The Challenge

Plastics play an important role in our society. However, our plastics system is broken: We take-make-waste. As a result, in Canada alone, three million tonnes a year of plastics waste end up in landfills, escape into the environment, or are burned.

This harms biodiversity and uses up natural resources. It also contributes to the climate crisis, and sees billions of dollars of valuable materials lost to the economy.

More clean-ups and better recycling won’t solve our plastic pollution problem. Achieving a world without plastic waste or pollution will take new levels of innovation and collaboration.

And we must act now: Waiting just five more years to take action risks an additional 80 million metric tons of plastic going into the ocean by 2040.

The Solutions

Four Targets to 2025

Approximately 47% of plastic waste in Canada is due to plastic packaging. And although 32% of that plastic packaging is currently recycled, there is still significant progress to be made, which is why the CPP is focussing its immediate efforts on plastic packaging.

By adopting the global vision and common definitions set out in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment (in partnership with UNEP), the CPP is working towards the following targets, which have been adapted for Canada’s local context:

Accountability and Transparency

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As its first step, the CPP will develop a roadmap to lay out the direction, strategies, and tactics for taking action to 2025. This work began in earnest upon the launch of the CPP in January 2021.

CPP Partners will convene regularly throughout the year to discuss progress and any challenges. The CPP will annually report its collective progress to the targets.

Interested in joining the Canada Plastics Pact? Contact us at info@plasticspact.ca for our information package.

A Circular Economy for Plastics

Currently in Canada, approximately 9% of all plastic is recycled – the other 90% winds up in landfills, or the environment. If you could put a price tag on that plastic waste, it would be labelled a $7.8 billion “lost opportunity.”

Deloitte for the Government of Canada shows that by taking ambitious action, a circular economy for plastics in Canada by 2030 would – in addition to drastically reducing waste – save $500 million in costs every year,; create tens of thousands of jobs; and be a substantial source of greenhouse gas emissions savings.

As the world faces unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we must commit to accelerating the transition to a circular economy — creating solutions that provide vital opportunities for economic growth that restore the environment, create jobs, and benefit society.

The CPP believes Canada is uniquely positioned to build and realize a circular plastics economy.