Canada's environment ministers wholeheartedly agree that plastic waste is a serious problem that Canadians want tackled, but they were only able to agree on a plan to create a plan at an all-day meeting in Halifax Thursday.

Nova Scotia Environment Minister Gordon Wilson, who chaired the meeting, couldn't say when Canadians might see a reduction in plastic waste or how much it might be reduced once there was a plan in place.

"That's a good question," he said. "It would be difficult right now, I think, to put a projection on that actual number. Certainly for us, we would all like to see zero."

The "Action Plan" details six items that include extended producer responsibility, which makes manufacturers responsible for the plastics they create, as well as setting national standards for how much recycled material should be in a plastic item.

There are timelines for each of those action items that range from next December to sometime in 2022.

Nova Scotia Environment Minister Gordon Wilson couldn't say when Canadians might see a reduction in plastic waste. (Jean Laroche/CBC)

"Moving to a more circular economy with less plastic waste will take time and considerable effort," the document notes.

The federal minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, left the meeting satisfied with the progress made toward reducing plastic waste.

"We have too much plastic pollution and we need to keep it in the economy," she told reporters on her way out of the Nova Centre, which is where the ministers met. "We're actually throwing out value."

The federal minister pointed to the agreement among ministers that plastic manufacturers be responsible for what they make as a milestone in the process.

What N.S. municipal leaders want to do

Municipal leaders in Nova Scotia have proposed manufacturers foot the bill for handling, recycling and marketing what reusable waste they create.

Wilson said the McNeil government was serious about looking at the proposal, but couldn't say when that measure might be brought in.

"I will say that it is probably one of the most active conversations that we have," he said.

"It's on the voices of all Canadians and all Nova Scotians that it's essential that we do something with plastics, and we do something with them soon."

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