Green Party of Ontario Leader, Mike Schreiner released the following statement after the government announced the appointment of a special advisor on waste and recycling:

“Although I am in full support of improving our woeful recycling rates, the government must take action to reduce waste in the first place.

We can start by completely eliminating the biggest cause of our plastic pollution problem -- single use plastics.

I urge the Environment Minister to take bold action by announcing a phase out plan for single-use plastics.

To focus only on recycling is to ignore half of the problem.

That’s why the Green Party supports a complete ban on single use plastics by 2025, beginning with a phase-out of the worst offenders in 2020.

Everyone knows that plastic bags, disposable coffee cups, and other one-time use plastics are what’s clogging up our landfills, parks and waterways -- leaving a massive environmental debt piled onto future generations.

Even the best recycling programs in the world have been unable to divert them. That’s why more and more jurisdictions are turning to bans on single-use plastics.

Ontario should follow their lead, using every tool in the toolbox to stop the worst waste products from polluting our local environment.”

source: media release, Green Party of Ontario