Canadian restaurant chains are going greener

As the recent single-use plastic ban takes effect in Canada, more restaurants are going greener, adjusting their practices to reduce their environmental impact, and addressing consumer demand for higher sustainability from the businesses they frequent. RELATED: Sustainability matters to Canadian consumers With 57 per cent of diners looking for more sustainability from QSRs, some of […]

Canada’s plastic ban and its effect on restaurant takeout

Canada’s ban on single-use plastics, covering plastic bags, cutlery, foodservice ware, stir sticks, and straws took effect on December 20. It comes as part of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s effort to achieve zero waste by 2030. Since third-party takeout and delivery orders are up 63 per cent from pre-pandemic days, finding viable alternatives is […]

Canada’s single-use plastics ban “singles out” foodservice

Canada’s single-use plastics ban, which has been on the cards for years and slowly but surely gathering momentum, is set to take final effect before the end of the year. On June 20, the government of Canada published final regulations to prohibit “harmful” single-use plastics, with a ban on manufacturing and importing most of these […]

McDonald’s Canada turns upcycled plastic straws into art

McDonald’s Canada is looking to show that not only does upcycling plastic help the environment, but it can turn into something beautiful too. The fast-food giant has turned its phased-out plastic straws into a series of original works of art by a cross-country group of Canadian and Indigenous artists. The 15 participating artists have been […]

Montreal Economic Institute suggests alternative to Canada’s zero plastic waste policy

The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) has questioned the federal Canadian government’s zero plastic waste policy, suggesting that it is in opposition to current and potential plastic industry innovations. At the end of 2021, the Government of Canada published its proposed Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations and Guidance for Selecting Alternatives to the Single-Use Plastics in the Proposed Single-Use […]

Plastic packaging may increase food waste, finds report

Not only does wrapping food in plastic packaging hurt the environment by producing more plastic waste, it can also increase food waste by forcing customers to buy more than they actually need. That’s according to a new 18-month study by sustainability charity Wrap, reported in the Guardian, which concluded that supermarkets, grocers, and other food […]

Retailers and manufacturers launch Canada Plastics Pact

More than 70 Canadian retailers, manufacturers, associations, non-profits, and other organizations have joined to form the Canada Plastics Pact. The pact is an ambitious action plan to eliminate plastic waste and “represents unprecedented cross-value chain collaboration, uniting key players behind a shared vision for a circular economy for plastics packaging in Canada and a targeted plan […]

McDonald’s cutting single-use plastics in Canadian restaurants

McDonald’s Canada has announced it will introduce wooden cutlery, wooden stir sticks, and paper straws to its 1,400+ restaurants across the country by December 2021. A press release notes the removal of these single-use plastics in its restaurants supports McDonald’s global commitment to source 100 per cent of McDonald’s primary guest packaging from renewable, recycled, or […]

Montreal plastic ban praised as key step on the road

Environmental experts are praising the Montreal plastic ban that will see the city prohibit the use of some kinds of single-use plastics, but they say Canada is still a long way from its apparent targets of being plastic-free. Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante announced on Wednesday that the city would ban retailers and restaurants from distributing plastic bags in the […]