Canada Plastics Pact targets ‘problematic' materials, formats

Hoping that better packaging design can boost low recycling rates, the Canada Plastics Pact and some large brand companies are out with a list of both "problematic" materials to avoid, like PVC and polystyrene, and design changes to make in hard-to-recycle formats like flexibles and thermoforms.

The Canadian pact's April 13 commitments are voluntary, but members of the pact include some of the country's largest consumer product makers and retailers, including Coca-Cola Co., Colgate-Palmolive and Walmart Canada.

It follows similar pledges from plastics pacts in other countries, including the United States earlier this year, to eliminate specific problematic materials.

The network of pacts around the world is organized by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and generally sees the design changes and elimination of materials they consider "problematic" as a first step toward improving the recyclability of plastic packaging.

CPP's approach, however, seems to go further than some others by incorporating design guidelines from the Paris-based Consumer Goods Forum, which calls for specific changes like flexible packaging made at least 90 percent from one material and more recycling-friendly designs for PET thermoforms.

An announcement from the pact included statements from many large brands that they see CGF's guidelines, called the Golden Design Rules, as important.

"The next stage of the Golden Design Rules presents a further opportunity for industrywide collaboration to build momentum on reducing the amount of plastic in the environment," said Adam Butler, president of Kraft Heinz Canada.

An official with CPP said members wanted to incorporate CGF's design rules because they mesh with the work of the pact, the foundation and the single-use plastics bans that Canada's federal government is pushing.

"It speaks a common language with the work of the Canada Plastics Pact, and it's complementary to other things that are happening in Canada in terms of the single-use plastics bans that the government is putting out," said Sarah Brooks, a senior associate with The Natural Step Canada. Her group acts as the umbrella organization for the pact.

"While the U.S. has their problematics list, and we will have an elimination list, there are some really great things that already exist in the market and that can be leveraged right now, one of which, of course, is the CGF's Golden Design Rules," she said.

A Canadian plastics industry trade group pointed to new technology to better recycle black plastics and polystyrene, areas that CGF's rules identified as problematic.

"We think it is important that the Canadian guidance recognizes that a tremendous amount of technological innovation is taking place to enable more effective detection and recycling of black plastics and that Quebec is leading the way in establishing a circular economy for polystyrene," said Elena Mantagaris, vice president of the plastics division in the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.

She also said the industry wants to work with federal and state governments to help address the C$6 billion (US$4.7 billion) gap in recycling infrastructure in the country.

"Investments in modern recycling infrastructure and innovations in advanced recycling are key to a zero-plastic-waste future," Mantagaris said. "We believe the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment approach is solid, and we support and are aligned with its goals to achieve a circular economy for plastics."

Darlene Nicosia, president of Coca-Cola Canada and the Northeast U.S., said the CGF guidelines are "an important way that we can continue to evolve our packaging to drive circularity."

"The world is facing a global packaging waste crisis that calls for urgent, collaborative action to help solve," Nicosia said.

Ron Delia, CEO of packaging maker Amcor Ltd., said he welcomed CGF's design rules "as a shared benchmark that will help increase recycling rates and reduce waste in the environment."

"These rules are fully aligned with Amcor's commitments to design all our products to be recyclable or reusable by 2025," Delia said.

In a report released in October, CPP said Canada recycles just 12 percent of its plastic packaging, including 21 percent of its rigid plastics containers but only 1 percent of its flexibles.

The Canadian pact has a target of recycling or composting 50 percent of plastic packaging by 2025, which the pact acknowledges is ambitious. The U.S. Plastics Pact, which includes many of the same companies, has a similar 50 percent goal.

CPP's plans are voluntary, and a statement from the group said that 30 Canadian companies, including 20 CPP members, have agreed to at least 50 percent of the CGF's rules that are most relevant to their packaging.

CGF's design rules have nine elements, including efforts to increase the value of PET recycling, remove problematic materials, reducing "headspace" in packaging and eliminating plastic overwraps, as well as cutting back on virgin plastic used in business-to-business packaging.

In the U.S., the pact's list of problematic materials to avoid received strong pushback from plastics industry groups, who said it was a de facto ban on some plastics and could lead to shifts to materials that are less sustainable.

But officials with the U.S. pact defended their choices, saying they see it as moving away from materials that don't have a clear, viable path to strong recycling.

Brooks of The Natural Step Canada also predicted the Canadian pact, like other pacts around the world, will put more emphasis on reducing the amount of virgin material used.

"One of the things that we do like — and that I think all the pacts like and that's becoming more and more of an issue that wasn't two years ago — is the reduction of virgin materials," she said. "We're not leaning heavily on that right now, but we do anticipate that this will become an area of greater focus and opportunity."