NEWS

Innovations in Paper Packaging

(September 30, 2012): Three Innovations Covered

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Shake Rattle and Drop Video on Performance-based Testing, Standards for Wine and Liquor Packaging

No clear environmental answer on bags, says paper

(August 14, 2012): There is no reputable, peer-reviewed life cycle analysis of paper and plastic grocery bags used in Canada that proves one is “environmentally better” than the other, according to the paper packaging industry’s environmental council, PPEC.

“What we have instead,” says executive director, John Mullinder,” is a proliferation of misleading statements and claims, frequently being peddled by commercial self-interest, and some flawed studies that have little to do with the bags that Canadians actually use.” Read more…

Paper industry wants old boxes banned from landfill – “We want to use them again,” says environmental council PPEC

(Embargoed Press Release 9:00 am June 18, 2012) Canada’s paper packaging industry wants the Ontario government to ban old corrugated boxes from landfill. Quebec is moving to ban them from landfill next year and the industry wants Ontario to do the same, says PPEC executive director, John Mullinder. A provincial ban would demonstrate political leadership and is legally required to cover both private and publicly-owned landfills, he says. “It’s a win-win for everybody, but mainly for the environment.” Read more…

Mills achieve sustainability milestone

(24 January, 2012) The environmental body representing the Canadian paper packaging industry (PPEC) has announced a major achievement: all its member mills have received (or have publicly committed to achieving) independent, third-party certification that they use responsible sources of paper fibre to make the board they sell for conversion into boxes, bags or cartons. Read more…

Canadian paper packaging mills close to 80% recycled content

(15 July 2011) The average recycled content of paper packaging produced by Canadian mills for use in Canada has jumped to 77%, according to the industry’s environmental council, PPEC. “This is a very impressive result,” said executive director John Mullinder. “The average has increased by 30% over the last 20 years and we’re very proud of it. Read More… View the Background Report here.

Paper associations get boost

(10 June, 2011) Paper Packaging Canada and the industry’s environmental council PPEC will both be stronger because of measures announced jointly by both boards of directors today.
John Mullinder, who has been President and CEO of Paper Packaging Canada for the last three years as well as running PPEC, will return fulltime to the industry’s environmental council, while industry veteran David Andrews will come aboard as Executive Director of Paper Packaging Canada.
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Unravelling the package problem

(09 June, 2011 Letter to Editor by PPEC) Sorry to rain on your parade but while each Ontarian may generate close to one tonne of garbage per year, most of it is certainly not packaging.
There are no overall provincial statistics on how much packaging is generated in this province, how much is re-used, recycled, composted, burned or landfilled.
Our best estimate (unfortunately based on old national numbers extrapolated to Ontario’s population), is that packaging represents only about 10 per cent of what Ontarians send to the dump. We are not saying that packaging cannot be better designed or that more cannot be diverted. What we are saying is that there are larger chunks of the waste stream that maybe need more attention than hitting on “love-to-hate” packaging every time.

Cutting through the Greenwash

(27 April, 2011) PPEC runs another successful Cutting through the Greenwash seminar (its third) covering the truth about trees, recyclability, recycled content, compostability, life cycle analysis, scorecards and the Global Packaging Project, plus comments on sustainability from a retail/brandowner panel that included representatives from Sobeys, Unilever and McDonalds. Read more…

65% Residential Recovery

(25 February, 2011) The residential recovery of paper packaging for recycling has reached an impressive 65% for most Canadians, according to the industry’s environmental council (PPEC). Read More… You can get the full report in our reports section.

Life cycle analysis of average corrugated box released

(February, 2010) The Corrugated Packaging Alliance (CPA) has released a summary and full text (including graphs and diagrams) of a first-ever cradle-to-cradle life cycle analysis of the average US corrugated box. The LCA follows ISO 14040 guidelines including critical review by a panel of experts. See website: http://corrugated.org/