Collaboration with Tim Hortons and Stewardship Ontario

Category: Other
Time frame: 2013-2014
Location: Ontario
Status: Completed

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 undertook to:

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

These two phases were completed in 2014. Stewardship Ontario subsequently carried out additional work 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 and refer to the report published by Stewardship Ontario in 2016.