Determining the Economic Cost of Single-Use Plastic Waste in Canada

The study finds that Canadian municipalities spend millions annually managing single-use plastic (SUP) waste, though specific costs are often undertracked. Plastics comprise approximately 15% of both garbage and recycling streams by weight. The report highlights significant data gaps for items like vaping devices and tampon applicators, which are frequently found in wastewater screenings but rarely in solid waste audits. Environmental analysis shows cigarette butts are the most abundant SUP by count, while bottles and cups dominate by mass. A critical economic finding is the potential risk to Canadian agriculture, where microplastic pollution could lead to annual crop production value losses between CAD 0.5 and 2.16 billion. To address these issues, the authors developed a Plastic Waste Cost Calculator for local authorities and recommend transitioning to volumetric waste measurements and establishing a universal flushability standard for wipes.

• Plastics account for approximately 15% of the weight in both the residential garbage and recycling streams across the sampled Canadian municipalities.
• Cigarette butts are the most frequently littered item in Canada by count, accounting for over 95% of litter in urban trash traps.
• Microplastic pollution in agricultural soils poses a significant economic risk to Canadian crop production, with estimated annual value-at-risk for wheat and corn ranging from CAD 0.5 to 2.16 billion.
• Vaping devices and tampon applicators are consistently undertracked in municipal solid waste audits despite being reported weekly by wastewater treatment facility workers.
• If every Canadian disposed of the median number of plastic bottles and hot cups found in the sample, the annual management costs for the residential garbage stream alone would be approximately CAD 6.3 million for bottles and CAD 7 million for hot cups.
• Waste management costs are currently driven by volume rather than weight, but reporting remains weight-based, which likely leads to an under-reporting of the actual cost burden of lightweight SUPs.
• Single-use wipes are a prevalent and problematic SUP in wastewater systems, causing sewer blockages and necessitating a universal flushability standard.
• The eight targeted SUP items represent 46% of all macroplastic debris observed across Canadian habitats by count, but only 3% of the total mass of anthropogenic litter.

APA

Puzyreva, M., Kroft, E., & Haney, J. (2026). Determining the Economic Cost of Single-Use Plastic Waste in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-06/economic-cost-plastic-waste-canada.pdf

Chicago

Puzyreva, Marina, Emily Kroft, and Jacob Haney. Determining the Economic Cost of Single-Use Plastic Waste in Canada. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2026. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-06/economic-cost-plastic-waste-canada.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Puzyreva |first1=Marina |last2=Kroft |first2=Emily |last3=Haney |first3=Jacob |title=Determining the Economic Cost of Single-Use Plastic Waste in Canada |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=June 2026 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-06/economic-cost-plastic-waste-canada.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{puzyreva2026determining, author = {Puzyreva, Marina and Kroft, Emily and Haney, Jacob}, title = {{Determining the Economic Cost of Single-Use Plastic Waste in Canada}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-06/economic-cost-plastic-waste-canada.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }