Canada needs to act now on plastic waste
- by: Environmental Defence
- recipient: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna
Canada, we have a serious plastic problem and we need to act now.
Less than 11 per cent of plastics are recycled in Canada. The rest end up in our landfills, lakes, parks and oceans, destroying ecosystems and leaching toxic chemicals into our drinking water and soil.
Managing our plastic waste can feel overwhelming, but there are solutions and your voice can make a difference.
We can't rely on businesses to voluntarily "do the right thing." We need strong, standardized rules from coast-to-coast.
Canada needs a federal plastics strategy that gets us to a
plastic-free environment by 2025. Stand up for our environment and tell the federal government to:
- Ban all plastics that can't be recycled, or contain toxic chemicals;
- Make producers (like Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and McDonalds) collect and recycle all of the single-use plastics they put on the market;
- Stop companies from using virgin fossil resources to make single-use plastic.
It's time for Canada to step up and take serious action on plastic waste. Sign the petition and have your voice heard.
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister McKenna,
Canada has a plastic pollution problem. It's time for federal action.
We can't rely on businesses to voluntarily "do the right thing" so long as making new plastic from fossil resources is cheap, the cost of collecting and recycling plastic is high, and dumping plastic into the environment is "free". We need strong, standardized rules from coast-to-coast.
Canada's National Plastics Strategy must include:
- Bans on plastics that are toxic or hard to recycle
- Regulations that mandate shed-free fabrics to keep harmful microfibers out of our waterways
- Standardized, legally enforceable provincial recycling targets that ensure 85 per cent of single-use plastics are recycled by 2025
- A national minimum of 75 per cent recycled content for single-use plastics
- Laws that make companies fully financially and operationally responsible for collecting and recycling the materials they put on the market
Our oceans, rivers and lakes are drowning in plastic pollution. This environmental crisis won't be solved by passing the responsibility to residents and municipalities. And we certainly won't solve it with voluntary charters.
Canada, use your G7 presidency to put an end to plastic pollution.
I want a plastic-free environment by 2025.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
