Ontario recycler tackles plastic waste problem

An Elmira, Ont.-based company is cashing in on the growing number of post-consumer plastic film and bag recycling programs available by processing plastic garbage.

EFS-Plastics recycles municipal film and bags with the capability to supply feedstocks to Ontario manufacturers.

According to Martin Vogt, company president, EFS-Plastics utilizes German technology to clean and palletize curbside collected film and bags for a broad range of plastics products, including bags, decking, foundation wrap, pipe insulation, and piping.

Vogt purchases bottles, containers and lids from local blue boxes for $10 per ton, and then – after the plastic is shredded, cleaned, and sorted – sells it as raw material for making containers and other products.

One of the investors in the company is Vogt-Plastic GmbH, which has over 25 years of plastic reprocessing experience in Germany, Vogt said.

EFS-Plastics currently processes approximately 6,000 tons of post-consumer plastics, and plans to more than double its capacity in the next two to three years.