Feds call on grocers to share feedback on proposed plastic food packaging guidelines

 The federal government is calling on the grocery industry and other stakeholders to share their thoughts on new guidelines that would require retailers to reduce, reuse and redesign primary food plastic packaging.

The proposed Pollution Prevention Planning Notice (P2 Notice) covers plastic packaging that comes into contact with food, such as juice boxes, produce bags, yogurt containers and meat trays.

It aims to eliminate “unnecessary or problematic” plastic packaging, replace single-use plastic packaging with reuse-refill systems and ensure any plastic packaging used is designed to be reused, recycled or composted.

The P2 Notice would also include targets to increase the sale of products within reuse-refill systems, concentrated products and products free of plastic packaging. 

Grocery retailers, stakeholders, interested partners, and Canadians have until August 30 to comment on the consultation document for the development of the P2 Notice. 

A Proposed Notice will be published later this year.

"Plastics play an important role in the everyday lives of Canadians. However, a significant amount of plastic food packaging is used only once and then ends up in landfills as waste, or in the environment as pollution. The solution lies in the concerted action and combined efforts of all governments, industry (in this case, major grocery retailers), and Canadians. By getting rid of problematic plastic food packaging, replacing single-use packaging with reuse-refill systems, and ensuring that plastics, if needed, are designed to be safely reused, recycled, or composted, we can all help move Canada toward zero plastic waste,” Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault said in a press release.