The Packaging and Printed Paper (PPP) Stewardship Plan sets out Multi-Material British Columbia’s (MMBC) aspiration to have all PPP supplied into BC households effectively collected and recycled. MMBC is proposing a practical approach to achieve this objective by first expanding the existing collection system to accommodate a uniform province-wide list of PPP materials.
Subsequently, the uniform list of materials will be expanded incrementally over time to ensure collection, processing and marketing of additional materials will not compromise the operation and reliability of the existing collection and recycling system, the quality of materials shipped to end-markets, the viability of these end-markets, the confidence of residents in their recycling program and the environmental performance of the system.
Collecting a uniform province-wide list of PPP in all areas of the province will require adjustments to the majority of collection programs and by the primary and downstream processors that receive the collected material. It will also require effort to ensure that the additional PPP is effectively marketed with minimal disruption to local commodity market arrangements.
MMBC wants to continue to dialogue with stakeholders about topics related to preparations to implement the PPP Stewardship Plan in May 2014 and has posted a draft updated list of the PPP it proposes to collect under the PPP Stewardship Plan. MMBC invites stakeholder discussion prior to finalizing the list of PPP to be collected.
With the posting of the Draft Updated List of PPP to be Collected, MMBC is initiating a LinkedIn group to facilitate inter-stakeholder discussion. Participants must be members of LinkedIn; there is no fee for membership. Once a membership in LinkedIn has been completed, search for MMBC Group to join the conversation.
Those interested in commenting on the draft list can do so through the LinkedIn group or by submitting comments by email to consultation@multimaterialbc.ca. Comments are to be submitted by March 1, 2013.
MMBC is particularly interested in your views on the following questions:
1. The only paper packaging materials that are not intended to be accepted at the program start up in May 2014 are:
- Waxed corrugated containers; and
- Paper packaging that is laminated with other packaging material (e.g. blister packaging that is both paper and plastic).
Do you agree with this approach?
Should other paper packaging materials be excluded from the PPP collection system?
If yes, which materials and why?
Some materials, such as wet strength boxboard and coated freezer packaging, present processing and marketing challenges. However, recognizing the problems residents will encounter attempting to distinguish these materials and the comparatively small quantities generated by the residential sector, these materials have not been specifically excluded.
Do you agree with this approach?
2. The proposed list of plastic packaging to be collected is more extensive than any other program in North America and includes collection of foamed polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE) film packaging through depots. All other plastic packaging to be collected is proposed to be collected at curbside and depots.
Do you agree with this approach?
Generally speaking, only four types of residential plastic packaging are not intended to be collected at the program start up in May 2014:
- Plastic packaging that is laminated with other packaging material.
- Plastic films that are not PE based films (i.e. plastic films that are not #2 or #4). PE film is more common in the household stream (e.g. grocery bags, dry cleaning film, etc.) and other types of films are a contaminant when marketing PE films.
- Cushion packaging that is not PS based. PS foam packaging is more common in the household stream and other types of cushion packaging are a contaminant when marketing PS foam.
- Degradable plastics that are contaminants in recyclable plastics streams.
Do you agree with this approach?