Environment Committee on June 11th, 2026

[Peter Ross]

I most certainly can. There are thousands of examples.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Is Canada's decision to suspend the ban on plastic exports holding it back in the fight against plastic pollution?

[Peter Ross]

Could you please repeat the question?

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Is Canada's decision to suspend the ban on plastic exports holding it back in the fight against plastic pollution?

[Peter Ross]

Oceans are global. There are no borders when it comes to pollutants. It takes eight days for contaminants carried by clouds to travel from Asia to our coastal waters in Vancouver. It takes eight days when they're transported by air. That likely includes plastic fibres.

When pollutants from Asia are carried by ocean currents, it takes a year for them to reach our coastal waters in Vancouver. Therefore, if we export problems, eventually they'll end up in our coastal waters.

It has been estimated that most of the polyester microfibres found in the Arctic originated in the North Atlantic, Europe, North America and so on. They are contaminating our waters in the Arctic.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

We will now turn to Mr. Bexte for five minutes.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

I really appreciate your time, and I hope we can benefit from your wisdom. I have so many questions.

Dr. Ross, could you please let the committee know what proportion of marine plastics comes from Canada, globally, or conversely, what comes from the rest of the world?

[Peter Ross]

That's a great question and an important question. We want to know our place in the world because we want our actions, our behaviours and our regulations to deal with sources in Canada. Canada is a small player in the global economy, and if we look at macroplastics, think beverage bottles, single-use—

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

My time is limited, so please be succinct.

[Peter Ross]

Yes. Most of the macroplastic litter it's agreed is found in Southeast Asia where there is virtually no recycling system and no safe water to drink, so you want to drink bottled water that you can be assured is safe. In Canada, we have been tightening up our rules. We have blue bins that are very effective at preventing the loss into the environment—

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you. I just wanted to get at the number that hits the water and where it comes from globally.

Mr. Thurlow, what message do you think it sends to industry and people when products can be manufactured in Canada—and I know you kind of addressed this question, or didn't address it earlier—can be exported from Canada but not sold to Canadians.

What I want to get at, ultimately, are the unintended consequences of some of our actions. We all agree that we don't want pollution, but I don't know that we're going about it the right way. You illustrate some important things about a circular economy, which I'll get into later, but what about the hypocrisy of the actions we've taken so far?

[W. Scott Thurlow]

I'm not sure I would use the word “hypocrisy”. I would refer the committee to the Canada Gazette, where the very document that was tabled by Minister Dabrusin illustrated whether or not there was going to be a cost-benefit analysis to the decision to have the rule in place, and I think that language speaks for itself.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Okay, thank you.

Eight days from Asia, one year by water from Asia, illustrates a lot that what we do here, impacting Canadians with unintended consequences, is not necessarily the first order course of action that will give the biggest benefit.

Canadians are being told daily that they should pay more for groceries, that they should accept fewer choices. Food waste is going to become a problem. Affordability is a problem. We say quite clearly that plastics are useful. This is why we have plastics, but prohibiting their use won't reduce global plastic pollution significantly, from the Canadian perspective, in the near term.

What other behaviours should be recommended to go to the circular economy that you were talking about, Mr. Thurlow?

[W. Scott Thurlow]

Again, the very first thing I would recommend is some kind of a recycled content mandate for plastic. Environment Canada has begun that type of consultation. They haven't designed an instrument for public dissemination yet.

I would also remind the committee that when you're walking down the street, there are certain types of plastics that you don't see. You mentioned the stubby. Well, you don't see plastic liquor bottles. Why? There's a deposit return. You don't see certain types of cans because of deposit return.

You have to look at what is working and emulate that model to as many of the other things that would be entering the natural environment as possible.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I think we have to be careful as well—and I'd like your views on this—about subsequent unintended consequences because of the few options that are available. It's been mentioned quite often that a lot of the ocean-borne microplastics are from our clothes. We don't have enough natural fibre in the world to clothe the people in the world. What options do we have?

