Plastics recycling high for Canada

Canada – ‘Access to Canadian plastics recycling is growing and is at its highest level in the last ten years,’ according to the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA). Recycling programmes for plastics are now in place in most major Canadian cities, the organisation states in its latest report. ‘Access to recycling of the more common plastic types is fairly consistent across Canada,’ it points out.

Some 94% of Canadians have access to PET and HDPE bottle, jug and jar recycling. ′This figure is down from 96% last year, but that is likely a rounding issue rather than an actual drop,′ CPIA explains. Access to recycling PVC bottles, jugs and jars is high in British Columbia (84%), Ontario (92%), Quebec (90%), Nova Scotia (97%) and Prince Edward Island (100%).

Some 61% of Canadians have access to recycling all plastic containers – an increase from 53% last year. Overall, eight of the provinces surveyed were found to have universal access to recycling PET beverage containers, with the exceptions being Ontario and Quebec. However, access to recycling in these provinces may be higher than reported given that some of the programmes possibly went unstudied owing to their catchment populations of 5000 or lower.

In Canada, many programmes limit the types of plastics accepted to just containers. For example, recycling access for polystyrene foam-based food and protective packaging is just 34% and 36%, respectively.

For more information, visit: www.plastics.ca