Wayne Stetski and Nathan Cullen are leading a public roundtable in Cranbrook on Tuesday, as the two NDP MPs will be discussing plastic waste reduction in Canada.
Stetski, MP of Kootenay-Columbia and Cullen, MP of Skeena-Bulkley Valley will both be hosting the roundtable at the Cranbrook Public Library from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm.
The event is coming off a recent federal government report called “The Last Straw: Turning the Tide on Plastic Pollution in Canada” from the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable. The report has 21 total recommendations, all intended to divert plastics from landfills, increase the recyclability of plastics, and have plastic recycling systems and product standards be cohesive and collaborative.
The two NDP MPs said the report stressed the need for increased cooperation among all levels of government, as well as industry to address plastic pollution in Canada, calling on the federal government to set more ambitious targets to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030 while also committing to banning single-use plastic products where warranted.
“With only 9% of plastic in Canada being recycled, and most of it ending up in the landfill, we need to do better, both for the planet and for future generations,” said Stetski. “It may be ambitious to envision a Canada with zero plastic waste, but we owe it to our children and grandchildren to take action now to solve our plastics problem.”
“Our oceans are drowning in plastics and our municipalities pay billions every year to send waste to landfills,” said Cullen. “By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.”
Cullen recently introduced Bill C-429 into Parliament, also known as the Zero Waste Packaging Act.
“The aim of this bill is to reduce waste – saving both the planet and the cost to municipalities.”
The public is invited to attend the public roundtable on plastic waste reduction at the Cranbrook Public Library from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm on Tuesday.