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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
The Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC)
An industry initiative committed to the responsible use of plastic resources
www.plastics.ca/epic
A Council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
What is CPIA?Association for the entire plastics value chain in Canada.
Resin productionCompoundingProcessingMould MakingMachinery
Six offices serve every region of the country
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
EPIC’s Position
• It is the plastic industry’s responsibility to demonstrate to government and the public that it is taking a leadership role in providing innovative product stewardship solutions to waste management
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
EPIC
• Works in partnership with governments, NGO’s and the entire industry supply chain to increase the diversion of plastics from landfill in a sustainable, environmental and economic manner
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
What Does EPIC Do?• EPIC conducts research and
demonstrations to expand the curbside recycling infrastructure for plastics– Beyond PET bottles, led to collection of HDPE
bottles– Programs expanded to collect PE film & bags– Instigated collection of wide mouth tubs &
polystyrene– Working now on collection of pails
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
What Does EPIC Do?• EPIC provides ‘Best Practices’ & ‘tools’ to
make plastics recycling cost efficient– Computer models to reduce collection & processing
costs– Guides & technology for efficiently sorting plastics– Sample print, radio and TV ads for recycling plastics– Electronic data bases on plastic recyclers & markets– Computer model on integrated waste management.
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
What Does EPIC Do?• EPIC Undertakes Market Development
• Plastic Bottles Bottles, crates, totes, textiles,agricultural drainage pipe
• Plastic Dairy & Non-Dairy Tubs
Pallets, composite products, horticultural products, lumber
• Plastic Bags Plastic bags, plastic lumber, railway ties, marine applications
• Polystyrene Office accessories, horticultural products, components of reverse vending machines
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
What Does EPIC Do?• EPIC engages stakeholders in the
development of plastic recovery strategies
• Alberta • Manitoba• Ontario • Quebec• Nova Scotia • Newfoundland• British Columbia
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
What Does EPIC Do?• EPIC provides educational tools &
communicates on the benefits of plastics– Course curricula – Grade 2 to Grade 12
– Plasti-Lab science experiments – Grades 4 to 7
– On line Games & Puzzles – Grades 2, 3, 4 & 5
– Life cycle benefits of plastics• Health• Safety• Environmental
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
EPIC
• Keeps various levels of government and NGO’s informed and up-to-date on plastics waste management technologies and processes
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
EPIC Successes To Date
• No major draconian legislation specific to plastics
• Roll-back of plastic landfill bans in Nova Scotia
• Have engaged all provinces in effective dialogue
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
EPIC -Dealing with End-of-Life Plastic Packaging Issues – some examples
• Fought against mandated recycled content on rigid plastic containers – British Columbia
• Countered calls for bans/controls on packaging - City of Toronto, City of Ottawa & other municipalities
• Opposing proposals for a tax on plastic shopping bags – British Columbia & Federation of Canadian
Municipalities• Protected plastics packaging manufacturers in
industry funding programs for recycling – Ontario & Quebec– Prevented pass back of costs to suppliers through ‘Voluntary
Steward’ provisions & special provisions for ‘In store packaging’ suppliers
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Regulatory environment closerRegulatory environment closerto European Experienceto European Experience
• Solid Waste still an important priority• Government decisions on waste
affected by municipal budget constraints
• Canada is the ‘beachhead’ for EPR schemes in North America
Legislative/Public Policy Perspective
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
EPR in Canada
Source: Environment Canada
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Solid Waste In Canada
• Leading to a patchwork quilt of EPR regulations• Currently, there are 45 to 47 stewardship
organizations • In the future, the projection is 100• $500 million are the total fees collected for these
programs• Future projection is $2 billion. Current number
of companies involved is 25,000. In the future this will double.
