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The Canadian law that defines plastic as toxic

The Canadian law that defines plastic as toxic

by Carla Andrea Fundarotto

According to CEPA, Canada’s environmental protection law, plastic items are now considered toxic

CEPA, with this decision, has sent a solid communication to the plastics industry stating that its use has damaged the environment and the government intends to demonstrate this and abolish its use. The list of plastic as toxic came after conducting an assessment of the pollution levels created by using this material. There was a lot of evidence that plastics directly damage the environment, wildlife and marine life. Therefore, any plastic that poses a threat to the ecosystem, human health or biodiversity can be considered toxic.

The use of plastic in Canada

Approximately 3.3 million plastics are consumed in Canada each year and only 10% is recycled. The remaining 90% of the plastic ends up in landfills, incineration sites or mainly has been left in contaminated lakes, rivers and oceans, which causes terrible pollution to the environment.
Currently, the plastics industry totals $ 29 billion.

Ban on plastic yes but on which items?

Ottawa had proposed to implement a ban on a total of 6 single-use plastic items. However, according to the government, there is a huge variety of plastic products deemed to be all of these toxic products. Therefore, a further prohibition has been proposed which includes articles commonly found in the external environment such as cups, bottles, liquids, caps, containers, plastic filters for cigarettes, wrappers, polystyrene, and many others.

Discover the Friends for the Earth in evidence:

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