82% of Canadians urging government action to tackle plastic pollution:
CBC poll
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says federal strategy to be
announced in June
Luke Denne · CBC · Posted: Apr 05, 2019 4:00 AM ET
Nine out of 10 respondents to a survey about the impact of plastic waste
on the environment say they are concerned or very concerned about the
problem, and 82 per cent say they believe that government should be
doing more to tackle it.
The Angus Reid Forum conducted a representative online survey of 1,500
Canadians from March 14 to 17 for CBC's Marketplace about what they
thought about plastic pollution, over-packaged products, and the
government's strategy on the issue. (A randomized sample of this size
would yield a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.)
The results suggest the majority of Canadians are concerned about
plastic, believe that individuals and businesses have a responsibility
to reduce it, but also feel strongly that not enough is being done by
government to address the issue.
Federal strategy promised
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said plastic packaging is on the
federal government's radar.
"Wait till June, that's when we're coming out with our strategy with the
provinces and territories,'' she said in an interview with Marketplace.
"We've got to go through a proper process with this, working with
industry, working with cities, everyone needs to be part of it."
While McKenna said that "there's a role for bans" on certain types of
plastics, she stopped short of committing to the types of bans other
jurisdictions have introduced. Just last month, the European Union
approved a ban on 10 types of single-use plastics, including straws,
cutlery and styrofoam cups to come into effect in 2021.
"It's not just about banning, because I think there's a lot of focus on
banning," McKenna said.
"I think we need to focus more on the circular economy."
In a circular economy, the thinking goes, packaging would be reused or
repurposed.
Marketplace commissioned the poll after hearing from viewers who sent in
pictures of plastic packaging that they found to be excessive, including
packaging on fresh fruit and vegetables, bakery products, household
goods and other consumer products.
Some other examples included plastic-wrapped disposable straws and forks
given out at Subway restaurants.
When Marketplace reached out to some of the companies that created or
sold the packaged goods, only Subway shared plans to change the
packaging, saying that the sandwich chain is in the process of switching
to paper straws this year. It did not outline any plans to move away
from the plastic-wrapped disposable cutlery.
Cannabis packaging under scrutiny
Some viewers pointed to the large amount of plastic used to distribute
small amounts of legal cannabis, just the latest product to come under
scrutiny.
Marketplace showed some examples of cannabis packaging to Adria Vasil,
who wrote the Ecoholic series of books and writes regularly on green
business. The way cannabis is packaged — in non-recyclable plastic
plastic bags, clam-shell packages or in plastic bags inside sealed jars
or boxes — represents a missed opportunity by the manufacturers and the
province of Ontario, she said.
"They could have designed this from the ground up to be green, to be
compatible with the province's recycling system, and instead, they just
completely fell asleep at the switch."
The Ontario Cannabis Store pointed out that all cannabis packaging has
to be tamper-proof and child-resistant. Even so, Vasil says she's
disappointed more thought wasn't given to environmentally friendly
packaging.
The results of the survey indicate companies may need to think twice
about how much plastic packaging they use in the future or run the risk
of losing sales.
More than half of the 1,500 respondents said they would not buy certain
products if they felt the packaging was excessive.
McKenna said businesses have a big role to play in tackling plastic
pollution.
"We need companies to be more responsible,'' she said.
"We have got a huge problem, and we all have to be acting together,
right now."
Shoppers say few neighbourhood options
Despite widespread use of municipal blue bin programs, just 11 per cent
of the plastic used in Canada is actually recycled. The rest is either
sent to landfill, incinerated — resulting in harmful emissions — or
discarded in the environment.
And although the polling suggests that three-quarters of Canadians
accept that it's their responsibility, too, to reduce plastic, a
majority say they find it difficult to do so.
"Zero-waste" or "low-waste" grocery stores have opened in cities such as
Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, but just 39 per cent of
Canadians polled said they knew of places they could shop for products
without much plastic packaging in their neighbourhood.
"It's a really big concern," said Michelle Genttner, co-owner of Unboxed
Market, a zero-waste grocery store in Toronto that sells produce, meat,
bulk groceries, household goods and even has a hot table with
ready-to-eat food free from plastic packaging. Consumers bring their own
containers.
"For those people, I would say look to your farmers markets, go to your
stores, ask the questions."
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