February 10, 2019
The current linear economy has given us a plastics problem in Canada. The use of plastics today is a highly wasteful, linear, take-make-waste model that is harmful to the environment and misses economic opportunities as value is literally thrown away. This linear economy for plastics requires energy and generates emissions for each production cycle that would largely be avoided, were plastic otherwise reused or effectively recycled.
Canadian individuals are increasingly concerned with plastic waste and environmental impact. With their consumer and citizen power, they are demanding that businesses and governments respond with a more sustainable approach to plastics.
Fortunately, Canada also has a plastics solution. There is the opportunity to move towards a plastics circular economy that produces plastics from renewable sources, is powered by renewable energy, reuses and recycles plastics within the economy without leakage to the environment, and generates no waste or emissions. A plastics circular economy would be a growth economy recirculating plastics in a manner that harnesses their extraordinary material properties but without waste.
