Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Carol Hochu. I am president and CEO of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association. Joining me today is Joe Hruska, our vice-president of sustainability. We're pleased to present a few slides to talk about getting to zero plastic waste.
This slide provides a very high-level overview of the Canadian plastics industry. Based on the testimony you heard on Monday from the ECCC officials as well as other background material that's been provided to you, I won't spend much time here other than to say that the industry is sizeable in Canada in terms of the number of establishments, the number of shipments, the contribution to GDP, and the number of Canadians employed. Most of the end-use markets for plastics are in the packaging space, which is the largest one, followed by building and construction materials and then automotive.
In terms of geography, establishments and output are concentrated primarily in three provinces. Ontario is first. Quebec is second. British Columbia is third.
In terms of our association, we have been the national voice for and leader in plastics sustainability since 1943. We count as our members companies that are located across Canada and come from throughout the plastics value chain. What does that mean? It means companies that supply resin and other raw materials. It means processors and converters that take those raw materials and turn them into those packaging, automotive, building and construction materials. It means equipment suppliers. It means brand owners, companies that are in the consumer packaged goods space such as P&G, Unilever and so on. Of course, it also means recyclers. Anyone who touches plastics throughout the value chain is eligible for membership and is considered a member of the plastics value chain.
Our association has three priorities: outreach, communicating the sustainable benefits of plastics; issues and opportunities management; and last but certainly not least, sustainability leadership, which is the focus of our conversation today.
I wanted to begin with our view, which is that plastics and indeed litter of any kind in the environment are unacceptable. I think you heard from your witnesses on Monday that plastics deliver significant societal benefits. Plastics innovations provide us with quality of life, convenience, safety and enjoyment, improvements in the health care and food spoilage areas, as well as in transportation, in terms of greenhouse gas and resource savings.
The many benefits that plastics confer will be threatened or harmed if plastic litter harms our natural environment. We want to let this committee know that the entire value chain of our association and our members is a partner that wants to work with all of civil society to reduce waste.
In 2018, our association, along with the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada and the American Chemistry Council, made aggressive commitments regarding our shared societal goals, specifically as they relate to plastic packaging.
Our interim goal is that 100% of plastic packaging be recyclable or recoverable by 2030. Our 2040 goal is that 100% of plastic packaging be reused, recycled or recovered. Joe will elaborate on how we're going to get there.
Additionally, the industry is naturally very concerned about marine litter. Globally there is a program called Operation Clean Sweep, which is containing resin pellets, flakes and powder from escaping into the natural environment. CPIA is the Canadian licensee for Operation Clean Sweep.
In addition to the two goals previously stated, 2030 and 2040, we also have a goal that all of the members of our association will be signatories to Operation Clean Sweep by 2022. Additionally, 100% of the Canadian resin manufacturing sites operated by our members will participate in a higher level program called OCS blue by 2022.
The infographic on the next slide speaks to plastics in a circular economy. Joe will elaborate in just a moment. In terms of plastic production, it's interesting to note that only 3% of all energy produced goes into the actual manufacture of plastic production.
Turning to the next slide, I'm sure you heard from the government officials on Monday in terms of the marine litter issue that the world is quite seized with. Most plastic waste enters the ocean as a result of mismanaged waste from a handful of countries. You can see the top five countries here on the screen. They tend to be from 10 rivers—eight in Southeast Asia and two in Africa. It is interesting to note that Canada ranks very low at 112th. On a per capita basis, that's 187th out of about 195 countries. Clearly, Canada is not a lead contributor to the ocean marine litter issue. Naturally, Canada as a country—as was demonstrated by Canada's leadership role in the G7 last year—as well as all of the global plastics industry are indeed concerned about marine litter and are actively engaged in finding solutions. That includes, as recently as January, an announcement of the alliance to end plastic waste with endplasticwaste.org. We'll be happy to send some information under separate cover.
With that, I would like to turn the remainder of the presentation over to Joe to talk about our efforts in plastics sustainability leadership.