Science and Research committee  I very much agree with you. Thanks for the question. Big retailers are very much peddling a lot of single-use throwaway packaging and even products. They are at the heart of the supply chain. They take those products from manufacturers and get them to us, so they're key in this.

Science and Research committee  Unfortunately, those are largely landfilled. That is the big problem. There are lots of groups now looking at the idea of sharing so that not everybody has to buy. Every time you have a kid, you have to buy your own fleet of toys or clothing, and clothing is another big source of plastic pollution.

Science and Research committee  Increase the focus of science on microplastics and human health and on plastics additives and human health. In a science and research agenda, that needs to be underscored. Work through NSERC and SSHRC. Support the development of an independent science and indigenous knowledge panel globally that can help steer the implementation of a global plastics treaty that is evidence-based and that addresses the need for global co-operation in science.

Science and Research committee  I hope the report doesn't reflect that there's some way, with plastics recycling research, that we can solve the plastic pollution problem if we are much more innovative in plastics recycling. I really hope this conclusion doesn't get drawn in this study, because history has shown that this is not a good use of our time and effort at this time.

Science and Research committee  I'll start with where it should be going. All of the environmentalists involved in that treaty process as observers, and some of the member states as well, are very clear that we need a global, legally binding treaty with measures that limit the production of plastics worldwide and limit trade in plastics in favour of other types of trade practices that are supportive of healthy economies.

Science and Research committee  Sure. The federal government produced a science assessment before proceeding with listing plastic manufactured items as a toxic substance on schedule 1 of CEPA. That assessment looked at all of the various ways in which both microplastics and macroplastics are impacting the environment, wildlife in particular.

Science and Research committee  First of all, we are hoping the government wins the appeal of the case against the listing of plastic manufactured items as toxic under CEPA. That appeal is scheduled to be heard next week. That's one thing they need to do well and win, and then stay the course and work with international partners in coordination.

Science and Research committee  It is. McDonald's is doing that. McDonald's is—

Science and Research committee  McDonald's could be doing that. It's doing it in France. It should be doing it.

Science and Research committee  I have not heard of this problem.

Science and Research committee  I think french fries are often given out in paper that's not paper—

Science and Research committee  We have always recommended that the real alternative to single-use plastics is reuse systems that need to be scaled up. The federal government and all the provincial governments have a role to play. At the moment, not a single—

Science and Research committee  I'm sorry. I don't believe we've lost the public on this. I believe the public still supports the action on plastic pollution and is finding other ways to deal with replacing single-use plastics.

Science and Research committee  There is a study from Upstream, which is a reuse advocacy organization in the United States, that has looked at exactly this question of restaurants replacing single-use products with reusables and how quickly it took them to recoup their costs. Individual restaurants often already have a dishwasher, because they already have certain reusable dishes in their kitchen that they need to wash, so there's often very little additional cost involved in switching to reusables.

Science and Research committee  The federal government needs to move faster and more deeply towards eliminating harmful and unnecessary single-use products from our lives. You can ban more single-use products. Then work with every level of government to ramp up reuse systems to replace single-use. To me, those would be the top two priorities for government policy.