Stop recycling failed ideas to manage plastic waste

Can you remember the last thing you bought that wasn’t made from, or packaged in, plastic? From double-wrapped cucumbers to throw-away coffee cups, it is more and more difficult for Canadians to buy the things they need without leaving behind plastic trash—92 per cent of which ends up in landfills, incinerators, and our ecosystems. The growing plastic pollution crisis is undeniable. But it is made even worse by the fact that we are not using effective tools to achieve the federal government’s important goal of zero plastic waste by 2030. A report released last month by the organization Environmental Defence, titled Recycling Failure, shows that Canada generates 2.1 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste each year. (I am the plastics program manager at Environmental Defence). With current trends and reduction efforts, we will still be generating up to 2 million tonnes in 2030, despite the zero waste goal and new bans on single-use plastics coming into effect. If Canada is committed to eliminating plastic waste, why are we still producing, using and throwing away so much plastic? The federal government needs to step up in order to reach the goal of zero plastic waste, argues Karen Wirsig of Environmental Defence. Photograph courtesy of Karen Wirsig Canada is struggling to eliminate plastic waste because governments rely almost exclusively on recycling to solve the crisis. But subsidizing recycling will never deliver zero plastic waste. The highest provincial target for plastic packaging recycling, aside from beverage containers, is only 60 per cent by 2030. Even if all provinces adopted and enforced this target—which is not actually planned—we would still be sending nearly 1 million tonnes of plastic packaging to landfills and incinerators in 2030. It would also be a mistake to bet on new recycling technologies to save us. There is no chance that any advance in recycling will be able to deal with up to 2 million tonnes of plastic garbage by 2030. A report commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada suggests it would cost more than $6-billion in one-time construction costs and $3-billion in annual operating costs to boost plastic waste processing, just to get 70 per cent of the way to zero plastic waste by 2030. This money would come, in part, from grants and loan guarantees from the federal government. Worse, some of the so-called recycling imagined for the future would not turn plastic back into plastic, but rather into chemicals and fuel, an expensive, polluting and climate-warming strategy that should not be called recycling. The truth is that we can’t afford to focus our efforts on dealing with plastic after it becomes waste. The tools we need now are the ones that avoid waste in the first place. The federal bans on six unnecessary single-use plastics are a good start, but are not enough to get us to zero plastic waste. Canada needs to ban more unnecessary and harmful plastics, such as takeout cups and lids. We also need a push on reusable and refillable packaging and containers. Single-use cups are a perfect candidate for local refill systems that take back the cups, sanitize them and put them back into circulation. These systems also eliminate significant greenhouse gas emissions related to manufacturing and transporting cups—sometimes across an ocean—and then throwing them away after a few minutes of use. Services are emerging in cities across Canada to replace takeout containers, cups and other packaging. A Vancouver bylaw that requires a fee for disposable cups has even spurred large fast-food chains to adopt reusable takeout cups. This type of circular infrastructure should be available in every community across Canada as soon as possible. It should be as easy to reuse a takeout container as it is to throw one away. The federal government needs to step up in order to reach the goal of zero plastic waste. This should start with honouring the promise of a $100-million infrastructure fund devoted to ensuring reuse services are available, affordable and convenient for all Canadians. Karen Wirsig is the plastics program manager at Environmental Defence, a Canadian advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities. The Hill Times

Stop recycling failed ideas to manage plastic waste

We cannot afford to focus our efforts on dealing with plastic after it becomes waste, when avoiding waste in the first place is the more efficient and effective strategy.

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Stop recycling failed ideas to manage plastic waste

We cannot afford to focus our efforts on dealing with plastic after it becomes waste, when avoiding waste in the first place is the more efficient and effective strategy.

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