastic causes cancer, kills wildlife, and decreases fertility rates. There are even recent studies linking plastic exposure to Parkinson’s and dementia! The toxic properties of plastic have been proven time and time again, yet the Canadian federal court refused to follow the science, instead favouring lining the pockets of a massive manufacturing industry - regardless of the harm they cause to humans and Earth’s invaluable oceans & wildlife.
As always though, there is reason for optimism. The government is fighting back, and science is on their side. The federal government filed their appeal of the plastics ban reversal on December 8, 2023, and we continue to wait on the ruling. While we wait though, the plastics ban is not in effect. Of course, this is a tactic the plastics industry has employed to continue producing their toxic materials. However, with the help of Dolphin Dude, we can get enough eyes on this issue and put pressure on the courts and the government to make the right decision for Canadians; reverse the ruling, and expand the ban!
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