Up to 15 organizations in Atlantic Canada can receive $2K each for recycling education efforts that include cartons
Toronto, Ontario, April 21, 2023 – Carton Council of Canada (CCC) today announced the launch of the third year of the organization’s Community Education Award program developed to support and enhance recycling education in Canadian communities. In 2023, the Community Education Award program will focus on the provinces in Atlantic Canada including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The award program is open to organizations based in Canada’s Atlantic provinces that educate residents about local recycling programs, particularly those that include food and beverage cartons. This includes municipalities, sorting centres (both municipal and privately-owned), Regional Service Commissions, not-for-profit organizations, crown agencies, governmental departments, and any other organization that has recycling education as part of its mandate.
To receive the award, participating communities and organizations must show that their websites accurately and clearly define carton recycling. They will also be asked to provide at least two other examples of communications activities conducted during the year that promote recycling in general, while also prominently including cartons. More information about how communities can participate is found here.
The first fifteen organizations to sign up for the program will be eligible to receive $2,000 each by demonstrating their proactive recycling education efforts, featuring food and beverage cartons. Registration opens on April 21, 2023 and will close on June 19, 2023. The participating communities will then have until Friday, November 3, 2023 to showcase their efforts and submit their work to CCC. Content may be created in either French or English and final submissions will be accepted in both languages.
“We are very pleased to launch this initiative for a third year and to extend its reach into Atlantic Canada,” said Isabelle Faucher, Managing Director, Carton Council of Canada. In Atlantic Canada, the recycling solution for cartons depends on the product. Milk, milk substitutes, and cartons containing foodstuffs other than beverages (such as soups and broths) are collected in the residential recycling system while juice and other designated beverage cartons are returned to a redemption centre or recycling depot for refund. “Given the unique recycling approach in Atlantic Canada, it’s all the more important to communicate clearly and effectively to consumers about how to recycle their cartons,” said Faucher.
“At Carton Council Canada, we believe that creative collaborations like our Community Education Award, have a positive impact on local awareness of recycling in general and cartons specifically. We look forward to the efforts of each participating group and their success helping educate the general public about recycling best practices and services,” she added.
In 2021, CCC launched the program to communities across Ontario and, in 2022, CCC ran the initiative in the province of Quebec. “Our participation in the program helped us clarify many questions about the recycling of cartons with our citizens,” says Jacob Bouchard of Société VIA, one of last year’s participating organizations. “We then used the grant money to offer sweaters to the employees of our five plants, which made a lot of people happy!”
ABOUT FOOD AND BEVERAGE CARTONS
Food and beverage cartons are highly recyclable materials that come in two kinds: refrigerated cartons that store, milk, juice and egg substitutes; and shelf-stable cartons that are packaged for broths, milks, juices, soups and even wine. When sorted by themselves at materials recovery facilities (MRFs) or returned to a redemption centre, cartons are a valuable material in high demand. Made mostly from paper, a renewable resource, cartons have become popular containers for food and beverage products as they are lightweight and compact, with a low carbon footprint. When recycled, they are used to make office and writing paper, tissues, paper towels, and even sustainable building and construction materials.
ABOUT THE CARTON COUNCIL OF CANADA
The Carton Council of Canada (CCC) is composed of four leading carton manufacturers, Elopak, Pactiv Evergreen, SIG Combibloc, and Tetra Pak. Formed in 2010, CCC works to deliver long-term collaborative solutions in order to divert valuable cartons from disposal. Carton Council of Canada provides a platform for carton manufacturers in Canada to benchmark and profile cartons as renewable, recyclable and low-carbon packaging solutions.
For the past 13 years, CCC has been working with all stakeholders in the recycling supply chain to increase carton recovery and recycling. There is demand for feedstock from food and beverage cartons to make new products, including paper products and building materials.
For more information, visit recyclecartons.ca.