Federal response to environmental innovation tends to make no feeling – Dan in Ottawa
3 min read
Photograph: Parliament of Canada
Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola MP Dan Albas.
In my previous purpose as the Conservative Ecosystem and Climate Improve critic, 1 of the matters I wrote about a couple of occasions was the Liberal government’s proposed ban on solitary-use plastics.
This ban qualified only specific plastics, such as grocery store bags, straws, espresso stir sticks, 6-pack can rings, plastic cutlery and precise foods-takeout containers.
At the time, I did hear some worries. Even so, there was also some assistance.
The subject matter of grocery luggage arose from many (individuals) who took the time to contact me. They pointed out that they saved their plastic grocery shop luggage and would reuse them as rubbish bags. They also questioned if the shift would only drive them to purchase plastic garbage bags (that nonetheless can be purchased) and felt the policy did not make sense mainly because of that element.
Just lately, the Calgary-centered Co-Op grocery retail outlet chain, working in partnership with Leaf Environmental Solutions, produced compostable plastic luggage created from a biodegradable polymer and a by-product or service from fermented corn starch.
These new luggage demand a specialty composting procedure the Metropolis of Calgary has because set up at its municipal landfill. In summary, it is a win-earn scenario, where by know-how allows address an environmental air pollution problem.
There is only one dilemma, the federal government has, so much, refused to exempt these new biodegradable bags from the one-use plastics ban. To increase insult to injury, as a purchaser, you can nevertheless order recycled rubbish bags offered in bulk from nearby suppliers. Having said that, you simply cannot obtain a compostable plastic bag from the exact retailers at checkout.
The federal ban on one-use plastic luggage will go into impact Dec. 20.
From my standpoint, this is nonetheless another instance of the a single-size-matches-all, “Ottawa understands best” tactic that lacks typical sense and can perhaps stifle Canadian environmental innovation.
If this partnership in Calgary invested in the technologies to safely and securely crack down these compostable luggage, why would not the authorities let this common-feeling, pro-natural environment innovation to be exempted from the ban?

At times, it seems that the authorities will stubbornly continue to assistance environmental policies that favour “sticks” instead of “carrots,” this kind of as the carbon tax and clean fuel normal.
It argues these policies are the very best way to incentivize expense in innovation. Nevertheless, when a municipality utilizes it scarce taxpayer pounds to set up this kind of an financial investment, the federal government blocks it. It can be a reduce-reduce-eliminate proposition for buyers, the Co-Op and the City of Calgary.
My inquiries to you this 7 days:
Would you support exempting these compostable plastic luggage from the solitary-use plastic ban in areas that make investments in the landfill infrastructure to procedure them correctly? Why or why not?
Make contact with me at [email protected] or simply call toll-no cost at 1-800-665-8711.
Dan Albas is the Conservative MP for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola.
This short article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not automatically replicate the sights of Castanet.
