Canadian Corrugated & Containerboard Association Welcomes the Canadian Government's 2030 Plastic Waste Reduction Goals

BRAMPTON, ON, Oct. 8, 2020 /CNW/ - The Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association welcomes the announcement this week from Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson about the initial list of banned plastic products, the federal government's next steps towards achieving its zero plastic waste by 2030 plan. The pandemic forced government and industry to focus on our collective health, but it is time to shift gears and help our economy move forward and recover, which Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has said must be green.

It is refreshing to learn the chemical producers are very much in favour of Extended Producer Responsibility as a key plank in this strategy.  With only 9 per cent of plastics actually being recycled, there is a lot of work to do on this front.  The corrugated cardboard industry has developed the infrastructure to collect and recycle more than 90 per cent of our production across Canada.  It has not been easy and was not cheap, but we are proud of the results.

We also believe that the Federal Environment and Climate Change Minister must include steps to implement national, consistent regulations for the management of these targets.  The myriad of rules created by multiple waste-management entities is foreboding – and we speak from experience on that also – and we could experience unintended results.

The road to a Canada with reduced reliance on plastics is a long and winding one, but Canadians have a history of resiliancey and innovation to get us there. The CCCA looks forward to playing a major role in Canada's green economic future.

SOURCE Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association