Recycle BC and SK Recycles were presented with the 2027 Canada’s Clean50 Top Project Award – Recognition highlights Recycle BC’s efforts to overcome long-standing barriers to flexible plastics recovery through innovation and expanded collection.
Recycle BC and SK Recycles have received a 2027 Canada’s Clean50 Top Project Award for Recycle BC’s work expanding residential flexible plastics collection across British Columbia. The recognition celebrates a multi-year initiative that has expanded convenient recycling access to more than 300,000 BC households through innovative collection and recycling solutions.
Canada’s Clean50 Top Project Awards, announced annually by Delta Management Group, recognize sustainability projects completed in Canada over the previous two years that demonstrate measurable impact, innovation and the potential to inspire similar initiatives. For more information, visit www.clean50.com.
“We’re honoured to receive this recognition, which reflects years of research, innovation and collaboration to address one of the most persistent challenges in residential recycling,” said Sam Baker, Executive Director of Recycle BC and SK Recycles. “By working with partners to develop new recycling solutions and continuing to make collection more convenient, we’re creating opportunities to collect and recycle more flexible plastics in British Columbia, so that they are turned into new products.”
Flexible plastics, including plastic bags, chip bags, bread bags and plastic overwrap, have historically been among the most challenging packaging materials to recycle due to difficulties with collection, sorting and processing. To overcome these barriers, Recycle BC undertook years of research and development, working with a local recycling partner to establish a verified recycling solution in 2022 that transforms flexible plastics into recycled plastic pellets used to manufacture new products.
Building on this breakthrough, Recycle BC developed and piloted innovative collection systems before expanding convenient residential collection of flexible plastics to more than 300,000 households across British Columbia between 2024 and 2026. The expansion introduced dedicated pink collection bins and new four-stream collection vehicles, making it convenient for residents to recycle flexible plastics while maintaining the material quality needed for effective recycling. Together, these efforts have established an innovative, scalable model for increasing flexible plastics collection and advancing a circular economy.
The award recognizes the project’s potential to serve as a model for tackling difficult-to-recycle materials, both in British Columbia and beyond.
“Delta’s criteria in determining Project awards is to carefully consider a combination of actual measurable impact, demonstrated innovation, and the project’s ability to inspire others to imitate it – and Flexible Plastics Collection Expansion completed by Recycle BC and SK Recycles is a terrific example,” said Gavin Pitchford, CEO of Delta Management Group.
Building on this progress, Recycle BC will continue working with communities and collection partners to expand convenient collection opportunities for flexible plastics and advance its goal of recovering more of the flexible plastics supplied into BC’s residential market.
About Recycle BC
Recycle BC is a not-for-profit organization responsible for residential packaging and paper product recycling throughout British Columbia, servicing over two million households — or more than 99 per cent of BC — through curbside, multi-family and depot services. Recycle BC ensures packaging and paper products are collected from residential households and recycling depots, sorted and responsibly managed and recycled.
Recycle BC provides recycling services either directly to communities or by working in partnership with local governments, First Nations, private companies and other not-for-profit organizations. The program is funded by businesses that supply packaging and paper products to BC residents. For more information, visit RecycleBC.ca.
About SK Recycles
SK Recycles is the producer responsibility organization (PRO) managing Saskatchewan’s Household Packaging and Paper Stewardship Plan. Operating as a federally incorporated not-for-profit entity, the program operates under provincial regulations to shift the structural and financial responsibility of recycling away from municipal taxpayers and onto the commercial producers, brand owners, and retailers that supply packaging to the province. In partnership with local community collectors and processing networks like SARCAN, SK Recycles is establishing a full, province-wide Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system designed to advance a circular economy and expand material recovery across Saskatchewan. Learn more at skrecycles.ca.
About Canada’s Clean50
Leading sustainability and clean tech search firm Delta Management Group founded the Canada’s Clean50 awards in 2011, and remains the steward of the award today. The awards were created to annually identify, recognize and connect 50 sustainability leaders, 20 Emerging Leaders, 5 Lifetime Achievement honourees, and up to 40 Top Projects, selected from every sector of Canadian endeavor. The firm also annually convenes the Clean50 Summit, in order to facilitate understanding, collaboration and innovation in the fight to keep human caused climate impacts below 1.5 degrees.