[W. Scott Thurlow]

It's a fair point. We also have a growing world population which needs food. Without the use of plastic packaging, I think you'd see a drastic increase in food waste. We already have very poor numbers on food waste. I think those numbers are going to go up incredibly without the advent of more use of plastic packaging. This is particularly acute in rural and remote areas where they don't have the same access to the infrastructure that you see in the big cities.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I can't help but think about the experience of going for a milkshake now. I have to use four straws now, when I used to have one plastic straw. It just doesn't square the circle.

I think my time is up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bexte.

We'll now turn to Mr. Fanjoy for five minutes.

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

Thank you.

Thank you, witnesses.

I'd like to start with you, Dr. Rochman.

First of all, I've heard from a number of people about the great work that's happening at the University of Toronto on sustainability, and I'm sure you're part of that.

In the decades of your studying plastic pollution, have you uncovered any evidence that the plastics industry is capable of solving this problem on their own?

[Chelsea Rochman]

That's a great question. Have I uncovered evidence of the plastics industry solving it? We still have the problem, so I'm not sure it's been solved yet.

One of the issues is that the supply chain is diverse. It's not just the people who make the pellets. They have to work with the people who mould it into a product. That product has to be made in such a way that it's practically recyclable, meaning that if something is marketed to be colourful and beautiful, it doesn't recycle very well. Then we need to have that waste management infrastructure. I fully agree that we need to increase this. Then it needs to be recycled.

What we consider to be the most recoverable plastic is in PET water bottles. Right now, in Canada, we recycle 20% of PET. Why? It's not working, so we need a better full system. Single-use plastics bans seem to be, at least, reducing what we see in the environment, which is protecting wildlife. What we've banned so far isn't packaging. It's other items.

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

We have a bit of a throwaway culture. We're going to have to deal with that. There is no “away” with plastic. It all goes somewhere. I have a community in my riding of Carleton that could possibly be the site of a future landfill. They're very concerned about that. Whether that garbage goes to our riding or someplace else in Canada, or migrates around the world, someone is paying a price for that. Also, someone is profiting from that.

How do we balance the desire to have the benefits that plastics have delivered—I don't argue that there are some benefits—with mitigating the toxic mass they're creating in our environment?

[Chelsea Rochman]

There are a lot of great uses for plastic material, from cars and airplanes to medical equipment, but about 40% to 50% of all the plastics we create are single-use plastics. Some, you may argue, are necessary, and some are less necessary. The policy that was put in place here is that, if it is less necessary, it's replaceable. It's often found in the environment. That's the one you can reduce.

Human behaviour change is really hard, but it's a big part of the equation. When we interview people on the street and in restaurants about reusable foodware and ask them about their willingness to change, people are willing to change. They want those solutions in place.

Yes, we can reduce...and protect the environment but still use the plastics that I think are really important. I think we need both.

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

Thank you.

Dr. Ross, in your research, what is the status of substitutes for single-use plastics that can meet our needs but be less harmful, or even beneficial, to the environment?

[Peter Ross]

That's a great question.

My research has been focused on pollution, which is what I find in our waterways, our wildlife and our indigenous foods. That includes many harmful chemicals that Canada has since banned. Look at the leadership role Canada played in developing the Stockholm Convention to eliminate persistent organic pollutants. It was science-based. It was concerned about the Inuit. It took action. Now the world has rallied around that treaty. It's very effective in improving the health and safety of our indigenous foods and wildlife.

In terms of innovation, in Vancouver, there are lots of products. You can go into a coffee shop and use their cup. You can use a paper cup. Sometimes they're lined with plastic. We have to be careful. There are a lot of bamboo plates. There are coconut products. There are all sorts of things going on. I put it to you that there is a lot of innovation and there is a Canadian economy around alternative materials.

I encourage the committee to not just think about plastics as a material. Think also about alternatives to those plastics. There's money in this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you, Mr. Fanjoy.

Mr. Bonin, the floor is now yours for two and a half minutes.