How do we keep plastics away from animals, people, and the environment, but within the economy?
This far-from-trivial question is sought to be answered by the Canada Plastics Pact (CPP), a platform that promotes the development of a circular economy for plastics by bringing together government, businesses, organizations, and other strategic players in the plastics value chain.Â
2022 Annual Report
In January, the Canada Plastics Pact released its 2022 annual report. The report highlighted the challenges underlying the achievement of the goals set by the CPP, and the opportunities for partners to work collaboratively to address pollution and waste issues.
In 2022, Canada was estimated to have produced 978,743 tons of plastic packaging, of which 20 percent was recycled, an increase of eight percentage points over 2019. There was also a 3 percentage point increase in the recycling rate of flexible packaging. Canada Plastics Pact signatories also increased the use of PCR (+32% over 2020).Â
Canada Plastics Pact Roadmap to 2025
A key objective under the Canada Plastics Pact is transparency. Pact partners commit to sharing annual data for accurate measurement of progress toward the four goals of the CPP Roadmap to 2025:
- Define a list of plastic packaging that is to be designated as problematic or unnecessary and take measures to eliminate them.
- 100% of plastic packaging must be designed to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
- 50% of packaging must be recycled or composted.Â
- At least 30% recycled content in all plastic packaging (by weight). In 2022, the average amount of post-consumer recycled content (PCR) was 12%.
A multifaceted plan
The plastic waste crisis is a complex challenge that requires a multi-year perspective and multiple interventions. These include the launch of the Golden Design Rules (GDRs) for plastic packaging, which aim to promote scalable actions to reduce the amount of packaging and increase its recyclability.Â
The GDRs have been adopted by more than half of the signatories to the Canada Plastics Pact, reflecting the industry’s concrete commitment to the sustainable and circular future of plastics.
Source: plasticpact.ca
