In the past several years, there have been numerous Canadian government initiatives to address plastic waste. The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) put forward a Canada-wide Strategy and Action Plan on Zero Plastic Waste in 2018 and 2019 that takes a circular economy approach to plastics. This plan was adopted by federal, provincial, and territorial governments. Keeping all plastics in the economy and out of the environment will involve activities such as prevention, collection, clean-up, and value recovery. In 2022, CCME released “A Roadmap to Strengthen the Management o ..read more

Health Canada is considering developing a mandatory packaging program, said John Field, chief, Chemical Health Hazard Assessment Division, Health Canada, during a Food Plastics and Packaging Consultation event organized by Food and Beverage Ontario (FBO) in Vaughan earlier this week. Currently, packaging materials intended for use with foods in Canada may be submitted voluntarily to Health Canada for a pre-market assessment of their chemical safety, per Food and Drugs Act and Regulations. However, Health Canada is actively considering regulatory changes that would make this form of assessments ..read more

Revolutionizing the Road – Unveiling the Future of Sustainable Mobility In the ever-evolving landscape of automotive manufacturing, Nexeo Plastics is taking the lead in driving sustainability with our portfolio of sustainable materials that includes the latest innovations from our suppliers. We’re committed to revolutionizing the road, from encouraging customers to adopt bio-based plastics to helping customers meet their net zero carbon goals. Let’s discuss the details of our sustainable solutions and their pivotal role in shaping the future of mobility. Embracing Sustainability in Response to ..read more

Ontario’s EFS-plastics is a leading player in the plastics recycling industry. Hendrik Dullinger, the company’s vice president of business development, talks about how to survive, and what it takes to thrive. Q: Tell us a little bit about EFS-plastics A: EFS-plastics is an Ontario-based plastics recycler that processes over 100 million pounds of post-consumer plastics every year. Our headquarters is in Listowel, Ont., and specializes in mixed rigid plastics processing. We also run a U.S. plant in Hazleton, Pa., which specializes in flexible plastics. Our latest expansion brought us to Lethbrid ..read more

It’s an exciting time in the packaging industry as several factors combine to elevate our solutions to new levels of innovation, sustainability, performance, and flexibility. With the growth of e-commerce and home-delivery in recent years, our approach to packaging has evolved. This trend, coupled with ongoing consumer expectations for heightened sustainability, is converging with the rapid rise of digitization and evolving production technology. The result is an exciting new era in packaging in which polymer resin producers are working in close collaboration with manufacturing partners to cre ..read more

Riviana Foods Canada Corporation has unveiled new packaging for all Minute Rice products, including the brand’s four varieties of Quick Cook Rice and eight varieties of Microwaveable Rice Cups. The brand, first launched in 1949, has also added a new variety of Microwaveable Cups to the Minute Rice lineup – Mexican-style rice. Credits: Meg Moon “Minute Rice’s new campaign and refreshed packaging embody the timeless essence of the brand while embracing the contemporary needs of today’s consumers,” Garima Jain Patodia, Senior Brand Manager of Rice Portfolio for Riviana said. “The brand relaunch ..read more

A global research study, led by scientists at Dalhousie and a dozen different universities in the United States, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Estonia, Chile, Sweden and the U.K., found that 56 global companies are responsible for more than half of all branded plastic pollution. A paper in Science Advances states that the top five producers of branded plastic pollution were Coca-Cola Company, which was responsible for 11 per cent of roughly 910,000 branded items, followed by PepsiCo (five per cent), Nestle (three per cent), Danone (three per cent), and Altria/Philip Morris Internati ..read more

The federal government launches the Federal Plastics Registry, a tool to compel plastic producers and other companies across the plastics value chain to help monitor and track plastic from the time it is produced up to its end of life. By better tracking plastic through its full life cycle, both governments and industry will be better equipped to address plastic waste and pollution through increased transparency and sound, robust, evidence-based decision-making. The registry requires plastic resin manufacturers, producers of plastic products, and service providers to report each year on the qu ..read more

Popular consumer products risk disappearing from stores across Quebec — and those that remain could be more expensive — because of the province’s French-language reform, says an association that represents thousands of foreign businesses. The costs and inconveniences around the application of draft regulations could push certain manufacturers out of the Quebec market, Etienne Sanz de Acedo, CEO of the International Trademark Association, said in a recent interview. “Companies will have to ask themselves the question, is it really relevant to be in the Quebec market,” said Sanz de Acedo, whose ..read more

Plastic has been critical in moving food safely across the supply chain from manufacturing to handling, transportation, storage, grocery shelves, and consumers. It increases product shelf life, prevents food from spoilage and waste, and reduces the spread of food-related diseases. According to the Government of Canada’s website, Canadians throw away over 3 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, while only nine per cent is recycled. How can manufacturers balance food safety concerns with the government mandate for phasing out plastic food packaging? In a statement, Food and Beverage Canada ..read more