Plan for the Ban: Textile and Apparel Industry Consultation Opens on Canada’s Roadmap to Curb Plastic Waste and Pollution

Plan for the Ban: Textile and Apparel Industry Consultation Opens on Canada’s Roadmap to Curb Plastic Waste and Pollution

The Government of Canada has recently announced a consultation process on its draft roadmap to address plastic waste and pollution in the textile and apparel industry. This draft roadmap will fit into the Government of Canada’s larger national strategy to achieve Zero Plastic Waste and its action plan to reduce plastic waste and pollution.

This is the latest bulletin in our “Plan for the Ban” series regarding prohibitions and increased regulation of single-use plastics and other plastic products across Canada.

As the fifth-largest category of plastic waste sent to Canadian landfills, textiles are a significant contributor to the plastic waste and pollution issue faced in Canada. With very limited collection and recycling of textiles, approximately 98 percent of textiles are destined for landfills. Beyond a lack of circularity in the textile and apparel industry, the regular washing of synthetic clothing sheds plastic microfibres into the aquatic environment, compounding the plastic pollution produced by textiles. With an aim to keeping textiles in the economy and out of the environment, the Government of Canada is preparing a roadmap to tackle these issues.[1]

The roadmap will outline potential solutions to improve the circularity of the textile and apparel industry and identify when during the textile value chain these solutions should be implemented and by whom. In this consultation, the Government of Canada is looking for ideas and input on various topics as they relate to the textile and apparel industry, including:

1. determining and quantifying the sources of waste and pollution;
2. extending the life of a product;
3. waste management;
4. limited recycling in Canada; and
5. microfibre pollution.

On the topic of determining and quantifying the sources of waste and pollution in the textile and apparel industry, the Government of Canada has already established a Federal Plastics Registry requiring companies to report the quantity and type of plastics they produce, import or otherwise place on the market annually as well as the quantity of plastic collected at end of life and sent for diversion or disposal. Reporting in the textiles and apparel category is required for each of the 2025 and 2026 calendar years by September 29 of the following year. For a discussion of the broader scope of the Federal Plastics Registry, please read our previous bulletin here.

Not surprisingly, the European Union is ahead of Canada on the textile waste issue and has already initiated   a strategy to change how we produce and consume textiles through improving the circular economy in the textile and apparel industry and implementing an extended producer responsibility model.[2]

Interested and impacted stakeholders can provide their feedback and comments on the roadmap to address plastic waste and pollution in the textile and apparel industry until September 1, 2024. We will provide further updates as environmental matters and regulation impacting the textile industry continue to develop.

McMillan’s environmental team would be pleased to have an opportunity to assist your business with your plastics regulatory plans.

[1] Government of Canada, News Release, The Government of Canada is taking steps to address plastic waste and pollution from the textile and apparel sector (2024 July 4).
[2] European Commission, Communication, EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles (2022 March 30); European Commission, EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles (accessed on 2024 August 22).

by Julia Loney, Martin Thiboutot, Talia Gordner and Lena Clayton (Articling Student)

A Cautionary Note

The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.

© McMillan LLP 2024