CIAC welcomes Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste

November 26, 2018

The Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) welcomed the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment’s (CCME) Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste released Friday, November 23.

CIAC supports the urgency expressed, the clear goals and the comprehensive strategy that recognizes the distinct contributions required by all components of society.

Earlier this year, CIAC, along with the Canadian Plastics Industry Association and their members announced ambitious waste reduction targets for the extended plastics value chain in Canada:

• A new aspirational goal of 100 per cent of plastics packaging being reused, recycled, or recovered by 2040.
• An aggressive interim goal of 100 per cent of plastics packaging being recyclable or recoverable by 2030.

Achieving these goals will require significant investment across the value chain in new and upgraded infrastructure and innovation in new forms of recycling, such as chemical recycling. Success will also require widespread public participation in recycling and recovery programs.

“Industry has a role to play in designing materials and applications for durability, reuse and recyclability, but addressing the issue of plastic waste will require actions from society as a whole and from all of us as individuals. We are pleased to see that the Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste takes a holistic approach to the issue of tackling plastic waste,” said Bob Masterson, President and CEO of CIAC.

CIAC and its members look forward to working with the Alberta Minister of Environment and Parks, Shannon Phillips, the Ontario Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, Rod Phillips, the Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, Catherine McKenna, as well as their colleagues to achieving the vision of a zero-plastics waste future.