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The Latest on Canada’s Ban on Single-Use Plastics: Timelines and Alternatives for Restaurant Operators

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 15, 2022

In June of this year, the Government of Canada published the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations. The Regulations prohibit the manufacture, import, and sale of the following categories of single-use plastics that pose a threat to the environment and are commonly used by foodservice businesses:

  • Cutlery (includes knives, forks, spoons, sporks, and chopsticks);
  • Foodservice ware designed for serving or transporting food or beverage that is ready to be consumed and
    • is a clamshell container, lidded container, box, cup, plate or bowl; and
    • contains expanded or extruded polystyrene foam, polyvinyl chloride, carbon black or an oxo-degradable plastic.
  • Stir sticks designed to stir or mix beverages, or to prevent a beverage from spilling from the lid of its container
  • Straws includes straight drinking straws and flexible straws, which have a corrugated section that allows the straw to bend, packaged with beverage containers (i.e. juice boxes and pouches)
  • Checkout bags
  • Ring carriers flexible and designed to surround beverage containers in order to carry them together

While the ban on manufacturing and importing of these single-use plastics will come into effect on December 20, 2022 (barring exceptions in specific cases), the Canadian government is giving businesses time to deplete their existing stock of these items and their sale will be prohibited as of December 2023.