Single-Use Plastic Bans: Good for Our Food, Water and Planet

Washington, D.C. – Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada will ban single-use plastics as early as 2021, following on a similar move by the EU earlier this year. The government is considering items such as bottled water, plastic bags and straws.

In response, Food & Water Watch released the following statement from Executive Director Wenonah Hauter:

“This is a welcome development. Bans on single-use plastics will help address the growing threat of microplastics in our food, water and air—the health effects of which are unknown. They also send a powerful signal that the world does not welcome more climate-damaging fracked gas to create plastic. Cheap natural gas has helped the petrochemical industry thrive. New research from Food & Water Watch shows that more than 300 petrochemical facilities have been planned or built to take advantage of America’s gas glut.

“There is a symbiotic relationship between plastic manufacturing and the fracking industry. Any regulation that curbs one industry will help decrease pollution from the other. Plastics and fossil fuels go hand in hand.

“Single-use plastics are also vehicles for wasteful and expensive bottled water that undermine our public water systems and generate corporate profits off of our communities’ water resources, which should be managed in the public interest. The price of bottled water is too high for our planet and for the human right to water.”

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

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Contact: Darcey Rakestraw, 202-683-2467; [email protected]