Environment committee  Yes, I believe it could hurt the business. It could give the wrong message to the consumer that this product is hazardous, when we know in fact that it saves lives. When you look at masks for COVID-19, it does save lives. We see it in hospitals. To me, saying that plastics are hurting the environment or are toxic is the wrong message.

Environment committee  I definitely have difficulty, because I don't believe they are toxic. I do want a circular economy, but I also want to give the consumer, as my colleague said, the right information. I don't want to call it “toxic” just because I want to use it as recycling. The end doesn't justify the means.

Environment committee  I believe you should work with industry and co-operate with them, but I also believe in a stick-and-carrot policy. Those are the two fundamental things that we learn in Business 101. If there is no incentive like eco-fees.... As Maja mentioned, it could be an incentive. It doesn't have to be a stick, but there should be an implication and incentive to make sure that brand owners are moving towards recyclable products and designing their products to be in line with current recycling infrastructure.

Environment committee  I believe so. I believe it's like swimming in the ocean. If the tide is high, everybody's going to benefit. If the tide is low, everybody's going to suffer. We complement each other, virgin resin and recycling content. It's a mosaic. The answer is hybrid. It's not one or the other; it's a combination.

Environment committee  Thank you for inviting me to the committee. The current federal approach is focused on introducing bans on some plastics. As a recycler, I know this approach fails to recognize the value of post-consumer plastics to industry and society. Bans on plastic products suggest that the material is problematic, when in fact it is the absence of appropriate waste management systems that is the issue.