In response to the City of Montreal’s announcement concerning its single-use plastic reduction strategy, Agnès Le Rouzic, Oceans & Plastic Campaigner at Greenpeace Canada, said:
“We welcome the Plante administration’s plans to regulate the use of throwaway plastics and its desire to implement bans of problematic single-use plastics like take-out containers, straws, cutlery and polystyrene but we need governments to act at a faster pace. While it is encouraging to see the City of Montreal join other major cities in tackling plastic pollution at the source, waiting until 2020 to pass regulations only delays what should have already been done – an immediate ban on the most problematic single-use plastics.”
In September 2018, as part of a national and global day of beach cleanups and brand audits, Greenpeace conducted a brand audit in Montreal in collaboration with volunteers from Mission 100 tonnes. Tim Hortons take-out cups were the most commonly found item in the environment, followed by lids and 500 ml plastic bottles. In what has been deemed a recycling crisis, The City of Montreal and Quebec in general, like the rest of the world, have been unable to keep up with the quantity of plastic and other waste generated.
“The City of Montreal will pay close to $30 million for the 2019-2020 period to maintain its sorting centre and prevent tonnes of plastic waste from going to landfill. Plastic waste is clogging our waste streams, destroying already fragile ecosystems like the Saint Lawrence River and is costing taxpayers millions of dollars. The City of Montreal must accelerate its decision-making process on the issue of single-use plastics, as any delay simply increases the cost of management of our growing waste problem and ultimately, the cost to our planet. A comprehensive approach to plastic waste and pollution needs to be implemented that bans unnecessary single-use plastics, holds corporations accountable for their products, and supports a new product delivery system not centred on our throwaway culture,” added Le Rouzic.
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For more information, please contact:
Philippa Duchastel de Montrouge, Communications Officer, Greenpeace Canada, [email protected]; +1 (514) 929-8227
