The top 10 news stories of 2023

Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/krzysztofulanski

Coming out of the most extreme combined health and economic crisis in the last century, what our industry probably most wanted in 2023 was a return to normalcy. But we didn’t always get it. Interest rates and costs remain high, and supply chain issues are an ongoing problem.

Worst of all, the federal government remains committed to pulling the plug on the viability of a significant number of plastics processors, and to putting many of the rest on permanent life support, by listing all plastic manufactured goods as “toxic” under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA); this is the key step that allowed the feds to impose bans on the manufacture and import of six single-use plastics — stir sticks, straws, grocery bags, cutlery, takeout containers, and six-pack beverage rings.

The stakes in the issue are high, which is why a group of major industrial players in plastics, plus the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, pursued a legal challenge against the “toxic” ruling – and also why the issue was the most-read Canadian Plastics online news article in 2023.

So, on that note, here are our top 10 news stories of the year in descending order, based on the number of readers.

1. Judge quashes cabinet order underlying Canada’s single-use plastic ban

A Federal Court judge has ruled that Ottawa’s decision to list plastic items as toxic was “unreasonable and unconstitutional.” READ MORE>>>

2. Ottawa to appeal Federal Court plastics ruling

The federal government intends to appeal a recent court decision that quashed a cabinet order listing manufactured plastic items as toxic in Canada. READ MORE>>>

3. Dow proceeding with $6.5-billion Path2Zero project in Alberta

The project will be the world’s first ethylene cracker and downstream derivatives unit with net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions. READ MORE>>>

4. Judge hears legal challenge to Canada’s single-use plastics ban

The regulations face their first legal test as the plastics lobby and the federal government head to court. READ MORE>>>

5. Nova Chemicals names Roger Kearns as new president and CEO

Kearns, who will take the position on June 12, succeeds Danny Dweik, who has served as Nova’s interim president and CEO since October 2022. READ MORE>>>

6. World’s largest plastic recycling plant opens

The new Site Zero, in Sweden, can sort up to 12 types of plastic at a 95 per cent success rate. READ MORE>>>

7. Magna investing $471 million to expand Ontario operations

The investment includes opening a new $265-million EV battery enclosure facility in Brampton later this year. READ MORE>>>

8. New Canadian standard on products with recycled plastic content

The new NSC standard is set to increase the circularity and traceability of plastics in the country. READ MORE>>>

9. Lego abandons plan to make bricks from recycled PET

Lego discovered that making bricks out of recycled plastic bottles would have actually made emissions worse, a news report says. READ MORE>>>

10. Polystyvert building two new plants in Greater Montreal area

The polystyrene recycler is building a commercial PS recycling plant and an ABS recycling pilot plant. READ MORE>>>