Home »
MPs holding roundtable on reducing plastic waste
On the heels of a recent report urging the federal government to take a leadership role in addressing plastic pollution in Canada, NDP MPs Wayne Stetski (Kootenay—Columbia) and Nathan Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley) will hold a roundtable in Cranbrook on Tuesday, July 23, focused on reducing plastic waste. This event replaces the roundtable meeting originally scheduled in June.
“With only nine per cent of plastic in Canada being recycled, and most of it ending up in the landfill, we need to do better, both for the planet and for future generations,” said Stetski. “It may be ambitious to envision a Canada with zero plastic waste, but we owe it to our children and grandchildren to take action now to solve our plastics problem.”
“Our oceans are drowning in plastics and our municipalities pay billions every year to send waste to landfills,” said Cullen, who recently introduced Bill C-429 in Parliament, the Zero Waste Packaging Act. “By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. The aim of this bill is to reduce waste – saving both the planet and the cost to municipalities.”
All constituents are invited to attend the public roundtable on reducing plastic waste:
Tuesday, July 23 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.at the Cranbrook Public Library (1212 2 St N, Cranbrook).
The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development recently published a report entitled The Last Straw: Turning the Tide on Plastic Pollution in Canada, which contains 21 recommendations intended to increase the recyclability of plastic goods, avoid plastics being landfilled, and harmonize plastic recycling systems and product standards across Canada. The report stresses the need for increased cooperation among federal, provincial, territorial, and interested governments, as well as industry, to address plastic pollution.
The report also calls on the federal government to set a more ambitious target of achieving zero plastic waste by 2030, and to commit to banning harmful single-use plastic products where warranted based on scientific evidence.
Submitted
