Alberta, Ottawa set for showdown over plastics ban as province turns focus to petrochemicals
Article content continued
Wilkinson said those items would be banned because they are harmful for the environment, difficult to recycle and can be substituted with “readily available alternatives.”
“We must ensure that we are moving towards circularity with respect to the large number of other plastic items we utilize in our day-to-day lives,” Wilkinson said, adding the government wanted to encourage more plastic recycling.
The announcement comes just one day after Alberta’s provincial government announced that part of its economy recovery plan would include a major focus on boosting petrochemical investment in the province. The plastics ban could potentially set up another showdown between Edmonton and Ottawa as petrochemicals are a building block for plastic.
Wilkinson downplayed the potential friction between the federal and Alberta provincial government Wednesday by saying that Alberta’s recovery plan also includes a focus on plastics recycling. “Alberta’s announcement yesterday aim to be a centre of excellence for recycling underlies precisely this opportunity,” he said.
Still, the petrochemical industry and Alberta government are concerned about parts of the federal government’s plan.
“They have to approach everything as do no harm,” Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said at a press conference Wednesday, noting that Alberta’s economic recovery plan focuses on the “full life cycle approach for plastics, including recycling” but emphasized that plastics are used across the economy.
