OTTAWA – Since the new rules to reduce global plastic waste exports took effect in 2011, Canada’s shipments grew by more than 13 percent. The bulk of this plastic waste is going to the United States without knowing where it will end up.
Steven Guilbeault, Environment Minister said that this lackadaisical approach for exporting plastic trash must be stopped.
Guilbeault stated in an interview that she was very concerned about the situation and felt that we must do better.
“If we ship plastics that are aimed to be recycled, we need to make sure that it happens.” It’s not clear to my knowledge that this is always true. In fact, there have been several instances where it wasn’t.”
Guilbeault stated that he is in talks with his officials to find solutions to the problem, “because right now, we’re not doing very well.”
Canada’s history of plastic waste exports has been criticized internationally. In 2019, shipments of garbage that were falsely labeled as plastics for recycling led the country to a diplomatic dispute with the Philippines.
It brought to light the global garbage trade, which saw rich countries placing their trash on containers bound for the developing world. The trash often ends up in landfills, or burned, creating a host of health and environmental problems.
Canada responded to that embarrassment by pledging to work with the Canada Border Services Agency in order to stop the export of contaminated plastic. It also agreed to amend the United Nations Basel Convention on Hazardous Waste that added mixed plastic waste to the substances that were covered by the conventions rules.
On paper, this meant that Canada could not export waste to any other convention member countries after Jan. 1, 2021. Canada would need to have prior informed consent from the import country and confirmation as to how the waste was disposed of.
However, Canada quietly signed an accord with the United States that allowed free flow of plastics between the two countries a few months before these amendments became effective. The agreement was made even though the United States is not a party the Basel Convention. The agreement is permissible under Basel rules. However, the U.S. isn’t bound by the convention and can do whatever it pleases with the waste.
The Basel Action Network collected trade data showing that the United States exported more than 340 million kilograms plastic waste to just four countries in 2021: India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Kathleen Ruff, Head of Right On Canada, which advocates against all hazardous waste exports, called Canada-U. S. agreement “a massive loophole that violates Basel Convention because it allows us to export huge amounts plastic and other hazardous waste to the U.S. with none controls to stop our wastes from being sent to developing countries.”
She said, “This isn’t the environmental leadership that we were promised.”
The Basel Convention plastic amendments were meant to reduce total plastic waste exports. However, Canada’s plastic waste shipments rose by 13% to 170,000,000 kilograms in the 12 months following the amendments were implemented. This is roughly the same weight as 17 billion half-litre plastic containers.
Its total shipments to the U.S. amounted to 158 million kilograms. This is an increase of 16 percent from 2020 and 92% of total exports.
The total for 2021 is the highest since 2017, when nearly 200 kilograms were exported. Less than 60% of that was to the U.S.
Gord Johns of Vancouver Island NDP, who passed a motion for a national strategy to combat plastic pollution, stated that Canada’s record in plastic pollution is “horrible.”
He stated that Guilbeault was serious about plastic waste and would get Canada to sign the complete Basel Convention amendment. It would ban the exportation of hazardous waste including most plastics without consent from importing nations.
Canada is not among the 188 Basel Convention parties that have ratified the amendment.
He said, “Unless and until Canada joins the 100 nations that accept that amend, they’re no longer bound by it.” “And the amendment makes hazardous waste exports from Canada illegal to developing countries. So the question is, “Why does Canada refuse join the rest of world?”
This report was published by The Canadian Press on March 4, 2022.
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