Toronto 
It is official!
Corona Canada
The federal government today announced comprehensive measures through which the use and manufacture of single-use plastics including checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics that are hard to recycle, ring carriers, stir sticks and straws will be banned in the country.
As per the news release, a ban on the manufacture and import of these harmful single-use plastics, with few exceptions, will come into effect beginning in December 2022.
The government says the sale of these items will be prohibited as of December 2023 to provide businesses in Canada with enough time to transition and deplete their existing stocks. There will be some exceptions to the ban on straws and will allow single-use plastic flexible straws to remain available for people in Canada who require them for medical or accessibility reasons. This includes for use at home, in social settings, or in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and long‑term care facilities. All other types of single-use plastic straws will be prohibited.
Prohibitions on the manufacture and import of ring carriers and flexible straws packaged with beverage containers (e.g., juice boxes) will come into force in June 2023 and the prohibition on the sale of these items will come into force in June 2024.
The Government will also prohibit the export of plastics in the six categories by the end of 2025.
| Single-use plastic item | Manufacture and import for sale in Canada | Sale | Manufacture, import and sale for export |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkout bags, cutlery, straws foodservice ware, stir sticks, straws (exceptions apply) | December 20, 2022 | December 20, 2023 | December 20, 2025 |
| Ring carriers | June 20, 2023 | June 20, 2024 | December 20, 2025 |
| Flexible straws packaged with beverage containers | N/A | June 20, 2024 | December 20, 2025 |
What will be prohibited:
The Regulations prohibit the manufacture, import, and sale of 6 categories of single-use plastics:
- Checkout bags are designed to carry purchased goods from a business and are typically given to a customer at the retail point of sale.
- Cutlery includes:
- knives
- forks
- spoons
- sporks
- chopsticks
- Foodservice ware designed for serving or transporting food or beverage that is ready to be consumed, and that:
- contains
- expanded polystyrene foam
- extruded polystyrene foam
- polyvinyl chloride
- carbon black
- an oxodegradable plastic
- are limited to the following items
- clamshell containers
- lidded containers
- boxes
- cups
- plates
- bowls
- contains
- Ring carriers are flexible and designed to surround beverage containers in order to carry them together.
- Stir sticks designed to stir or mix beverages, or to prevent a beverage from spilling from the lid of its container.
- Straws include:
- straight drinking straws, and
- flexible straws, which have a corrugated section that allows the straw to bend, packaged with beverage containers (juice boxes and pouches)
The government says up to 15 billion plastic checkout bags are used every year and approximately 16 million straws are used daily in the country. According to the news release, the single-use plastics ban could reduce carbon emissions by 1.8 megatonnes annually, generate billions of dollars in revenue, and create approximately 42,000 jobs by 2030.
