Canada Plastics Pact gets 13 new partners, names advisory council members

The Canada Plastics Pact (CPP), a multi-stakeholder, industry-led, cross-value chain collaboration platform created early this year to tackle the nation’s plastic waste and pollution problem, has added 13 new partners to its roster, and also announced the members of its first advisory council.

In an April 8 news release, CPP officials said that the new partners include “operators of one of the country’s largest deposit return systems; one of the country’s largest tissue manufacturers; and a top 3 producer of packaged fresh bread and bakery products.” The Ottawa-based CPP now has more than 50 partners.

“Following the launch of the CPP in January 2021, we saw tremendous cross-Canada interest from companies along the plastics value chain that are passionate about, and aligned with, a vision for a circular economy for plastics,” said CPP managing director George Roter. “Our newest partners add new perspectives and industries to deliver on our ambitious, action-oriented agenda.”

The new partners are Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corp.; Bimbo Canada; BOSK Bioproducts; Canadian Beverage Container Recycling Association (Recycle Everywhere); City of Edmonton; Colgate-Palmolive Co.; Fraser Plastics Ltd.; GDI Packaging Solutions Inc.; HypoIndustries Ltd.; Kruger Products L.P.; Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba Inc.; SPUD.ca; and Tempo Plastics.

And the 2021 CPP advisory council members are:

• Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation, Guy West
• Canadian Produce Marketing Association, Ron Lemaire
• Canadian Tire Corporation, Kimi Walker
• David Suzuki Foundation, Yannick Beaudoin
• General Mills, Jill Carman
• Kraft Heinz Canada, Nicole Fischer
• Loblaw Companies Ltd., Ian Gordon
• Maple Leaf Foods, Priya Roberts
• Merlin Plastics Group of Companies, Tony Moucachen
• National Zero Waste Council, Andrew Marr
• The Natural Step Canada, David Hughes
• Nestlé Canada Inc., Catherine O’Brien
• PAC Packaging Consortium, Jim Downham
• Return-It, Allen Langdon
• Save-On-Foods, Julie Dickson
• Tempo Plastics, Len Giglio
• Unilever, John Coyne
• Walmart Canada, Jennifer Barbazza

“The CPP advisory council has representatives of leading Canadian organizations from across the plastics value chain,” Roter said. “Each organization and individual representative brings specific expertise and perspective, along with credibility and relationships in the broader plastics or circular economy ecosystem.”

The goal of the CPP is to unite businesses, government, non-governmental organizations and other key actors in the local plastics value chain behind clear actionable targets for 2025, including defining a list of plastic packaging that is to be designated as problematic or unnecessary and taking measures to eliminate them; supporting efforts towards 100 per cent of plastic packaging being designed to be reusable, recyclable or compostable; and ensuring that at least 50 per cent of plastic packaging is effectively recycled or composted.

The CPP is also a member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Global Plastics Pact network.