Creating a common design language that enables greater recyclability of packaging and paper products across Canada is the mission of a collaboration between five provincial extended producer responsibility (EPR) organizations.

Last month, Ontario’s Circular Materials, Éco Entreprises Québec, Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba, SK Recycles and Recycle BC announced a joint initiative to develop guidelines toward the target. It would impact thousands of packaging and paper businesses in Canada, with the vision of a future with higher recycling rates and more efficient recycling systems.

“What is good in Quebec should be good in British Columbia,” Geneviève Dionne, the senior director of ecodesign, pricing and ecomodulation at Montreal-based Éco Entreprises Québec, said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

A consistent, nationwide design of packaging and paper products is critical because these materials are often shipped across provinces, she explained. As an example, Dionne suggested a PVC plastic producer wants to be sure there is alignment between Quebec’s EPR regulations and the rest of Canada.

Canadians produce and use millions of tonnes of packaging and paper waste per year, and recycling rates can be low. Research from the Canada Plastics Pact revealed that, of almost two million tonnes of plastic packaging generated in Canada in 2019, only 12 per cent was recycled.

EPR organizations, like the five involved in the collaboration, were formed to manage policies which set end-of-life responsibility guidelines for packaging and paper producers to help address the issue.

Ecodesign rules

The rules being written by the five EPR groups will build on the ecodesign guidelines published by Éco Entreprises Québec in October 2024. Those principles are:

• Reducing the weight and volume of product packaging for optimal functionality and customer use.
• Encouraging producers to select environmentally responsible suppliers, and collaborate on creating a traceable supply chain that prioritizes recycled, renewable and certified materials.
• Pushing producers to design products that maximize the compatibility of packaging and paper products with current and future sorting and recycling infrastructure.

Éco Entreprises Québec’s peers told the non-profit “they appreciated the work we’ve done and they would like to endorse our guidelines,” Dionne said, and were interested in collaboration “to have a common language regarding ecodesign and recyclability for Canada that is based on the language we see in Europe.”

The intent is to support a “coherent conversation” with packaging and paper producers and EPR organizations for alignment on actions, Dionne said.

For example, producers could receive more information about end-of-life scenarios and management of materials and packaging to boost collection, sorting and recycling rates.

Regulators could get a clearer understanding of the challenges and successes in a provincial recycling system, Dionne said.

She expects the new guidelines will boost investment into new packaging designs to increase recyclability.

'Clear, practical instructions for producers across Canada'

The Canada Plastics Pact is “extremely supportive” of the collaboration between Canada's producer responsibility organizations, its managing director Cher Mereweather said in an emailed statement to Sustainable Biz Canada.

Mereweather said the initiative will cover all EPR-designated materials such as plastic, paper, metal and glass, and move beyond the current plastic-specific Golden Design Rules.

She also said it will translate the work of organizations like Éco Entreprises Québec into “clear, practical instructions for producers across Canada.” Other expected benefits are driving efficiency in the recycling industry, increasing material recovery rates and supporting EPR compliance nationwide.

The Canada Plastics Pact believes the key to success is ensuring the guidance is consistent across the country, producer-centric, and well-communicated across the industry and consumers, Mereweather said.

The five EPR organizations will update the guidelines over time. For example, Dionne expects the EPR non-profits will talk to fibre and paper packaging experts to better understand the challenges faced by that industry.

Another goal is to harmonize Canada’s ecodesign standards with European and U.S. regulations. If Canada-made packaging does not meet the European Union’s regulations for recyclability, the market will be closed off for producers here, Dionne said.