The Government of Canada is moving forward with the ban of single use plastics, announcing the effective date of December 20, 2022.
The final regulations were published on June 20, 2022, prohibiting the manufacture and import of harmful single-use plastics, with a few targeted exceptions to recognize specific cases. The banned products include:
- checkout bags;
- cutlery;
- foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics that are hard to recycle;
- ring carriers;
- stir sticks; and
- straws (with some exceptions).
Exceptions:
- Sales of single-use flexible plastic straws will be restricted as of December 2023. Exceptions to the ban on straws allow single-use plastic flexible straws to remain available for people in Canada who require them for medical or accessibility reasons. This includes for use at home, in social settings, or in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and long‑term care facilities.
- Prohibitions on the manufacture and import of ring carriers and flexible straws packaged with beverage containers (e.g., juice boxes) will come into force in June 2023 and the prohibition on the sale of these items will come into force in June 2024. These transition timelines recognize the complexity associated with retooling manufacturing lines for these products.
Complete details, including guidance documents and an overview of the new Regulations, are available in Environment and Climate Change Canada’s News Release.