Thank you very much for having us today.
FCM is really pleased to welcome this opportunity to bring Canada's local government voice to your study. As you mentioned, I'm here with Matt Gemmel, policy manager in our policy shop. When we get to questions, he may have some technical comments to make.
We know that plastics are part of Canadians' everyday lives, and we know that plastics are an ecological issue. As Canada's residential waste management leaders, municipalities know that this is also an economic issue, a cost centre in municipal budgets that competes with other local priorities. Whether it's plastic bags, straws, cutlery, packaging, etc., all of these single-use plastics are swelling landfill sites, littering our shorelines and our natural spaces and, in some cases, damaging municipal machinery and increasing the costs of repairs.
For municipalities, this is a critical issue, and municipalities are taking action. They're implementing waste reduction strategies, processing recyclables through blue box programs, using innovative technologies to divert recyclables from landfill, banning the most destructive products and educating Canadians on sustainable consumption and waste management. Nationally, FCM's board has adopted five resolutions on plastics that are driving our policy and informing our work, including last fall's submission to CCME.
The core of FCM's message is always the same. This is a very complex challenge, and there are roles for all orders of government, industry and many stakeholders. Federal leadership in particular is vital, and that leadership only starts with investments. For instance, we see new plastics entering the Canadian markets that are technically recyclable, but that's meaningless if local infrastructure can't handle them or if there's no value in the commodity markets.
In the absence of changes in the current approach, new investments will be required to help municipalities and the private sector collect, sort and process plastic. This should include investments in state-of-the-art optical sorting facilities and the latest mechanical and chemical plastic recycling technologies.
However, in addition to investments, federal leadership also means putting forward smart policies that drive change. Reducing plastic waste will require transitioning to a circular economy for plastics. That means keeping plastic products in the economy and out of the environment. That means zero waste. But with the low cost to make and dispose of plastic, industry has little incentive to lead this transition. That's why we need federal policy leadership. As we'll set out, the federal government has jurisdiction under CEPA—as we've also just heard from Ecojustice—to take both regulatory and non-regulatory action to reduce plastic waste.
Of course, federal government leadership also means convening key players to guide Canada's transition to that circular economy for plastics. We see promise in the Canada-wide strategy on zero plastic waste, put forward by federal, provincial and territorial environment ministers last November. A well-designed strategy should help coordinate and enhance action across all orders of government. That includes empowering municipalities to help achieve national and international waste reduction targets. That empowering of municipalities is part of our call more broadly for a modernizing of the municipal-federal relationship, so that municipalities are engaged in all federal strategies that touch our cities and communities.
The strategy should also set out the role of industry, where manufacturers, distributors and retailers help manage plastic products throughout their life cycle. The role of industry is critical. Extended producer responsibility programs make industry directly responsible for reducing resource consumption. Most provinces and territories already have some form of EPR in place, but these need to be stronger, better coordinated and bolstered by common definitions and performance standards for plastic. It is why we say that the federal government can lead that effort by using existing powers in CEPA.
FCM is calling on the federal government to list plastic waste as a regulated substance under CEPA's schedule 1. By doing this, the federal government can establish a common policy framework to address plastic waste across the country. The federal government can define who is a producer. It can set out responsibilities for producers. It can develop and enforce standards for the recyclability and compostability of packaging and plastic products. It can develop performance targets for the amount of plastic that must be recovered and reused or recycled. Using CEPA to strengthen and coordinate EPR will create the regulatory framework for an integrated value chain, from virgin resin production to packaging, manufacturing and product design, through to retail collection, sorting and processing and reuse.
The costs of coping with the growing plastic waste stream cannot continue to fall on property taxpayers. These costs are forcing fiscally limited municipalities to trade off effective waste management against other local priorities. Industry needs to pay for the plastic pollution it creates. When that happens, price signals will drive industry to redesign packaging and plastic products. It's the smart way forward, and it is urgent. Our costs are growing as plastic in the waste stream grows, and as global markets for recycled plastics tighten up. As we all know, China has recently moved to limit imports for plastic and other recycled materials.
Canada needs to get ahead of this. It can only happen with federal leadership.
I'll close by underlining that municipalities are your front-line partners in this challenge, and our partnership has a track record of success to build on. Just look at FCM's green municipal fund, or the municipalities for climate innovation program. Both are federal-municipal partnerships. Both are bringing life to innovative waste management solutions. With these new investments, these kinds of initiatives can be expanded into the plastic space, replicated and scaled nationwide.
We all have a stake in meeting national and international targets, and building better lives for Canadians. We have a lot of work to do, and with industry and each order of government all playing their respective parts, Canada can make progress in reducing plastic pollution and adopting more resource-efficient resources to manage plastic.
Thank you.