We believe it will.
I am also on the executive of the plastics division of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, the CIAC. We have numerous individual companies, SMEs, that operate throughout Canada, and the only products that they manufacture are single-use plastic bags and straws.
The first step in designating plastic-manufactured items on schedule 1, and deeming them toxic, is the government's plan to implement a series of bans. A number of the bans the government is looking at putting in place are of products that are only manufactured by these companies. The difficulty is this. We've asked the federal government that if it implements these bans, will it not allow these products to be manufactured, imported or exported? To date, the government has not answered that question. I'm not sure it has developed that concept yet. The reality is that if you're no longer able to manufacture straws, stir sticks or single-use plastic bags in Canada, these companies will go out of business.
The chill on the investment cycle is real. Dow Canada, like many companies in the resin producer chain, continues to look at where we're going to invest our next facilities. Canada is very much at the forefront. We haven't received much investment in the petrochemical sector over the last decade. It's been mainly going to other parts of the world, mainly the U.S.
The difficulty is that we manufacture virgin resin. If Canada is looking at deeming the product we manufacture toxic, we are not sure about the long-term ramifications. If you invest billions of dollars in these facilities and their lifespan is 40 to 50 years, it can be an insurmountable risk to someone looking at investing in Canada.
The reality is that the toxic designation is incorrect. The federal government has indicated that plastic products are not toxic. The mechanism the government is utilizing, by adding it to schedule 1 in CEPA, is known as the toxic substances list. We were pleased that the Environment Minister indicated that the government was going to undertake CEPA reform.
One of the aspects of that is changing the name and structure of schedule 1, looking at potentially doing it in two-parts: items of very high concern and items of less concern. We're unsure where plastic-manufactured items would go on that spectrum, but our ask of the government is that if it's doing a CEPA reform/review, to not add anything to CEPA while that's being undertaken.
We don't believe plastic-manufactured items, or plastic of any content, belong in CEPA. That's why we've been advocating for a national framework to deal with plastic waste, not the items made of plastic themselves.