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ARTICLE · 23 JULY 2021

Plan For The Ban: Plastics Classified As "Toxic Substance" Under Canadian Environmental Protection Act

McMillan LLP
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Last fall, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change announced the federal government's next steps towards achieving a plastic waste-free Canada.

CanadaEnvironment
Talia Gordner
Talia Gordner
Julia Loney
Julia Loney
Ralph Cuervo-Lorens
Ralph Cuervo-Lorens
Julianna Ivanyi
Julianna Ivanyi
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Last fall, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change announced the federal government's next steps towards achieving a plastic waste-free Canada. Since then, several notable changes in plastic regulation have occurred on the federal front. Plastics have now been classified under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 19991 ("CEPA") as a "toxic substance". In addition, there are proposed amendments to CEPA currently being considered by the federal government that would prohibit the export of plastics to foreign jurisdictions for final disposal.

This is the third bulletin in our "Plan for the Ban" series regarding prohibitions and increased regulation regarding single-use plastics.2 This bulletin focuses on the potential impacts to businesses arising from these recent and proposed amendments to CEPA.

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The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.

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