More plastic film was recycled in Canada in 2022 compared to 2019, but less rigid plastic made it into the system, according to the latest report from Canada Plastics Pact.
The 2024 Progress Report found that 16% of all plastic packaging in Canada was recycled in 2022 – an increase of 4 percentage points since the initial study in 2019. That figure includes material coming from deposit return systems, residential systems and the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors.
“This report demonstrates that we are making progress, with CPP and its Partners leading efforts to reshape the landscape by reducing reliance on virgin plastic, redesigning packaging for recyclability, and increasing the use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) content,” the report’s authors wrote.
The Pact started in 2021 and is one of numerous Plastics Pacts globally that are affiliated with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
About 59% of the generated material was rigid plastic packaging, and 24% of it was recycled in 2022, while 4% of the flexible plastic packaging generated was recycled. That’s a 2% decrease in recycling rate for rigid plastics and a 13% increase for flexible plastics.
While those are early signs of improvement for flexible plastic packaging, more work is needed, the report noted, especially with how complex collection, sorting and recycling are for the material.
“A switch from flexible to the more recyclable rigid packaging is not likely to solve this issue,” the report added. “The design of flexible packaging plays a critical role in this challenge, as materials that are difficult to separate or incompatible with existing recycling streams further hinder recycling efforts.”
Overall, Canadians generated 2 million metric tons of material in 2022, about 4% more than in 2019. Broken out by type of plastic packaging, rigid plastics saw a 17% increase in generation, while flexible plastics saw a 6% decrease.
Of that number, 557,000 metric tons were collected in 2022, up from 417,000 metric tons in 2019. After yield losses, about 402,000 metric tons were sorted in 2022, up from 307,000 metric tons in 2019.
Finally, about 306,000 metric tons of plastic packaging was recycled in 2022, an increase from 2019’s 227,000 metric tons.
“Overall, Canada’s plastics packaging flow remained consistent compared to 2019,” the authors concluded. “The most significant change was the increase in the generation of rigid plastic packaging as compared to flexible plastic packaging.”
