The Canadian government announced in June 2022 that it would ban the manufacture and import of single-use plastics by December 2022.

It would ban the production and import of most plastic shopping bags, cutlery and straws, with some exceptions for medical needs.

Domestic sales of these items would be banned from December 2023, and exports of these plastics would stop by the end of 2025.

According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), up to 15 billion plastic bags are used in Canada each year and some 16 million straws a day.

«Over the next 10 years, this ban will result in the estimated elimination of more than 1.3 million tons of plastic waste and more than 22,000 tons of plastic pollution. That’s equivalent to one million garbage bags full of litter,» stated Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Single-use plastics

Global efforts to tackle this material, which takes centuries to decompose, continue.

Kenya, Chile, the United Kingdom and the European Union have established various bans on single-use plastic items.

The United Nations has laid the groundwork for an ambitious legally binding treaty to reduce plastic waste.

The global treaty to «end plastic pollution» could result in caps on plastic production or impose standards to make plastic easier and less toxic to reuse.