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Quebec & Ontario Industry Funding For Municipal Recycling
Ontario Quebec 2005 2005 a Applicable legislation Bill 90 Bill 102 b Legislated $ amount to
support municipal recycling
50% of net costs Up to 50% of net costs
c Overseeing authority WDO Recyc Quebec d Obligated parties Brand owners/first
importers Brand owners/ firstimporters
e Remittance of funds to municipalities
IFO Recyc Quebec
f Estimated net cost of recycling
$124 million $72 million
g Industry share $62 million $36 million h % of costs attributable
to packaging 98% 60%
i Final approval of net costs
Minister Recyc Quebec
j Number of IFOs One Two k Requirements for
curbside recycling yes no
l Materials required to be recycled
5 + 2 0
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
• More complex than anticipated:– allocates levy based on packaging
material – takes into account % of materials in
waste stream– considers costs to recycle and
recovery rates
Stewardship Ontario Funding Formula
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Stewardship Ontario Funding Formula
• Implications for plastics:– plastics packaging waste is 30% by
weight – highest cost to recycle– the lowest recovery rate– over 40% of the total industry payment
will come from brand owners using plastics packaging
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Ontario Packaging Levies Lower Than Europe
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Stewardship Ontario Is Now Changing Funding Formula
What are we concerned about?
1) A change to move from one fee to three separate fees for plastics
– a fee for PET bottles– A fee for HDPE bottles– A fee for ‘other’ plastics packaging
2) Other changes- a change to the weighting in the funding formula for setting industry fees for 2008- consideration given to recycled content
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Moving Away from One to Three Fees Increases Current Disparity
• The effect of disaggregating would see industry fees go up further on ‘other’ plastics
• The fees paid by stewards for ‘other’ plastics’packaging are already well in excess of the cost of recycling– As much as 300% of the actual municipal recycling
costs
• The fees paid by stewards of PET and HDPE bottles would decrease to be 25% of the actual municipal recycling costs
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Steward Fees on ‘Other Plastics’are Well Above Recycling Costs
Plastic Material
2006 Steward Fees (% of municipal recycling
costs by plastic type)
2007 Steward Fees (% of municipal recycling
cost by plastic type) PET Bottles 33% 24%
HDPE Bottles 40% 25%
Plastic Film 108% 120%
Plastic Laminates
263% 292%
Polystyrene 299% 336%
Other Plastics 215% 241%
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Changing the Fee Structure Does Not Advance the 3Rs
• Why? Because plastics are the only material acceptable to Health Canada for many pre-packaged food applications
• Plastic packaging used in food applications generally cannot be recycled back into materials to be used for food contact
• Many materials are not recyclable because they have three to seven layers of engineered polymers to prevent transmittal of gases, moisture, fats & oils or are contaminated with residues
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Moving Away from One Fee for Plastics has Negative Competitive Implications
• It may force some plastic suppliers out of business:– Because the higher fees on plastic packaging, at 2 to
3 times more than alternative materials, will drive stewards towards the lower cost material
• E.g. 2L plastic ice cream tub is 2 to 3 times more in fees/1000 than the 2L poly lined paperboard ice cream tub
• The plastic ice cream tub is recyclable, the paperboard ice cream tub is not
– Alternatively, the higher fees for plastic packaging will put pressure on suppliers under already existing low margin cost structures - the fees representing 40% to 100% of their profit margin
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Breakdown of Residential Plastic Packaging
• Plastics packaging represents 9-10% of the household stream
• Plastic packaging is composed of:– Plastic bottles 36%– PE film packaging 22%– Laminates 12%– Polystyrene 10%– Other packaging 9%– Tubs and lids 6%– PET rigids 3%– Large pails and lids 2%
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Level of Recycling Access for Residentially Generated Plastics Packaging in Canada2003-2004
CANADA PET beverage
bottles
PET non-beverage
bottles
HDPE beverage
bottles
HDPE non-beverage
bottles
HDPE milk jugs
