| Remarkably, 2020 may have been the most successful year for waste reduction initiatives around the world!
-Dawson City town council passed a bylaw banning single use plastics in February. The ban covers plastic bags (including produce bags and grocery bags), plastic straws and utensils along with plastic and Styrofoam takeout containers.
-The Yukon bans both paper and plastic single-use shopping bags with updates to the Environment Act. Following a 60-day consultation period disposable shopping bags may be a thing of the past as soon as this summer.
-The federal Government announced it will be banning 6 single-use disposable plastic products in 2021: grocery bags, straws, cutlery, six-pack rings, some takeout containers, and stir sticks. This is the first action in Canada’s ambitious plan to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030.
-Various municipally lead single-use plastic bans sweep across the country in the following communities: Inuvik, NWT, Saint-Sophie, QC, Val Saint-Francois, QC, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL, Vancouver, BC, Devon, AB, Saint-Hippolyte, QC, Beaconsfield, QC, Sherbrooke, QC, Prince Albert, SK, Farnham, QC, Rimouski, QC, Riverview, NB, Dieppe, NB, Moncton, NB, Ucluelet, BC, Tofino, BC, Fort Frances, ON, Mono, ON, Beaubassin-est, NB, Cap-Pele, NB, Shediac, NB, Repentigny, QC, Victoria, BC, Richmond, BC, Saanich, BC.
-Nova Scotia and Newfoundland banned plastic shopping bags province-wide
Internationally many locations introduced waste reduction policies including:
-The EU banned the export of unsorted plastic waste to developing economies
-Germany bans single-use plastic products, which will come into effect from July 2021, as the Cabinet agrees in line with an EU directive to reduce waste
-New Jersey bans single use shopping bags and a range of single use polystyrene products
-Monaco banned disposable plastic cotton buds, cups, cutlery, and plates
-Tunisia banned single-use plastic bags at supermarkets and pharmacies |
