NEW & VIEWS

Almost 70% of paper packaging being recycled in Ontario

(21 September, 2009)

Almost 70% of the paper packaging entering Ontario households was sent for recycling in 2008, according to statistics just released by Blue Box industry funding organization, Stewardship Ontario.
The numbers are released every year and are based on a combination of waste audits of what householders put out for recycling or garbage, and reports by companies on what materials they place into the residential marketplace. A non crown corporation set up by the provincial government, Waste Diversion Ontario, vets the process. Read More...

At least 80% of Canadians can now recycle boxes and cartons

(07 April, 2009)

Over 80% of Canadians now have access to the recycling of common corrugated boxes and boxboard cartons, according to a report by paper industry association, the Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC).
“What this means,” says PPEC executive director, John Mullinder, “ is that brandowners marketing nationally in corrugated or boxboard packaging can have the word “recyclable” printed on their packaging without having to add any qualifying statements or listing specific municipalities by name where the materials can be put out for recycling.
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Greenwash: The frustrating and dirty world of propaganda

(January 2009)

Everybody’s done it: selectively use information, put the best shine on a résumé, gloss over or omit stuff that might raise questions. It’s the same with environmental claims and labeling, lifecycle analysis (LCA), and the latest buzzword, sustainability. Let me somewhat generally typecast the offenders as the “ignorant,” the “academically sloppy,” the “selective fact portrayers” and the “downright dirty.” Readers would be well-advised to beware of such misinformation when attempting to formulate rational decisions. Read More...

Recycled content of paper-based packaging edges closer to 70 per cent (22 October, 2007)

Shipments of corrugated and boxboard material for use in Canada were close to 70% average recycled content in 2006, according to a national paper industry association.
The Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) reports that the average recycled content of domestic shipments of material to be converted into corrugated boxes and boxboard cartons jumped 9% in 2006 to reach 66 per cent.
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Paper industry echoes concerns about burning

(03 April, 2007)

The paper industry is concerned that burning too much garbage will sabotage
Ontario's recycling efforts. That’s because a lot of what people throw away is perfectly recyclable paper of one kind or another. “We want all the good quality paper or board that we can get,” says John Mullinder, executive director of the Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC). “Ontario paper mills recycle some 2.3 million tonnes of used paper or board every year, turning them into new boxes to ship Ontario products worldwide and to make recycled-content newspapers for North American publishers. Read more...