Canada Eases Single-Use Plastics Rules to Allow US Export, Keeps Domestic Restrictions

Ottawa is easing its ban on single-use plastics to allow exports to the United States, saying the policy’s environmental benefits do not justify the economic costs.

The environment department on Dec. 20 provided notice of proposed amendments to the single-use plastics prohibition regulations that would lift the ban on the production, import, and sale of single-use plastics for export, while maintaining domestic restrictions.

The notice was issued the same day the export ban was set to take effect, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, with Ottawa saying the domestic economy is now facing pressures that did not exist when the regulations were drafted in 2022.

“The prohibition on export will not fulfil an environmental objective commensurate to its economic impact,” the environment department wrote in a regulatory impact analysis statement. “The prohibition on export is not required to ensure that the regulations effectively protect the environment from the harms of plastic pollution.”

Ottawa is retaining the domestic portion of the prohibition regulations—which ban the manufacture, import, and sale of six single-use plastic items, including straws, grocery bags, six-pack rings, stir sticks, cutlery, and disposable polystyrene food containers—saying the measures “remain effective” in achieving the regulations’ environmental objectives.

The ban on manufacturing and importing for most of the products took effect in December 2022, and the ban on selling the products came into force a year later.

The Canadian plastics industry generated $35 billion in revenue in 2023, with approximately 94 percent of the country’s plastics exports (about $14.9 billion) going to the United States, according to the environment department.

The policy change also comes as Ottawa is appealing a federal ruling that struck down its attempt to label all plastic manufactured items as “toxic” under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. In 2023, the Federal Court rejected the cabinet order that classified the items as such, calling it “unreasonable and unconstitutional.”

Then-Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said at the time that Ottawa would continue its efforts to reduce plastic pollution, adding that scientific evidence shows “plastic pollution is everywhere” and that Canadians wanted the government to take action.

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin first announced the federal government’s plan to drop the ban on single-use plastics exports in October, saying the ban was “not expected to lead to a net decrease in plastic waste with few peer countries following suit and many international buyers simply switching away from Canadian suppliers.”

Conservatives have been critical of the Liberal government’s prohibition on single-use plastics. After news of the policy change emerged, Tory MP Dan Albas said this means that while Canada can supply single-use plastics to other countries, Canadians are in effect barred from buying the same products made at home.

“So much for ‘we will be our own best customer,’” he said in a Dec. 22 social media post.

Alberta has also been opposed to the ban, with provincial Environment Minister Rebeca Schulz saying in 2024 that it amounts to a “slap in the face to Alberta and our province’s petrochemical industry.”

Meanwhile, Michael Graydon, CEO of the national industry association Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada, praised Ottawa’s decision, saying it could benefit the domestic economy.

“This is a good policy change as not all countries are as stringent on plastics as Canada and allows for trade diversification,” he said in a Dec. 22 social media post. “Smart move by this govt.”

The Dec. 20 policy change notice says that during consultations on the export ban, industry stakeholders raised concerns that the measure could cause “economic harms such as stranded assets, job losses, and facility closures.”

The document adds that some environmental organizations said the export ban should be delayed rather than fully dismissed, warning that a repeal “would signal that Canada is stepping away from its ambitions.”

Ottawa says the proposed amendments will not change plastic pollution levels in Canada or abroad. It says that while some plastic made for export could become pollution domestically, the net increase would be “negligible,” and that if Canada stops supplying other countries, other global suppliers would likely fill the gap.