Alberta recycler gets funding for novel HDPE recycling system

An Alberta waste management firm is receiving $700,000 in provincial funding to install and commission a recycling system for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) containers that will process them into new products.

According to a news release from the Government of Alberta, RBW Waste Management Ltd., headquartered in Nisku, near Edmonton, is building the system, which will process post-consumer HDPE to create recycled plastic products to be used by the same customers who produced the waste, to reduce Alberta’s industries’ reliance on virgin plastic materials and create a circular solution for plastic waste.

The investment in RBW is part of a larger $58 million investment, through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), to 10 projects across the province worth $528 million. All funding is sourced from the province’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund.

“Advancing technology solutions that support a circular economy makes good environmental and economic sense,” said Sonya Savage, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas. “Circular Economy Challenge projects supported by the TIER fund will help keep valuable materials in the economy and out of landfills, which drives investment, bolsters economic activity, cuts emissions, and creates jobs. It’s a win across the board.”

If successful, these projects will result in cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of up to four million tonnes by 2050 – equal to offsetting the GHG footprint of one million homes, the news release said.