L\’industrie canadienne du plastique embellit la crédibilité d\’une étude qui, selon elle, prouve que les sacs de plastique sont plus écologiques que les sacs de papier. Selon le site Web de l\’industrie, le ULS Report (2007) « a été produit conformément aux normes ISO 14040-14043, et a fait l\’objet d\’une revue par les pairs de la North […]
We frequently hear and see comments about paper “dying” or being supplanted by other materials. It’s not happening, or at least not happening in the way many people think. While the weight of paper entering Ontario homes, for example, fell by 8% between 2003 and 2014,(( PPEC analysis of Stewardship Ontario Blue Box data for 2003
The reports of paper’s death are greatly exaggerated Read More »
When the plastics industry promotes and widely circulates false and misleading claims about the environmental impact of paper bags in Canada we have an obligation to defend ourselves, and to ensure that Canadians get all the facts, not just some of them. What we find particularly offensive is the public parade of various European “life
Old European “life cycle’’ studies are of little use in Canadian bag wars Read More »
We were struck by a sentence in the recently released draft Strategy for a Waste Free Ontario. Not by what was said, but rather by what was not said. In a chapter titled Transforming Ontario into a Leader, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change pays tribute to the Blue Box: “an internationally recognised recycling
The end-markets get no love! Read More »
A major produce retailer in Canada has decided that the growers who supply it with fresh fruit and vegetables should choose which container to deliver their produce in, the traditional corrugated box or a reusable plastic crate, rather than the retailer telling them which one to use. This is a significant development in the crate
Retailer hands container choice back to growers Read More »
The Toronto Star ran a front page story over the weekend lambasting Ontario’s tire stewardship body (OTS) for spending “thousands of dollars on wine tasting, meals at fine restaurants, a boat cruise, luxury hotels, and donations to political (parties).” The newspaper huffed in its “little piggies at the trough” depiction that OTS was operating without
Pot calling the kettle black? Read More »
It’s easy to describe plastics as the problem child of the Ontario Blue Box. Just look at the chart below. Its generation continues to increase; its volume fills trucks and landfills; its net cost to recycle is more than three times that of paper packaging; almost 70% of it heads to the dump. While the
The more plastics you add to Ontario’s Blue Box, the more it costs Read More »
The corrugated box industry is just fear-mongering about food safety, according to the reusable crate lobby, which has obviously been stung by the release of yet another study questioning whether, and how well, crates are being cleaned between uses. The latest study by Dr. Steven Ricke’s team at the Department of Food Science at the
Retailers urged to “follow the science” on sanitisation Read More »
In the course of an otherwise interesting article on Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR), Tom Chervinsky makes a statistical boo-boo. See, I am mellowing. I didn’t call it package bashing. Chervinsky is certainly not the first, and won’t be the last, to play footsie with the facts. He starts out well, observing that the percentage of
Getting the facts straight on packaging diversion in Canada Read More »
Apart from breaking out the bubbly and destroying a cake, PPEC members and friends celebrated the environmental council’s 25th anniversary last week with the release of three warmly received videos. PPEC: The Early Years PPEC: History of Achievement PPEC’s Role and Performance The videos cover the early years of the council (why it was formed);
PPEC celebrates its 25th anniversary in style Read More »
