Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the country's plan to ban these kinds of plastics last year, describing it as "a problem we simply can't afford to ignore."
Like most countries, Canada has a toxic relationship with single-use plastic. It's estimated that their households generate more than 3 million tons of plastic waste every year, only 9 percent of which gets recycled - while the rest ends up in landfills and polluting the environment.
But next year, Canadians are expected to say goodbye to disposable plastic items.
Checkout bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, and take-out containers will all become a thing of the past for Canadians, thanks to a nationwide ban that will take effect by the end of 2021. The move is part of a larger national plan to achieve a circular system for plastics by 2030.
“Plastic pollution threatens our natural environment. It fills our rivers and lakes, and most particularly our oceans, choking the wildlife that lives there,” Canadian Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson recently announced. “Canadians see the impact that pollution has from coast to coast to coast.”
Single Use Plastic Solution: Plastic, particularly single use plastic, is one of the scourges of modern life and an environmental disaster. So, it's wonderful news that a 23 year old British design graduate has invented a biodegradable material made from fish waste that could one day replace plastic in packaging.