Canada Plastics Pact Unveils 2023-24 Report, Tracking Progress & Obstacles in the Transition to a Circular Economy

The Canada Plastics Pact (CPP) has released its annual 2023-24 Impact Report, highlighting significant milestones and challenges in its mission to address plastic waste across Canada. This third annual report sheds light on the collective achievements of the pact’s growing network of partners, while also identifying the hurdles that remain on the path toward a circular economy for plastics.

Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the CPP has made strides in forging partnerships across businesses, governments, and environmental groups to build scalable, sustainable solutions to reduce plastic waste. The organization’s 2023 report emphasizes the “unprecedented scale of collaboration” within Canada’s plastics value chain, showcasing how this synergy is driving momentum for innovative solutions to manage plastics more responsibly.

In 2022, an estimated 1.96 million tons of plastic packaging were generated in Canada, reflecting contributions from Deposit Return Systems (DRSs), Residential Systems, and Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional (ICI) sectors. Notably, this year’s report includes comprehensive data from the ICI sector, providing a fuller understanding of the national plastic packaging landscape.

CPP’s Roadmap to 2025 outlines ambitious targets to reshape the plastics sector. One of the pact’s primary goals is to eliminate unnecessary or problematic plastic packaging. As of 2023, only 4% of CPP’s partners still had 10 problematic items in their plastic portfolios—marking a significant improvement over previous years. To assist in this transition, CPP launched a guidance document aimed at helping partners phase out these plastic types.

The second major objective focuses on ensuring that all plastic packaging placed on the market by CPP members is designed to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable. In 2023, 50% of packaging from CPP’s partners met this criterion, which represents a 7% increase from the prior year’s data.

Despite these gains, challenges persist, particularly in achieving the pact’s third goal—ensuring that at least 50% of plastic packaging is effectively recycled or composted. According to 2022 data, the national recycling rate stood at just 16%, with sector-specific rates varying from 11% in the ICI sector to 17% in the residential sector. The DRS systems performed better with a 60% recycling rate. This decline from the previous year’s 20% overall recycling rate can be attributed to the inclusion of the ICI sector, which has historically struggled with lower recycling rates.

The fourth target of the CPP is to increase the amount of recycled content in plastic packaging to at least 30% by weight. However, in 2023, the average amount of post-consumer recycled (PCR) content (by weight) across plastic packaging used by CPP Partners was 10%. This is a 2% decline in PCR use from CPP’s 2022 Annual Report. This reduction is largely due to challenges in sourcing sufficient quantities of PCR, and the higher cost of recycled content compared to virgin resin.

Although the CPP acknowledges that progress has been slower than expected in some areas, its managing director, Cher Mereweather, expressed optimism about the future. “As our partnership grows and Partners reaffirm their commitment to the Pact, this diverse group of leaders and experts from across the plastics value chain remains focused on source reduction, designing for reuse and recyclability, supporting investment in infrastructure, and informing smart policy,” said Mereweather.

Catherine O’Brien, the board chair of the CPP and senior vice president of corporate affairs at Nestlé Canada, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that despite the work left to be done, CPP is on a promising trajectory. “We are now seeing the results of industry groundwork, supported by key players across the plastics value chain, driving actionable initiatives and scaling efforts to deliver measurable progress... The data shows that while there’s still work to be done to achieve our mission and vision, we are on the right track,” O’Brien stated.

With over 100 partners now engaged in the initiative, the CPP remains committed to its goal of driving systemic change to reduce plastic waste. The road ahead may be long, but the foundation for a circular economy is steadily being built.