OTTAWA – A global treaty to end plastic waste can be ambitious and successful without firm limits on plastic production, which are difficult to design and agree upon, Canada’s environment minister said Friday.
Negotiators from 175 nations are in Ottawa trying to solidify some of the details of that treaty, which is supposed to be finalized this fall in Korea.
A limit on plastics is one of the most controversial points on the table.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said some limits need to be imposed on plastics, including bans on certain single-use plastics and the most toxic chemicals used to make them. And he said Canada “is not opposed to the concept of a production cut.”
“I’m just not sure how we would do it,” he said in an interview. “And I think there are other ways to achieve a goal like that without going through what could be a very difficult and not very constructive process.”
A clause outlining a specific target for reducing plastics by a specific date is more complicated than it may seem to some, he said.
“I don’t think we’ve worked hard enough collectively to be able to do it,” he said. “I’m not sure how we would operationalize something like that.
“If, say, we agreed on a plastic limit… how would we apply this globally? Should we come up with a quota system? Would each country voluntarily reduce its production by 10 percent?
Instead, Guilbeault pointed to easier-to-conceptualize and more widely acceptable policies that could achieve the same results. They include single-use plastic bans, reuse and recycling policies, and design standards that require minimum amounts of recycled content in new plastics.
“All this will inevitably lead to a reduction in demand for virgin fiber plastic,” he said.
Canada began phasing out a ban on single-use plastic items in 2022, starting with straws, grocery bags, cutlery, takeout containers, stir sticks and six-pack rings for beverage containers.
However, that policy is in doubt after Canadian plastic manufacturers and chemical companies successfully argued in court that the government was too broad in declaring all plastic toxic.
That designation under Canada’s Environmental Protection Act is necessary to regulate a ban. The government is appealing the decision, but may have to be more specific about the types of plastic for which it has strong evidence.
Guilbeault has also promised to enact rules to require a minimum amount of recycled material in plastic products, reducing the amount of new plastic required and creating a new market for recycled material.
In 2020, Canada produced more than 7.1 million tonnes of plastic and only five per cent was recycled material. Nearly five million tons of plastic ended up as waste and less than 10 percent was recycled.
Almost a third of Canadian plastic is made for packaging, and more than 40 per cent of plastic waste comes from packaging.
Greenpeace Canada, which calls for a 75 per cent cut in plastic production from 2019 levels by 2040, was immediately shocked by Guilbeault’s comments.
Greenpeace plastics campaign head Sarah King said Guilbeault is out of step with the public and scientists. “Canada has a job to do and that is to support strong measures across the board, not undermine them.”
Anja Brandon, associate director of U.S. plastic policy at the Ocean Conservancy, said cuts in the amount of plastic we make are essential if plastic pollution is to be controlled.
“We absolutely cannot move forward on this issue without starting with the reduction,” he said. “Every scientific model – and there have been many models up to this point – has found that if we want to address the plastic pollution crisis for the sake of our ocean communities, public health, human health, all of it, we need to start with reductions to manufacture and use less single-use plastics in the first place.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2025.