Oceana Canada is urging Canadians to go plastic-free but acknowledges that the alternatives are hard to find.

The marine conservation group says plastics are having a significant impact on the ocean environment and they’re raising awareness about finding ways to avoid the consumption of plastic in our daily lives.

Among the main concerns is the burning of plastic waste, something Oceana Canada’s plastic campaign lead Anthony Merante calls a “false solution.”

He says they want the burning of plastic waste to be made illegal in Canada.

He says about 4 per cent of Canada’s plastic waste is currently burned and counted as “recycling” with forecasts to increase it to 22 percent by 2030. The problem says Merante, is that chemical, or advanced recycling, involves the burning of plastic to turn it into fuel which releases pollutants into the air, water and soil. Many of those pollutants are cancer-causing and more often than not, says Merante, they’re put in communities that are more at risk of being exposed to those pollutants.