Film/bags Tubs and lids
Expanded polystyren
e
Other bottles and
jugs
Percentage of population with
access to recycling
97.88% 77.49% 91.50% 79.17% 87.87% 43.92% 56.39% 23.45% 18.40%
British Columbia
100% 83% 100% 90% 97% 29% 73% 3% 22%
Alberta 100% 28% 100% 39% 92% 55% 28% 0% 26%
Saskatchewan 100% 22% 100% 22% 100% 29% 22% 0% 22%
Manitoba 91% 91% 91% 91% 91% 0% 91% 0% 0%
Ontario 95% 95% 95% 95% 95% 50% 51% 37% 23%
Quebec 100% 75% 75% 75% 75% 41% 70% 36% 0%
Nova Scotia 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 60% 0% 60%
New Brunswick
100% 64% 100% 64% 64% 38% 64% 0% 51%
Newfoundland 100% 0 100% 0 0 0 0 0 0
Prince Edward Island
100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 0% 0%
Summary of Results
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Recycling of Plastic Beverage Bottles in Canada(Shows deposit systems more effective)
PROVINCE Tonnes Generated Tonnes Recovered Recovery Rate
British Columbia 10,968 8,555 78%
Alberta 10,892 7,624 70%
Saskatchewan 3,073 2,741 89%
Manitoba 5,059 1,493 30%
Ontario 50,904 17,819 35%
Quebec (non-SD) 23,270 6,905 30%
Quebec (SD) 11,610 8,359 72%
New Brunswick 3,198 2,323 73%
Nova Scotia 4,090 3,333 81%
Newfoundland 2,712 1,798 66%
TOTAL 125,775 60,949 48%
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Key Observations on Plastics Recycling
• The overall recycling rate of household plastics packaging is around 15% to 20%
• Municipalities do not recycle the full stream of plastics packaging due to e.g.:– Too low volumes– Costs– Distance to markets– Processing limitations
• The capture rates are poor
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Recycling Rates of Household Plastics Packaging in Ontario, 2004
Material Households in Generation Total GenerationQuantityMarketed
Recovery Rate
municipalities selling kg/hhld./yr tonnes/yr tonnes/yr
%
the specific material
PET Bottles 4,352,838 10.3 44,725 18,664 42%
HDPE Bottles 4,265,599 5.95 25,380 10,902 43%
Tubs & Lids 1,664,269 3.05 5,076 1,202 24%
Polystyrene 1,273,130 5.0 6,365 283 4%
PE Bags & Film Packaging
(excl. shopping bags used for garbage) 1,544,358 10.5 16,215 3053 19%
Total 97,761 34,104 35%
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Ways To Increase Plastics Recycling
• Increase the recycling rate of plastics currently being collected– Set best practices to capture 60% of bottles– Double households collecting tubs, expand to include pails– Expand collection of shopping bags at retail outlets– Collect PS in GTA
• Even with these initiatives, the overall rate of plastics recycling will be around 22%
• It so happens that this is the limit that the EU has determined to be practical from point of view of eco efficiency– In EU, unrecyclable plastics are seen to be a valuable source of
energy– PE is 20,000 Btu per pound (frozen natural gas)
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Integrated Solid Waste Management Is Required
LAND DISPOSAL
MINIMIZEDWASTE STREAMFOR DISPOSAL
ENERGY RECOVERY
REDUCE REUSE
RECYCLINGCOMPOSTING
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
What EPIC Is Seeking• The product stewardship benefits of plastics
packaging (in reducing waste/emissions) are valued
• An integrated approach to waste management, which includes energy recovery, is supported
• Eco-efficiency is the basis for management of waste at end-of-life
• Arbitrary recycling targets are avoided• One fee for plastics packaging in Stewardship
Ontario’s funding formula is supported
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ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
The EPIC Team - Structured to Address Plastics Solid Waste Issues
• Cathy Cirko, Director General• Communications Experts
– Lesley Foster– Melanie Franner
• Technical Resource– Dr. Fred Edgecombe
• Municipal Issues Managers– Craig Foster – B.C.– Randy Conrad – Alberta– Joe Hruska – Ontario – Trish Johnson – Ontario and Quebec
• Quebec Government Relations – Pierre Dubois
ENVIRONMENT AND PLASTICS INDUSTRY COUNCIL
A council of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association
Integrated Resource Management
• Recycling should be focused on eco-efficiency (cost versus environmental benefit)
• Carbon containing residues should not be landfilled but directed to energy recovery– Materials to energy recovery must have a calorific
value not less than 16 megajoules/kg (soft coal)– The useful recovered energy is not to be less than
25% of the original embodied energy • Mass burn plants in NA currently operate at efficiencies of 13
to 17%• In Europe, modern facilities can capture up to 50 to 60% of
the embodied energy