tonnes of plastic thrown away in Canada in 2022
Businesses, institutions and households in Canada discarded about 5.2 million tonnes of plastic, up 2.9% on 2021. Almost all of it (98.6%) was collected as waste.
- Value
- 5.2M
- Unit
- tonnes
- Data year
- 2022
- Trend
- Rising
- Source name
- Statistics Canada, Physical flow account for plastic material, 2022 (released 26 March 2026)
- Confidence
- Evidence: High
- Caveat / scope
- Covers all plastic products, including cars and building materials, not only packaging. Packaging is about 28% of the plastic Canada uses but about 42% of what it throws away (shares calculated by No Plastic Today from the same table). The often-quoted 3 million tonnes is older, narrower 2016 data from a consultants' study.
- Verified on
- 26 September 2026
Sources last verified 26 September 2026. Page updated 26 September 2026. How we check sources