the environment and plastics industry council (epic) · pdf filethe environment and plastics...

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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



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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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



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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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



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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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



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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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



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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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



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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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



EPR in Canada

Source: Environment Canada

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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.



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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• 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



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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Ontario Packaging Levies Lower Than Europe



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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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



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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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



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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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%



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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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%



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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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%



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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Integrated Solid Waste Management Is Required

LAND DISPOSAL

MINIMIZEDWASTE STREAMFOR DISPOSAL

ENERGY RECOVERY

REDUCE REUSE

RECYCLINGCOMPOSTING



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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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



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

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