On April 18, 2023, the Canadian government published a technical paper on its plans of moving forward with establishing a federal plastics registry to improve knowledge of plastic waste, value recovery, and pollution across the country. The registry will provide important information to inform future compliance promotion and enforcement activities and will help identify gaps in the plastics value chain where further government action may be required.
Currently, data collection requirements for extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs are inconsistent across Canada, making it difficult to measure their performance across the country. The federal plastics registry aims to standardize the data collected on such programs and provide useful information for stakeholders and the government. The data will be open and accessible to all Canadians, including researchers.
In addition to that, the Canadian government also released the regulatory framework paper on recycled content and labelling rules for plastics on April 18, 2023. The document provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the regulatory approach that the government is proposing for the draft regulations that are currently being developed.
The government conducted consultations with partners, stakeholders, and the public. Feedback from these consultations was taken into account in the development of both proposed approaches to reducing plastic waste.
The measures are part of the government’s zero plastic waste agenda, aimed at better managing plastic waste and moving towards a goal of zero plastic waste (FPF reported also here). Both are open for comments until May 18, 2023.
In a report, also published on April 18, 2023, Canadian NGO Environmental Defence finds that “71 per cent of items in the produce department were packed in plastic; only 27 per cent were available with no packaging.” The report, which inspected 54 grocery stores across Canada, urges the Canadian government to take action. “Environmental Defence is calling on the federal government to expand the ban on non-recyclable plastic packaging; establish requirements for the refill and reuse of packaging; and, restrict or eliminate the use of harmful plastics additives,” the NGO states in its press release.
References
Government of Canada (April 18, 2023). “Technical paper: Federal Plastics Registry.”
Government of Canada (April 18, 2023). “Recycled content and labelling rules for plastics: Regulatory Framework Paper.”
Environmental Defence (April 18, 2023). “Left holding the bag: a survey of plastic packaging in Canada’s grocery stores.”
Environmental Defence (April 18, 2023). “New report: More than 70 per cent of products in Canada’s produce and baby food aisles are now wrapped in plastic.”
Read more
Cailey Gleeson (April 20, 2023). “Environmental advocates call on Canada to restrict ‘harmful’ plastic additives.” Chemical Watch
Martha Harrison and Gajan Sathananthan (April 21, 2023). “Plastics recyclability labelling and registry consultations launched.” McCarthy Tétrault LLP
