Recycling takeaway coffee cups has long been a challenge. Most are made from paperboard lined with a thin layer of plastic or polyethylene to resist liquids, and this lining can make it more difficult to process in recycling systems. As a result, cups have often been excluded from municipal curbside recycling programs. But that’s beginning […]
Advancing Coffee Cup Recycling in Canada Read More »
Paper bags have been back in the news recently due to a decision by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) on their new bag supplier. In April 2023, the LCBO announced they would ban paper bags from their stores for environmental reasons, which PPEC and others challenged. A year later, the Premier directed Ontario’s
The Recyclability of Paper Bags Should Not Be Controversial Read More »
A Canadian Federal Court recently announced its ruling in response to the lawsuit brought forward by the Responsible Plastic Use Coalition (RPUC), made up of companies from the plastics industry, who requested a judicial review of the federal government’s decision to add plastic manufactured items (PMIs) to the List of Toxic Substances under the Canadian
Revisiting Paper Packaging’s Circular Economy as Court Rules on Plastics Ban Read More »
The Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) is pleased to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Waste Reduction Week in Canada, taking place this week. Waste Reduction Week is an important program focused on the principles of circular economy, resource efficiency, and waste reduction; principles that PPEC and its members strongly support and apply to
Celebrating Waste Reduction Week and the Circular Economy of Paper-based Packaging Read More »
Most boxes and cartons manufactured in Canada are made of recycled content – from old boxes and other used paper material collected from the back of factories, supermarkets, office buildings, and residential Blue Box recycling programs. And there has been a significant increase in average recycled content for paper-based packaging over the years, up from
Survey Says: Recycled Content a Key Component to Paper Packaging’s Circular Economy Read More »
Over the last few months, there have been several articles about the increased demand for containerboard and corrugated cardboard boxes, due to the surge in online shopping during the pandemic. There was the Wall Street Journal’s Cardboard Boxes Have Never Been in More Demand—or More Expensive (March 30), FOX Business’ Cardboard box prices skyrocket as
Recycled content is the key component in the creation of a circular economy. It keeps raw materials flowing within the economy longer, reduces the pressure to extract more virgin materials from the earth, and delays their eventual disposal as waste. Recovering more materials for further use also creates jobs. A circular economy is something that
How about a different approach to recycled content and the circular economy? Read More »
The current debate over what to do about Ontario’s Blue Box frequently confuses at least four distinct but interrelated issues: waste management in general; the recycling option; the relative roles of industry and householders; and the nature of the Blue Box program itself. First, the broader context. The Blue Box program is just one waste collection system,
Let’s get the facts straight on Ontario’s Blue Box Read More »
PPEC’s popular fact sheets have been revamped and updated, all 34 of them. Broken into five sections of interest, the factsheets cover a broad range of topics: from why packaging exists to where it comes from (trees); from what it’s made from to how it’s made; and to the industry’s history of reduction, re-use, and
Everything you wanted to know about paper packaging Read More »
Vancouver-based environmental group Canopy continues to make embarrassing boo-boos about paper packaging in Canada. In a blog entitled “What’s in the Box? Canopy answers its own question with a bald-faced lie, giving the impression that paper boxes are mostly made from virgin market pulp. This is not true. It is certainly not true in Canada.
Canopy makes more embarrassing ‘boo-boos’ Read More »
