Environment: Ottawa wins Federal Court appeal allowing single-use plastics ban to stand

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Nick Murray, January 30, 2026

The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court decision, giving Ottawa the power to keep its ban on single-use plastics in place.

A 2023 Federal Court decision said Ottawa had overstepped in designating all “plastic manufactured items” as toxic.

But in a unanimous decision Friday, the three-judge panel ruled the federal government’s decision to list plastic manufactured items as toxic was reasonable.

Ottawa used that designation to regulate a ban on the manufacturing and importing of six types of single-use plastics, including straws, grocery bags, stir sticks and the six-pack rings used to hold soda and beer cans.

The government said it chose those items because they were among the most commonly found as litter and had known and accessible alternatives.

The Federal Court further ruled the government’s decision not to convene a board of review to further assess the environmental risks associated with plastics was also reasonable.

— With files from Mia Rabson