It’s been 1 week since Canada’s ban on the manufacture and import for sale of some plastic items, including grocery bags and straws, has taken effect. Canadian companies can no longer produce or bring into Canada plastic checkout bags, cutlery, stir sticks, straws and takeout containers — and by the end of December 2023, it will also be illegal to sell them.
The federal government estimates that getting rid of the single-use plastics will eliminate 1.3 million tons of difficult-to-recycle plastic waste and a million garbage bags’ worth of pollution.
Statistics published in November suggested that Canadians were already cutting back on using items such as straws and plastic bags ahead of the national ban.
