Portrait of Plastic Pollution in Eastern Canada: From the Great Lakes to Newfoundland

The increase in the occurrence of plastic pollution in the environment of the St. Lawrence watershed in recent decades makes it imperative to take a systemic approach to managing plastic pollution in Eastern Canada. A comprehensive assessment of the prevalence of plastic products in the environment was carried out to better understand the phenomenon and improve the available assessment methods. Among the items most found during cleaning activities, the organization was able to notice the abundance of cigarette butts, various pieces of plastic, plastic bottles, and multiple plastic packaging.

These observations lead us to reiterate the insidious impact of plastic in the St. Lawrence and Atlantic ecosystems. Various environmental stresses, such as environmental contamination, contribute to the overall degradation of the coastal environment in Eastern Canada. These effects remain largely misunderstood and, therefore, ignored during environmental impact assessments, which remain focused on unique species or sectors or the approval of projects. As for the major brands most often listed, the study aims to measure the impact of extended producer responsibility. The organization was able to observe an increased presence of packaging from Nestlé, Tim Hortons, PepsiCo, and several others, which demonstrates the locality of the issue in Canada. This also opens the possibility of better identifying extended producer responsibility in the solutions to be considered for the future.

Through these objectives, our project proves the importance of uniting, raising awareness about the challenges of plastic pollution, and thoroughly documenting the impacts to guide our future actions better and, at the same time, encourage action.

For more information on the production database method, refer to the report Portrait of Plastic Pollution: In Eastern Canada from the Great Lakes to Newfoundland.

Access and Use

Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Data and Resources

Citation

Keywords

Dataset extent

Metadata Reference Date(s) April 11, 2024 (Publication)
April 15, 2024 (Revision)
Data Reference Date(s) June 06, 2019 (Creation)
Frequency of Update As Needed

Responsible Party 1
Name
Asselin, Anne-Marie
Affiliation
Organisation Bleue
Email
am@organisationbleue.org
Role
  • Author
  • Custodian
  • Distributor
  • Owner
  • Principal Investigator
Responsible Party 2
Name
Martel, Laurence
Affiliation
Organisation Bleue
Email
laurence@organisationbleue.org
Role
  • Author
  • Custodian
  • Principal Investigator
Responsible Party 3
Name
Sarran, Charlie
Affiliation
Organisation Bleue
Role
Collaborator
Responsible Party 4
Name
Gagnon, Philippe-Olivier
Affiliation
Organisation Bleue
Role
Collaborator

Field Value
Ocean Variables
  • Other
  • Marine debris
Scope Dataset
Status Completed
Maintenance Note Generated from https://cioos-siooc.github.io/metadata-entry-form
Spatial Extent [[[-92.51, 48.4], [-92.46, 45.44], [-88.69, 46.05], [-88.07, 40.86], [-75.06, 42.34], [-68.43, 47.25], [-61.14, 45.74], [-52.53, 46.56], [-55.34, 51.97], [-92.51, 48.4]]]
North Bounding Latitude 40.86
South Bounding Latitude 51.97
East Bounding Longitude -52.53
West Bounding Longitude -92.51
Temporal Extent
Begin
2019-06-06
End
2023-09-22
Vertical Extent
Min
5.0
Max
10.0
Default Locale French
Included in Data Catalogue
Included in Data Catalogue 1
Name
OGSL/SLGO
URL
https://catalogue.ogsl.ca