Support for Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs)
At the Carton Council of Canada (CCC), we can help you optimize the collection and sorting of cartons at your MRF. Our goal is to help you get the most out of this resource and meet your waste diversion goals.
Our assistance can take many forms. A few examples are included below, but we are here for you: tell us what you hope to achieve, we’re ready to consider any proposal.
And cartons don’t have to be the sole focus of your project; they can be part of a broader initiative. As long as cartons are featured, we’re interested!
All of our services are free of charge. Contact us to talk about how we might be of help.
Examples of the types of assistance we can provide:
Consulting to optimize carton sorting processes
Whether you’re looking at cartons on their own or alongside other materials, we can organize free consulting with one of our experts. Given their broad experience with carton handling at MRFs across Canada and around the world, our experts can share best practices, ideas and advice on any aspect of carton handling, including MRF configuration, sorter placement, technology and storage. We can also provide partial financing of third-party consulting services that you retain to look into your sorting practices. As a starting point for tips and ideas, you can also have a look at our carton recycling primer for MRFs.
Financing for audits, pilot projects and equipment
We can provide partial financing to conduct audits of your streams, to test out new approaches through pilot projects or to acquire or modify equipment for carton sorting or storage. Examples of the latter include investments in automation (optical sorters, robots), extensions to existing conveyors and the splitting of bunkers to allocate room for sorted cartons. Our contribution can complement amounts obtained from other sources, including from government and stewardship agencies.
Connecting you with buyers of carton bales
The CCC already maintains a list of brokers and end markets that are known to purchase carton bales from Canadian MRFs. To speed up your sales process, we can provide introductions to these buyers and possibly direct you to the ones that are most active on the market at a given time. In a pinch, we can send out a call to our network to try to find alternate buyers.
Carton recycling awareness campaigns and communication tools
Maybe you want to increase the quantity of cartons in your stream or encourage certain recycling practices in your communities that make sorting easier (e.g., not crushing cartons, emptying them, putting the cap back on). We offer financial, creative and production support for all sorts of communication initiatives, including online, print, outdoors and events.
We also maintain a bank of images and ads that you can freely use as is or adapt for your purposes. Let us know if you have any special requests!
We’re always available to discuss ways we might be able to assist in improving the handling of cartons at your MRF. Whether it is through one of the above services or by other means, never hesitate to contact us!