Canada ban single-use plastics

On June 22, 2022, Canada issued SOR/2022-138 "Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations", which prohibits the production, import and sale of 7 single-use plastic products in Canada. With some special exceptions, the manufacture and import of these products are prohibited. The single-use plastic prohibition regulations will take effect in December 2022. The goal is to achieve "zero plastic into landfills, beaches, rivers, wetlands, forests" by 2030, and let plastic disappear in nature.

Involving categories:

· Checkout bags

· Cutlery

· Flexible straw

· Foodservice ware

· Ring carrier

· Stir stick

· Straw

Checkout bags

means a bag made entirely or partly of plastic used to carry merchandise purchased from a merchant, and

- not fabrics as defined in Article 2 of the Textile Labelling Act;

- or a fabric as defined in Section 2 of the Textile Labelling Act, which ruptures or tears when the bag is used:

· For carrying a 10 kg item 100 times within a distance of 53m,

· Or once laundered in accordance with the domestic washing program specified in the International Organization for Standardization Standard ISO 6330 "Textiles - Household washing and drying procedures for textile testing".

Cutlery

means an article in the form of a fork, knife, spoon or chopstick made entirely or partly of plastic, and

- contains polystyrene or polyethylene;

- or changes in its physical properties after 100 washes in a domestic automatic dishwasher.

Flexible straw

Refers to a single-use plastic straw with a corrugated cross-section that allows the straw to bend and hold its position at various angles.

Foodservice ware

Refers to a plastic product made entirely or partly of plastic.

- Formed into the shape of a flip-top container, lidded container, box, cup, plate or bowl;

- designed to serve or transport ready-to-eat food or beverages;

- and containing expanded polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam, polyvinyl chloride, a plastic containing black pigments which are partially or incompletely combusted by hydrocarbons or oxo-degradable plastics produced.

Ring carrier

Refers to a plastic product made entirely or partly of plastic that is deformable in a loop or band, which can be used in combination around a beverage container for carrying together.

Stir stick

Refers to a plastic article made entirely or partly of plastic used to stir or mix beverages or to prevent beverages from spilling from the lids of containers.

Straw

means a straw-like plastic article made entirely or partly of plastic, and

- contains polystyrene or polyethylene;

- or changes in its physical properties after 100 washes in a domestic automatic dishwasher.

Related file download

Original text of the notice:

https://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2022/2022-06-22/html/sor-dors138-eng.html

Technical Guide:

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/reduce-plastic-waste/single-use-plastic-technical-guidance.html

Alternatives Selection Guide:

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/reduce-plastic-waste/single-use-plastic-guidance.html