Share your thoughts: Development of a pollution prevention (P2) planning notice for primary food plastic packaging

Official title: Share your thoughts: Development of a pollution prevention (P2) planning notice for primary food plastic packaging: Targets for reduction, reuse, redesign, and recycled content

Who is the focus of this consultation

We would like to engage with:

• persons or classes of persons who:
  • operate a chain of: 
    • supermarkets
    • grocery stores 
    • supercentres and/or warehouse clubs
      • their subsidiaries and franchises, that retail general lines of fresh and prepared food products including:
        • fresh and prepared meats
        • poultry and seafood
        • canned and frozen foods
        • fresh fruits and vegetables
        • various dairy products, and
  • generate grocery retail sales in Canada over $4 billion annually
• food and beverage processing industry (that is brands)
• food retail and sectoral associations
• non-governmental organizations
• provinces and territories
• local governments

We welcome feedback from all Canadians. The Notice is not intended to capture:

• small businesses
• independent grocers
• speciality food stores
• convenience stores
• farmers markets

Key questions for input

Ideas and input are sought on:

• objectives and factors to consider to address primary food plastic packaging waste
• supply chain considerations and other barriers to achieving objectives
• reporting and measuring success
• data and insights from food retailers on plastic footprint

Join in: How to participate

Send us an email:

Please send an email to: plastiques-plastics@ec.gc.ca

Participate by mail:

Please send a letter with your comments to:

Tracey Spack, Director
Plastics Regulatory Affairs Division
Environment and Climate Change Canada
351 Saint-Joseph Boulevard
Gatineau QC  K1A 0H3

Read our privacy statement for this consultation.

Key documents for discussion

• Pollution prevention planning notice for primary food plastic packaging: Targets for reduction, reuse, redesign, and recycled content

Related information

We have a comprehensive agenda to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030. As part of this agenda, the Government is working with partners and stakeholders on a range of measures to prevent plastic pollution and improve the rate at which plastics is recovered at end-of-life and re-circulated in the Canadian economy. These measures include:

• banning harmful single-use plastics, which will prevent 22,000 tonnes of plastic pollution and 1.3 million tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste over 10 years, which is equivalent to over a million garbage bags full of litter
• developing, in collaboration with provinces and territories, guidance to facilitate consistent policies that make producers responsible for recycling systems, which will improve collection and recycling infrastructure
• establishing a federal plastics registry that requires producers of plastic products to report annually on plastics in the Canadian economy
• requiring that plastic packaging in Canada contain at least 50% recycled content by 2030, in particular by developing regulations that will set minimum percentage recycled content requirements
• introducing labelling rules that prohibit the use of the chasing-arrows symbol on plastic products unless 80% of Canada’s recycling facilities accept, and have reliable end markets for, these products
• addressing inaccurate degradability and compostability labelling claims for plastic products unless 80% of Canadians in a province or territory have access to recycling systems that accept, sort, and re-process these plastics

Pollution prevention planning notices

Recycled content and labelling rules for plastics: regulatory framework paper

Government of Canada delivers on commitment to ban harmful single-use plastics

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 155, Number 10: Final Order Adding plastic manufactured items to Schedule 1 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

Canada’s Zero Plastic Waste Agenda

Science assessment of plastic pollution