| Plastic Waste Reduction News Re-Cap It has been a few weeks since, our last newsletter, so we thought this would be a good time to re-cap some recent news stories about the battle to reduce plastic waste that you might have missed... California Sets America’s Toughest Plastics Reduction Rules Companies selling shampoo, food and other products wrapped in plastic have just 10 years to cut down on their use of the polluting material if they want their products to appear on store shelves in California. A law passed in the State legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom recently aims to significantly reduce single-use plastic packaging in the state and drastically boost recycling rates for what remains. It sets the US’s most stringent requirements for the use of plastic packaging, with lawmakers saying they hope it sets a precedent for other states to follow. Under the bill, plastic producers would have to reduce plastics in single-use products 10% by 2027, increasing to 25% by 2032. That reduction in plastic packaging can be met through a combination of reducing package sizing, switching to a different material or making the product easily reusable or refillable. Also, by 2032, plastic would have to be recycled at a rate of 65%, a massive jump from today’s rates. It wouldn’t apply to plastic beverage bottles, which have their own recycling rules. New Strategy Announced to Reduce Plastic Waste Dumping into the Great Lakes In a joint Canada-U.S. effort, the Council of the Great Lakes Region announced a new, five-year strategy and action plan to reduce plastics from polluting the Great Lakes. It outlined a strategy to reduce plastic packaging waste and throw-away litter from entering critical waters in the basin including Lake Ontario and Bay of Quinte. Working with corporate partners and stakeholders in the plastics chain, the council said the “aim is to forge a future without plastic packaging waste and litter in the bi-national Great Lakes region, the engine of the North American economy and guardian of the largest freshwater system in the world.” Mark Fisher, president and CEO of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, said: “Plastic is a versatile material that is used widely in our industries and homes as consumers, but it should never become waste in our economy or litter in our environment. “Through the Circular Great Lakes initiative, we are convening business, government, academic, and NGO leaders to drive and deliver the systems change needed to close the loop and accelerate the transition to a circular economy for plastics in this critical region to the United States and Canada.” According to the council, more than 80 per cent, or 12.8 million tons, of recyclable plastic packaging materials enter landfills every year, effectively throwing out $2.1 billion worth of reusable plastics. Operating in tandem with other zero plastic waste measures, a modern and effective recycling system is a key part of closing the loop and cutting plastic marine debris. What are the Next Steps After Canada’s Single-use Plastics Ban? By the end of 2022, Canadian companies will no longer be able to import or make plastic bags, cutlery, takeout containers, ring carriers, stir sticks and straws, barring a few targeted exceptions to recognize specific cases. In addition to the year-end deadline, the Federal government in Ottawa is giving businesses until December 2023 to deplete their existing stocks, making the sale of those single-use plastics prohibited at that time. The government will also ban the export of plastics in those six categories by the end of 2025. (There are some limited exceptions for single-use plastic flexible straws to accommodate people with medical or accessibility reasons.) The ban on the manufacture and import of ring carriers and flexible straws packaged with beverage containers like juice boxes will come into force in June 2023, and the prohibition on the sale of those items will come into force in June 2024 due to the complexity associated with retooling manufacturing lines for those products. Ottawa estimates over the next decade, its ban will lead to the elimination of more than 1.3 million tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste, and more than 22,000 tonnes of plastic pollution – the equivalent of over a million garbage bags full of litter. Up to 15 billion plastic bags are used every year and roughly 16 million straws are used daily in Canada, the government said. Single-use plastics like those make up most of the plastic litter found on shorelines across Canada. | 
