canada\'s g7 anti-plastics push limited by domestic action, professor says

OTTAWA —
An environmental professor at Dalhousie University said that if the federal government starts to implement stronger policies at home, Canada\'s push for the G7 to get involved in a war against plastic waste would become even more
Tony Walker said Canada actually lags behind many other countries, with at least 40 of them issuing some sort of national policy to limit the use of singles
Use plastic beverage bottles, plates, straws and shopping bags.
In a new article published in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Walker believes that if Canada accelerates the implementation of the national plastic bag ban, it will send the right signal.
\"I think they can send out a message, a very strong message,\" Walker told Canadian media . \".
Plastic bags have been banned in several small Canadian cities and Montreal became the first major city to do so in January.
Victoria will follow suit in July.
However, Walker said this approach is too special to encourage manufacturers to simplify their products in order to make recycling easier.
He also noted that municipalities have repeatedly tried to impose bans in Canada and the United States. S.
Including the failure in Toronto in 2012.
Walker said he knows that bans are a tough means, but with our mindset of \"using them once and then dropping them\", we need to force people to think harder about their convenience products
He noted that Canada has banned the production of bead plastics, believing that they are toxic to human health or the environment, and will ban the sale of shower gels containing their facial scrubs and toothpaste in June.
Given that plastic bags and straws that eventually fall into the ocean have been shown to be toxic to marine life, he wondered why Canada could not handle plastic bags and bottles with the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, it\'s like beads.
\"I don\'t know how the mechanism is (
Ban on plastic bags)
But I hope they are very forward-looking and progressive in this regard, \"Walker said.
Last week, Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna attended the World Oceans summit in Mexico, pushing for Canada\'s hope that the G7 will sign the plastic charter, committed to 100 recyclable, reusable, or packaged packaging.
On the phone with reporters, she noted that the equivalent of a dump truck filled with plastic every minute of the day was thrown into the ocean, and at that rate, by 2050, there would be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
However, she did not mention that one of the measures the federal government is currently taking is to ban plastic bags.
When asked about the government\'s specific policies on plastics, she talked about helping developing countries finance waste management policies and funding the scientific production of plastics and public awareness that are easier to compost.
Canada is already catching up with the world to solve the problem of plastic waste, including several other countries of the Group of Seven.
The European Union launched a strategy in January to enable its member states to achieve the 100 recycling target by 2030.
In France, all disposable tableware must have at least 50 cents recyclable by 2020 and 60 cents recyclable by 2025.
Britain has reduced its dependence on singles.
After the implementation of five pence, the proportion of plastic bags used is 85 (
Less than a dime in Canada)
The cost of buying one in 2015.
Italy has imposed a ban.
In January, the packed plastic bag in the grocery store, although it was rudely treated by the public at the time of its execution.
China banned the use of plastic bags a decade ago, although many reports say the ban has not been implemented much.
Laws in Kenya and Rwanda stipulate that persons who import or sell plastic bags will be sentenced to imprisonment.
Taiwan announced the order on February-
By 2030, plastic will be completely banned there.
Plastic straws and plastics are prohibited in Scotland-
Cotton swab.
It is estimated that about 3 billion plastic bags are used in Canada every year
Plastic advocates point out that most plastics are used for less than 20 minutes, but it takes hundreds of years to break down.
When plastic bags, bottles or straws are thrown away and eventually thrown into a dump, river or ocean, Walker says, they end up breaking down into smaller pieces due to friction, UV rays, or salt water.
Of the garbage found in the ocean, plastic accounts for about 85, often capturing marine life, or being mistaken for food by fish and turtles.
In a 2015 study, Australian scientists found that more than one of the seabirds they studied had plastic in their digestive tract.
Speaking at a roundtable hosted last month by McKenna\'s department, academics, and environmental groups, Walker said that plastic manufacturers and food industry delegates all sat down to discuss what could be done, he thinks the government is ready to make some big announcements.
Next week, Canadian Deputy Environment Minister Stephen Lucas will attend the sixth annual marine litter conference hosted by the United Nations in San Diego, which he is considered a member of the keynote group. —
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