The federal government has taken the next steps to scrap its looming ban on single-use plastic exports, though the Alberta government maintains that Ottawa should get rid of the domestic prohibition, too.
Ottawa published regulations to prohibit the manufacture, import and sale of single-use plastics in 2022, spurring a court challenge to the constitutionality of the rules. The federal government of the day said that items such as grocery bags, cutlery, stir sticks, straws and food takeout containers were environmentally harmful, and rolled out the domestic ban between 2022 and 2024.
The ban on exports was set to come into effect on Dec. 20 this year.
Instead, on Saturday, the federal government launched a 70-day consultation period through the Canada Gazette on nixing the ban, saying that tariffs and global supply chain challenges are “creating significant pressure on the domestic economy.”
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Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin announced in October that the government would no longer pursue the export ban, citing a review of the global policy landscape, trade conditions and domestic economic challenges.
“Most importantly, the export ban is not expected to lead to a net decrease in plastic waste with few peer countries following suit and many international buyers simply switching away from Canadian suppliers,” Ms. Dabrusin said in a statement at the time.
More than two dozen plastic makers joined forces in 2022 to ask the Federal Court to put an end to Ottawa’s ban on single-use plastics. The following year, a judge ruled a federal decision to label plastics as toxic to be unreasonable and unconstitutional. (Ottawa appealed the decision, which is still making its way through the courts.)
The Alberta government was also part of the plastics court action. The province’s then-premier Jason Kenney argued that Ottawa had no real evidence that plastics are toxic.
“While the industry is investing massively in becoming more environmentally responsible, Ottawa – for, I think, political reasons – decided to say that plastics have the same risk as toxins like arsenic, which is clearly unscientific,” he told reporters at the time.
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Rebecca Schulz, Alberta’s Environment Minister, congratulated Ms. Dabrusin in October when her federal counterpart announced the cancellation of the export ban – but noted her disappointment that the federal government is standing by the domestic prohibition.
Indeed, Ms. Dabrusin insisted in October that the domestic single-use plastics ban is working. “Canadians are seeing fewer plastic bags in trees, less Styrofoam containers on their beach walks and fewer wildlife being tangled in ring carriers,” she said at the time.
Ms. Schulz countered at the time that “silly statements about plastic bags and Styrofoam litter is divorced from reality,” adding there is no legal, policy, economic or scientific justification for the ban.
“The ban is an attack on Canada’s plastics industry – which employs thousands of Canadians and attracts billions in investment – while creating the plastics needed for every modern convenience, from surgical gloves to iPhones,” Ms. Schulz said in a statement.
As Ottawa marches toward nixing the export ban, leaving the domestic policy untouched, Ms. Schulz’s office said Tuesday that her position has not changed.
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The Gazette released Saturday said that restricting access to global markets for single-use plastics would displace domestic producers in favour of competitors from other parts of the world. That in turn could drive production, investment and employment opportunities from Canada – but do little to reduce plastic pollution.
Removing the export ban would restore Canadian businesses’ access to international markets for single-use plastics, and “help re-establish economic opportunities curtailed under the prohibition.”
That’s particularly true for the highly trade-exposed plastic product manufacturing sector, which according to Ottawa generated $35-billion and supported roughly 85,000 jobs in 2023.
The sector is deeply integrated within North American supply chains, with roughly 94 per cent of Canada’s $14.9-billion in plastics exports in 2023 destined for the United States.
The export ban would have been particularly tough on small businesses.
An analysis by Dun & Bradstreet in November, cited in the Gazette, found that 82 per cent of the companies that retained the ability to manufacture and had access to the export market were small businesses with fewer than 100 employees or less than $5-million in annual gross revenues.