Economic Cost of Plastic Waste in Canada

The report assesses the economic burden of single-use plastics on Canada's waste systems and ecosystems, highlighting a critical lack of item-level data. It advocates for the use of volumetric measurements in waste audits and introduces a Plastic Waste Cost Calculator to help municipalities estimate and compare management costs across various waste streams.

• Single-use plastics impose economic costs on municipal waste systems, wastewater infrastructure, litter cleanup, and ecosystem goods and services, with impacts extending beyond simple disposal.
• Canada's ability to inform policy and assess costs is hindered by a lack of consistent, item-level data regarding single-use plastics across recycling, garbage, litter, and wastewater streams.
• Due to the high volume of plastics relative to their weight, waste reporting and audit systems should utilize volumetric measurements in addition to weight-based tracking.
• The report provides a Plastic Waste Cost Calculator designed for municipalities and authorities to aggregate, estimate, and compare the costs of managing plastic waste across different streams.

APA

Haney,, M. P. K. (2026). Economic Cost of Plastic Waste in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/economic-cost-plastic-waste-canada

Chicago

Haney,, Marina Puzyreva,Emily Kroft,Jacob. Economic Cost of Plastic Waste in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2026. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/economic-cost-plastic-waste-canada.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Haney, |first1=Marina Puzyreva,Emily Kroft,Jacob |title=Economic Cost of Plastic Waste in Canada |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=1 June 2026 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/economic-cost-plastic-waste-canada |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{haney2026economic, author = {Haney,, Marina Puzyreva,Emily Kroft,Jacob}, title = {{Economic Cost of Plastic Waste in Canada}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/economic-cost-plastic-waste-canada}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }