Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal has confirmed that the federal government can act to stop plastic pollution. This is a major victory for turtles and fish – and for all of us. It means the federal bans on harmful and unnecessary plastic items such as checkout bags and six-pack rings stand. It also means there is no excuse for the government to hold back: now is the time for bold and ambitious federal action to protect people and the environment from plastic.

The court rejected arguments made by Big Plastic that sadly managed to convince a federal court judge back in 2023. This new decision erases the doubt and confirms that the companies fighting to keep profiting from plastic have no ground to stand on. 

We feel vindicated, and so should you! People across Canada have been telling the government for years that they want action to stop plastic pollution, and they don’t believe that the plastics industry’s ability to make a profit should trump protection of our health and the environment.

The court confirmed it was reasonable for the government to declare plastic manufactured items toxic under the law after seeing the evidence of what plastic items do in the environment. Plastics choke and strangle animals and ruin their habitats. 

There’s so much plastic sold every year that even a small percentage of it tossed in the environment causes deadly harm. Big Plastic tried to downplay these impacts – pointing out that the government believes only one per cent of plastic ends up littered. But the court wasn’t having it. That one per cent amounts to about 29,000 tonnes of plastic tossed into the environment every year. And that tsunami of trashy plastic never goes away … it just breaks up into tinier and tinier pieces that end up in our rivers, lakes, oceans and drinking water. Small organisms even mistake these fragments as food.

So what’s next? After we enjoy a well-deserved celebration of this win, we have to step up our efforts to make sure the government acts on this good news. 

We need strong rules to prevent greenwashing claims that garbage plastic can actually be recycled. We need a plan to reduce plastic packaging at the grocery store. We need corporate investments in convenient and affordable systems to reuse and refill containers instead of throwing them away after a brief use. 

At the same time, the government needs to phase out harmful chemicals that are used in plastic products—toxic additives that leach into our food and drink, or slough off our clothing and products, and end up in our bodies. 

The world needs less plastic. In Canada, we have a clear path to making that a reality.