Canada Plastics Pact releases 2023-24 Impact Report

The Ottawa, Ontario-based Canada Plastics Pact (CPP) recently released its 2023-24 Impact Report, providing an overview of the progress made by its partners in its third year. The organization says its report highlights achievements and progress in 2023 while also capturing the activities and initiatives undertaken this year.

The CPP says the report underscores the “unprecedented scale of collaboration” within the Canadian plastics value chain and growing momentum of businesses and organizations to scale innovative solutions.

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Based on the most current and reliable data available, in 2022 it is estimated that Canada generated 1.96 million tons of plastic packaging in deposit return systems (DRS), residential systems and industrial commercial and institutional (IC&I) sectors. The CPP says this increase in plastic packaging production compared to previous years reflects the inclusion of IC&I sectors, providing a comprehensive understanding of plastic packaging flows at a national level.

As part of CPP’s commitment to transparency, its partners have shared annual data to measure progress toward the four targets outlined in its Roadmap to 2025.

The CPP’s first target is to define a list of plastic packaging to designate as unnecessary or problematic and take measures to eliminate them. To that end, the organization released a guidance document to support the elimination of unnecessary and problematic plastics in April. Additionally, the CPP says that in 2023, only 4 percent of its partners still had 10 problematic items in their plastic packaging portfolio.

The organization’s second target supports efforts toward 100 percent of plastic packaging being designed to be reusable, recyclable or compostable. In 2023, 50 percent of packaging placed on the market by CPP partners was designed as reusable, recyclable or compostable—a 7 percent increase since 2022.

Another CPP target is to undertake ambitious actions to ensure that at least 50 percent of plastic packaging is effectively recycled or composted. Based on the most current data available, the national recycling rate in DRS, residential and IC&I systems is estimated at 16 percent in 2022, with recycling rates for each stream: 11 percent for IC&I sectors; 17 percent for the residential sector; and 60 percent for DRS. The CPP says the national plastic packaging recycling rate of 16 percent represents a 4 percent drop from the 20 percent listed in the 2022 annual report as a result of adding data from the IC&I sectors, which it adds historically have lower recycling rates.

The CPP’s fourth target is to ensure an average of at least 30 percent recycled content across all plastic packaging by weight. In 2023, the average amount of postconsumer recycled content across plastic packaging used by CPP partners was 10 percent—a 2 percent decline in recycled resin use from CPP’s 2022 annual report. The organization says factors such as limited access to a sufficient supply of postconsumer resin (PCR) and its higher cost compared to virgin resin presented challenges.

“This report shows that we are making notable progress upstream as CPP signatories prioritize eliminating the plastics we don’t need and innovating for the ones we do,” says Cher Mereweather, managing director of the CPP. “As our partnership grows and partners reaffirm their commitment to the Pact, this diverse group of leaders and experts from across the plastics value chain remains focused on source reduction, designing for reuse and recyclability, supporting investment in infrastructure and informing smart policy.”

The CPP says it acknowledges that progress has been slower than anticipated, but the achievements made thus far would not have been possible without large-scale collaboration. The organization says it recognizes both the challenges faced in meeting targets and the “notable strengths and opportunities” for collective action to a circular economy for plastics. The CPP has accrued more than 100 partners since its launch.

“We are now seeing the results of industry groundwork, supported by key players across the plastics value chain, driving actionable initiatives and scaling efforts to deliver measurable progress,” says Catherine O’Brien, board chair and president of the CPP and senior vice president of corporate affairs at Nestle Canada. “The data shows that while there’s still work to be done to achieve our mission and vision, we are on the right track.”