Making the Case for a Zero Plastic Waste Economy

Canada Moves to Ban Single-Use Plastics in an Effort to Reduce Plastic Pollution 

There is no doubt that plastics provide unparalleled functionality and durability across a range of products in our everyday lives. The production and use of plastics is growing faster than any other material due to their many practical uses. However, certain characteristics that make plastics so valuable can also create challenges for their end-of-life waste management. In particular, the low costs of producing and disposing of plastics have increased the amount of disposable plastic products and packaging entering the consumer market. According to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), over half of these disposable plastic products and packaging are designed to be used once and thrown away. CCME reportsthat an estimated 95% of the material value of plastic packaging (or between $100 and $150 billion dollars annually) is lost to the global economy after only a single use.

In recent years, plastic pollution has emerged as a critical environmental issue, one that must be addressed globally. To reduce plastic waste in Canada, the federal government announced in June 2019 that it will ban single-use plastics as early as 2021. The ban is expected to include items such as plastic bags, straws, cutlery, plates and stir sticks. The federal government will also work together with the provinces and territories to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs, which would seek to establish standards and targets for companies that manufacture plastic products or sell items with plastic packaging.

The federal government has indicated that these measures will align with similar actions being taken in the European Union and other countries. In addition, these initiatives complement Canada’s adoption of the Ocean Plastics Charter in June 2018, which lays the groundwork for ensuring that plastics are designed for reuse and recycling. In addition, the federal government’s efforts to reduce plastic pollution includes ongoing work through the CCME to develop an action plan to implement the Canada-wide 2018 Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste.

Policy Initiatives to Reduce Plastic Pollution

The specific policy initiatives announced by the federal government include:

• Banning harmful single-use plastics as early as 2021 under theCanadian Environmental Protection Act and taking other steps to reduce plastic waste, where supported by scientific evidence and when warranted – and taking other steps to reduce plastic waste. The ban would cover single-use plastic products and packaging (e.g. shopping bags, straws, cutlery, plates, and stir sticks); the specific products and measures included in the ban will be determined once a State of the Science assessment on plastic pollution in the environment has been completed. The assessment will include a peer review, public consultations, and socio-economic considerations. Additional regulatory actions could include requiring products to contain a set amount of recycled content, or be capable of being recycled or repaired.
• Ensuring that companies that manufacture plastic products or sell items with plastic packaging are responsible for managing the collection and recycling of their plastic waste. EPR programs are recognized as an effective mechanism to support the creation of a circular economy. Under an EPR program, companies making products are responsible for the end-of-life management of their products and packaging. Through the CCME, the federal government will work with provinces and territories to support the development of consistent EPR programs across the country. This will include setting targets for plastics collection, recycling, and recycled content requirements.
• Working with industry to prevent and retrieve abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear, known as ghost fishing gear – a major contributor to marine plastic debris. The federal government will work with stakeholders through a new Sustainable Fisheries Solutions and Retrieval Support Contribution Program. In particular, the federal government will support fish harvesters to acquire new gear technologies to reduce gear loss, and take actions to support ghost gear retrieval and responsible disposal. In addition, the federal government will seek to reduce the impacts of ghost fishing gear in Canadian aquatic ecosystems. It is important to note that a significant amount of plastic in the oceans is comprised of fishing nets. In a study by the Ocean Cleanup Foundation that was published in 2018, scientists found that at least 46% of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from fishing nets, while miscellaneous discarded fishing gear makes up the majority of the rest.
• Investing in new Canadian technologies. Through the Canadian Plastics Innovation Challenge, the federal government is helping small businesses across the country find new ways to reduce plastic waste and turn waste into valuable resources supporting a circular economy. Seven challenges have been launched so far, providing over $10 million dollars to 18 Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises. These businesses are working to reduce plastic waste from food packaging, construction waste, marine vessels, and fishing gear. They are also improving plastic recycling through artificial intelligence and refining technologies for bioplastics. MORE

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Can addressing over-consumption save our planet?

Illustration: Max Pixel

The moment I bring up the topic of over-consumption of material goods in any conversation, I feel that I am being perceived as someone with an anti-development agenda. However, nothing could be further from the truth. For me, the issue of over-consumption needs attention at the highest levels in government and corporations as it has a significant hand in environmental destruction including climate change while making inconsequential impact on well-being and long term happiness.

Let me first define what I mean by ‘over-consumption’. We all find many products as superfluous without meeting any real need. Of course, marketeers are very effective in persuading that we will be miserable if we do not have them. I believe we are wasting precious human effort and creativity in producing different types of ineffective soap, toothpaste, cleaning agents and cosmetics that do not help but are potentially harmful for the environment; candy, breakfast cereals, packaged snacks, processed food and beverages with poor nutritional value; fast fashion clothing; avoidable cluttery furniture; frivolous household goods and appliances. The consumption is further exacerbated as products are made in such a way that they have a short lifespan by deliberately designing them to fail after some time (planned obsolescence) and creating a perception that they need to be replaced by influencing fashion trends (perceived obsolescence) causing over-consumption.

Overproduction and over-consumption of material goods has caused serious destruction across the planet. To make these products, it takes natural resources that are extracted through mining or grown resulting in exploitation of finite natural resources, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and local ecosystem collapse. The production process generally involves prodigious amount of freshwater depleting groundwater and exacerbating water stress. The energy used to make these things is largely produced from non-renewable fossil fuels adding to global warming and climate change. Furthermore, all of this consumption entails insane amounts of packaging waste.

Countless surveys and scientific studies have revealed that once the basic needs are met, buying material things does not result in any marked improvement in well-being. The excitement of a new thing wears off quickly. For instance, the pleasure one derives from a high end mobile phone or a designer suite wears off in a few days and leaves the consumer unsatiated and craving for more new things. Yet, a lot of us find ourselves trapped in this vicious cycle of working hard to be able to buy things that one does not need, that do not add to the quality of life and do not result in sustained enhancement in well-being.

When we talk about reducing impact, companies and government are still not questioning what is produced and how useful some of these products are. It seems as though there is a sacred law of ‘market economy’ and ‘consumer choice’ that cannot be questioned. We forget that laws of market economy are broken all the time when it suits large corporations or governments’ interest.  MORE

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The surprising solution to ocean plastic

Can we solve the problem of ocean plastic pollution and end extreme poverty at the same time?

That’s the ambitious goal of The Plastic Bank: a worldwide chain of stores where everything from school tuition to cooking fuel and more is available for purchase in exchange for plastic garbage — which is then sorted, shredded and sold to brands who reuse “social plastic” in their products.

Join David Katz to learn more about this step towards closing the loop in the circular economy. “Preventing ocean plastic could be humanity’s richest opportunity,” Katz says. SOURCE

Global ‘Alliance to End Plastic Waste’ launched

How can I get involved with Plastic Bank?

 

 

Post-Brexit, the U.K. and Canada can fuel global sustainability

 

A “circular economy” is one that avoids waste and instead innovatively reuses or regenerates end products. That’s in contrast to today’s largely “linear” economy, in which products are dumped as waste after we’re finished with them — losing value and damaging our environment.

With a circular economy, new business models generate value from end products and even turn those products into services, such as the phenomenon known as car-as-a-service, which minimizes negative impacts on the environment and people. A circular model relies on renewable energy, and an emphasis on human well-being has been incorporated into the concept.

The main message of our research is that Canada and the U.K. could jointly start a global race to the top through a trade agreement that incorporates circular economy principles.  MORE