Six-Point Critical Analysis of Current Event - CANADA AIMS TO BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTICS BY 2021

Six-Point Critical Analysis of Current Event - CANADA AIMS TO BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTICS BY 2021

1. Exploratory                                    

The Prime Minister of Canada announced in 2019 that the government will be taking steps to ban the usage of single use plastics by 2021. At that time, it was estimated that Canada was set to throw away $11 billion worth of single use plastics by 2030. Canada recycles less than 10 percent of all its plastic waste, leaving the majority to be sent to landfills.

2. Diagnostic                                       

Canada wants to reduce harm to the environment via cleaning up their contribution to the plastic waste crisis. Previously “rich” countries would ship their plastic waste to “poor” countries for processing and recycling but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do that; countries like China have stopped buying plastic scrap.

3. Cause and Effect                          

If Canada can implement regulations that will cut down on the amount of single use plastics being used each day, less plastic waste will be sent to landfills each year, resulting in a reduction in harm overall for the environment. Additionally, as a result of China stopping plastic waste recycling, other countries (Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia) that purchased plastic waste are becoming overwhelmed with the amount of plastic they’re receiving (Parker). These countries are now becoming somewhat of a dumping ground for plastic waste rather than a place where it goes to be recycled.

4. Priority                                             

The most important issue in this is reducing the amount of plastic waste that Canada produces. I think Canada understandably wants to be on the right side of history and wants to not just find a way to deal with plastic waste but to reduce it or even find ways to eliminate it entirely.

5. Application                                     

I think most nations are making some effort to reduce plastic pollution, developed or not. The poorer countries referenced in the offshoot article are arguably making more of an effort by trying to reuse the existing plastic trash even if it’s not an ideal process. In an art history class I took previously we watched the film Waste Land which followed catadores who worked to pull plastic waste out of a landfill in Brazil. The film showed how they were using plastic waste to make art and in turn make money off of that art. It was an interesting narrative on poverty and the human condition, but also the plastic waste issue. There are people in America who do the same thing – collecting plastic waste to make jewelry or other art to sell on platforms like etsy. It’s interesting to see how people are taking something objectively negative and turning it into a positive.

6. Critical                                              

I think this has changed my thinking in some ways. I am admittedly somewhat pessimistic about governmental efforts in America to reduce plastic pollution and I think that bleeds into my opinions about other nations so it’s refreshing to see other countries making efforts to change. I recall the Texas Supreme Court ruling against a plastic bag ban in Laredo back in 2018 (Platoff) and ultimately, in my mind, the decision came down to money – businesses (or, more likely, the lawyers for the petrochemical companies that produce plastic bags) successfully argued against the ban, stating that the plastic bag was part of the product that consumers were purchasing and not giving the customer a way to carry their purchases would affect business negatively. I think globally more people are deciding that plastic waste is objectively bad, but as long as there is money to be made off of plastic there will always be a struggle to control it.

 

References

Howard, Brian C., et al. "CANADA AIMS TO BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTICS BY 2021." Nationalgeographic.com, 10 June 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/ocean-plastic-pollution-solutions.

Parker, Laura. "Shipping plastic waste to poor countries just got harder." Nationalgeographic.com, 10 May 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/shipping-plastic-waste-to-poor-countires-just-got-harder.

Platoff, Emma. "Texas Supreme Court strikes down Laredo's plastic bag ban, likely ending others." The Texas Tribune, 22 June 2018, www.texastribune.org/2018/06/22/texas-supreme-court-rules-bag-bans/.

 

 


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