A scientific assessment has confirmed enormous amounts of waste and definite harm to wildlife. The report says that in 2016, 29,000 tonnes of plastic garbage ended up as litter in Canada.
The French government’s goal is to phase out all single-use plastics by 2040, in accordance with European Union directives, but the general public is already way ahead of the deadlines and we can learn from them.
It has been one year since Prince Edward Island in Canada banned single-use plastic bags, and the results are impressive. It used to collect 15-16 million plastic bags annually for disposal, but all those have now disappeared.
Non-degradable bags will be banned in major cities by the end of 2020 and in all cities and towns by 2022. The restaurant industry will also be banned from using single-use straws by the end of 2020.
Big moves to ban plastic are big news – and I dare say, "radical." It's not easy bucking big oil and the plastic industry, nor is it easy to convince consumers to give up the convenience of disposables.
No list of banned products has been released yet, but it will likely include plastic shopping bags, straws, disposable cutlery, cotton swabs with plastic sticks, drink stirrers, and takeout food containers and cups.
Mexico City has joined a growing number of cities in banning single-use plastic bags. Mexico City has had problems with excessive amounts of trash for years now. Plastic only recently became recyclable in the city.
Hawaii's most populated island is implementing tough new rules for packaging. Honolulu City will ban food and beverages from being served in polystyrene containers and with disposable utensils or plastic straws from 2021.
The foam ban will take effect on January 1, 2020 and is just one of the actions the city of Vancouver, Canada is taking to reduce single-use item waste in support of its zero-waste goal for 2040.
Plastic bags will be banned in retail and restaurants as of 2022. The ban will apply to bags under 50 microns but not to biodegradable bags. However, the ban will not apply to bags used for packing fresh fish and meat, bulk food and ice.
Scotland has banned plastic-stemmed cotton swabs, in a move to help reduce plastic pollution in the country. Bits of plastic Q-tips get washed up onto beaches and are harmful to marine life and local animals.
India is set to impose a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups and straws on Oct. 2, officials said, in its most sweeping measure yet to stamp out single-use plastics from cities and villages that rank among the world’s most polluted.
The ban is part of a nationwide effort to curb plastic pollution, which has overwhelmed the tiny country in recent years. Vanuatu's is believed to be the first such ban on disposable diapers anywhere in the world.
Come March of next year, all New Yorkers will be required to bring their own reusable containers to the grocery store after a bill banning single-use plastic bags was signed into law on Monday.
Commencing on 1 March 2020, cities will have the choice to opt in to a five cents fee for a paper bag, two cents of which will go into local schemes that buy reusable bags for low-income consumers.
