Collaboration & Projects Archive

Participation in Recyc-Quebec Joint Committee on Recyclable Materials

CCC has been a member of RECYC-QUEBEC’s Joint Committee on Recyclable Materials since 2013. The Joint Committee’s mandate is to develop solutions to increase the effectiveness and performance of the curbside recycling system. As part of the Market Development Working Group, cartons have been identified as one of three priority materials. A project is being implemented to document the added value and costs related to the separation of cartons collected at two sorting centres in the province – Quebec City’s Material Recovery Facility, operated by Societe VIA, and Recuperation Frontenac, located in Thetford Mines. Sorting cartons from other fibre commodities maximizes their environmental and economic value and it is hoped that the results of this project can be leveraged to convince more sorting facilities in the province to adopt this practice, thereby driving the carton recycling rate in Quebec.

The successful proponent tasked with executing the project is WSP, in collaboration with NI Corporation and Deloitte. The project’s kick-off meeting was held May 24, 2016 and the project is expected to wrap-up by the end of September.

Collaboration Agreement with Eco Entreprises Quebec

In June 2014, Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ), the stewardship organization responsible for packaging and printed paper in Quebec, and the Carton Council of Canada (CCC) signed a collaborative agreement aiming to increase the volume of carton packaging being collected and improve recycling rates for shelf-stable cartons (juice, soup, sauces) and gable top cartons (milk, juice) managed in the Quebec curbside collection system.

The two partners have committed to supporting one another’s efforts and collaborating in three key areas of activity: sharing and dissemination of information through communication tools and participation in task forces; promotion of best practices and support of municipalities’ efforts to drive recycling education with residents and in schools; and initiatives to optimize the curbside collection value chain.

Collaboration to Support School Recycling in Manitoba

Founded in 2010, the Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (CBCRA) is a not-for-profit, industry-funded organization whose membership includes beverage brand owners and distributors. CBCRA’s Recycle Everywhere is Canada’s first permanent, province-wide away from home beverage container recycling program, and includes a dedicated program component focused on getting schools recycling all their empty beverage containers.

In 2016, Carton Council Canada is providing support to CBCRA for growing their already successful Recycle Everywhere 101 program even further, including extending the reach of the program, educating more schoolchildren about recycling and increasing accessibility to beverage container recycling at all schools in Manitoba.

Concretely, the CCC’s funding support is being used to hire an additional staff member for an eight-month period to augment existing on-the-grounds resources (direct promotion and support to schools). As of February 2016, 70% of all the schools in the province (JK-12) were on on-board with the Recycle Everywhere 101 program. Through a combined effort of the existing team and the additional staff member, the goal is to reach 95% coverage by the end of the year.

Photo credit: CBCRA

Collaboration to expand carton grade

In early 2013, Tim Hortons, Stewardship Ontario and Carton Council of Canada came together to explore new opportunities to increase the recycling of post-consumer beverage cartons and paper cups in Ontario. The objective was to simplify collection for consumers by harmonizing recyclable paperboard materials and optimizing components of the recycling value chain. With a focus on compatible materials including hot/cold beverage paper cups, fibre-based ice cream cartons and fibre-based freezer packaging, the project was divided into three phases:

Phase 1

Test the ability of the existing Material Recovery Facility (MRF) sorting infrastructure to effectively and efficiently capture a broader stream of composite paper packaging into one grade.

Phase 2

Work with fibre and tissue mills to learn how their operations and infrastructure are impacted by this expanded grade of composite paper packaging.

Phase 3

Work with a community in Ontario to educate residents to recycle this broader stream of composite paper packaging.

Phases One & Two are now complete. Before communicating with residents, additional work is needed to address some of the challenges identified at the MRF, mainly in terms of the ability of the optical sorting equipment to effectively recognize the new materials.

For more information, view the presentation given by the project partners at the Sustainable Packaging Conference in September 2014.

Beauharnois-Salaberry Regional Municipality, Quebec

CCC provided a grant to the Regional Municipality’s « Green Team » with the goal to educate residents in placing cartons in the correct section of the two-stream bin (Summer 2012).