DURHAM — Environmental Defence Canada is petitioning the province to adopt a deposit program to address the issue of plastic bottles littering the environment.
Recently, the Ontario Government released a discussion paper to the public inviting them and organizations to comment and provide ideas on how to reduce litter and waste in their communities. According to plastics program manager for Environmental Defence Canada, Vito Buonsante, the discussion was prompted by the passing of the Waste-Free Ontario Act in 2016.
He says this means the province is finally open to considering a deposit program.
“It’s estimated that each Ontarian in Ontario produces one tonne of waste, that’s a large number,” says Buonsante. “The deposit return scheme is one of the measures considered in the paper to deal with plastic pollution. We support it, because Environmental Defence has been campaigning for a plastic deposit system since 2015.”
The program would make it possible to return plastic bottles where they were purchased in exchange for the cost of the bottle. This system is the exact same process for beer and other alcohol bottles which can be returned at locations such as the Beer Store.
“What is important to notice is it isn’t a new concept,” says Buonsante, adding in Canada, only two provinces don’t have a deposit program for plastic bottles, Ontario and Manitoba.
According to Buonsante, Ontario produces approximately three billion bottles per year, only recovering roughly 50 per cent of that figure. He says plastic poses a threat to the environment because it doesn’t biodegrade, can break apart and be eaten by wildlife.
He says one of the primary obstacles standing in the way of previous transition attempts has been large companies such as Nestle and Coca Cola, who he says “aren’t held responsible after the product is purchased.”
If implemented, the companies producing the product would be shouldering the cost for every returned bottle.
One former Oshawa resident who now lives in Nova Scotia, Ted Thomas, says while he agrees with the idea of a deposit program, he feels there should be a greater incentive to encourage the use of the system, which should also include other litter.
“There ought to be a $2, or better yet, $10 deposit, especially on disposable coffee cups and soft drink cups,” says Thomas. “Out here in Nova Scotia, it’s hard to travel a few hundred metres on any road and not see a Tim’s cup and know it also came with a plastic lid.”
Thomas lived in Oshawa 30 years ago and attended Durham College before making the move to Nova Scotia. There, he runs his own volunteer beach cleanup program along with a Facebook page called Plastic Pickup and Awareness to spread the word about the dangers of littering.
While the deposit system comes with a cost, Buonsante points out the cost of large-scale cleanups “comes out of taxpayers' pockets,” while a deposit system could have a massive impact in eliminating pollution.
“That doesn’t mean people would stop littering, but there will mean there’s an incentive because that plastic has financial value for the person who bought it or anyone who wants to make money by picking up that plastic,” he says. “Even if we increased our recovery rate from 50 to 75 per cent, that would keep out 500 million and a billion plastic bottles out of the environment.”
Environmental Defence Canada polled Ontarians and says 91 per cent voted in favour of the deposit program.
“The support was overwhelming,” he says, adding he had never seen numbers in a poll like this before.
While the implementation of a new deposit system could help eliminate pollution, Buonsante says there is still more than can be done. He encourages people to simply not buy plastic bottles and insists the province should ban other non-biodegradable waste like foam containers and plastic cutlery.
“Avoid plastic bags, buy in bulk, use reusable containers,” he says. “Deposit return schemes are one way to avoid plastic pollution, but another way is to ban certain types of products.”
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