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Recycling Council of Ontario Responds to Government of Canada’s Announcement on Plastic Pollution - Environmental Communication Options/Huff Strategy

Recycling Council of Ontario Responds to Government of Canada’s Announcement on Plastic Pollution

Oct 7th, 2020 10:11 AM

The Government of Canada's proposed regulatory and market stimulus measures are important steps to address plastic pollution. The integrated plan is a multi-faceted approach required to eliminate unnecessary plastics; support markets by increasing the value of discards; assign responsibility to industry to incentivize better product design; and facilitate investment that benefit plastics collection and recycling. These initiatives will lead to a viable domestic recycling industry by placing more value on material that is largely treated as waste. What the Government of Canada must also do - with immediate benefit - is leverage its own procurement capabilities to work with suppliers to eliminate unnecessary plastic by demanding products that are made to be recycled and made of recycled materials. In doing so, they will directly support Made-in-Canada recycling innovations and solutions that offer local economic opportunity and mitigate issues caused by off-shore market restrictions, crucial for any post-COVID-19 recovery and resiliency plan. While we are confident of success through collaboration and inclusion throughout the entire plastics value chain across Canada, a thorough implementation plan with transparent and frequent reporting against stated targets and objectives is imperative to prove that plastic pollution measures are working. The Government of Canada has the opportunity to advance a circular economy, which emphasizes reuse, share, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, and recycle in a closed-loop system; minimizes use or need for virgin resources in production and design; and reduce waste, pollution, and carbon emissions. For Canada to succeed and continue to showcase global leadership, we urge these proposed plans are put into action in 2021 without delay.

Jo-Anne St .Godard Executive Director Recycling Council of Ontario

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About Recycling Council of Ontario Recycling Council of Ontario is an independent multi-stakeholder environmental charity with extensive experience in policy development, research, and marketing programs. Since 1978 our commitment to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle has driven our actions and is the bedrock of our efforts to facilitate the efficient use of resources to reduce waste and reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions. We are also fully engaged in advancing the circular economy that aims to maximize value and eliminate waste by improving the design and use of materials, products, and business models. Contact Recycling Council of Ontario Communications media@rco.on.ca 416.657.2797, ext.6