Canada bans plastic bags and co.: In the first step, the listed plastic products may no longer be produced or imported in Canada. From December 2023, they will also no longer be allowed to be sold or distributed.
Based on the ban on certain single-use plastic products in the EU, Canada wants to gradually ban certain items. Initially, six categories will be affected:
- Plastic carrier bags,
- plastic tableware and cutlery,
- to-go ware made from hard-to-recycle plastics,
- stirrers,
- drinking straws and
- six-pack rings.
In order to give businesses in Canada sufficient time to change over and reduce their stocks, the regulation will come into force gradually: the first step was already completed on 20 December 2022 with the ban on the import and manufacture of single-use plastic carrier bags, cutlery and catering utensils made from problematic plastics, stirrers and drinking straws; the ban on the sale of these items will come into force in December 2023.
From June 2023, the manufacture and importation of six-pack rings will be banned in Canada; the sale of these items will be prohibited from June 2024. Also from June 2024, the sale of flexible drinking straws packaged with beverage containers will be banned. By the end of 2025, the government will also ban the manufacture and import of all six categories of single-use plastics for export. This staggered timetable takes into account the retooling of production lines for these products.