Tim Hortons says its eliminating the use of more than 90 million single-use plastics a year in Canada by introducing wooden and fibre cutlery, along with cardboard cup lids, starting in early 2023..The wooden cutlery and fibre spoons are both compostable. In another move to reduce the use of single-use plastics, plastic lids on their Loaded Bowls are also being replaced with fibre lids..Beginning in early 2023, Tim Hortons restaurants will also shift to a new breakfast and lunch wrapper with an efficient design that uses 75% less material than the prior wrap box, which is estimated to save more than 1,400 tonnes of material a year..Tim Hortons is also now trialing a fibre hot beverage lid that's plastic-free and recyclable. The goal of the trial, which will run for approximately 12 weeks in the City of Vancouver, is to develop products that are alternatives to plastic and easier to recycle and repurpose.."Through our sustainability platform, Tims for Good, we're always looking for ways, big and small, to make thoughtful choices on material and design in order to reduce and eliminate packaging and contribute to more sustainable innovation," Senior Director of Procurement Sustainability and Packaging Paul Yang said..Tim Hortons restaurants will also eliminate the use of all single-use plastic bags and will begin offering guests reusable bags for purchase starting in January next year..Canada will ban the export of single-use plastics by 2025..The Trudeau government expects banning single-use plastics will eliminate a million garbage bags worth of pollution and 1.3 million tonnes of “difficult-to-recycle” plastic waste..READ MORE: THE LAST STRAW: No more plastic straws and other single-use plastics.According to Environment Canada, each year Canadians throw out more than three-million tonnes of single-use plastics and less than 10% gets recycled. The remainder ends up in landfills, the environment, or waste-to-energy facilities..In 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to ban single-use plastics by 2021. However, the regulatory framework took an extra year to plan..This is the Trudeau government’s first step to eliminating plastic. The goal is to achieve “zero plastic waste by 2030.”.Alberta is intervening in a constitutional challenge of federal legislation that has unilaterally labelled plastic as a “toxic substance.”.READ MORE: Alberta government challenges plastic laws.The provincial attorney general filed notice with the Federal Court of Canada that Alberta will make submissions in a case arguing a decision by the federal minister of Health and the minister of the Environment and Climate Change to list “plastic manufactured items” as “toxic substances” under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act was unconstitutional..Alberta will argue the federal government’s decision to label plastic as a “toxic substance” is an unconstitutional intrusion into provincial jurisdiction.."I'm not talking about leaving Canada. I'm talking about saving Canada," Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said during Question Period recently in defence of the province's petrochemicals industry.."It's absurd the federal government intervened in our area over managing our petrochemical industry with which members (NDP) obviously used to support so they could do something as frivolous as imposing a ban on plastic straws creating uncertainty in our petrochemical industry.".In Vancouver, Tim Hortons continues to work on a pilot project in partnership with Return-It that gives guests the option of paying a deposit for a reusable and returnable cup so they can be a part of the mission to reduce single-use waste..Since launching in May at 10 restaurants, the pilot project has grown to also include nine public bins for returning cups and a total of more than 60 cup return points across the city..The test of the fibre hot beverage lid, which is plastic-free and recyclable, is now live in the City of Vancouver and will run for approximately 12 weeks.
