December 3, 2020 Jamelia…

December 3, 2020

Jamelia Alleyne
Resource Recovery Policy Branch
Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Also Submitted via jamelia.s.alleyne@ontario.ca

Dear Ms. Alleyne,

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed regulation ERO number: 019-2579. Ice River is a family owned and operated company that started in 1995 as a producer of bottled water. With a back ground in organic farming and sustainable business practices, we knew in 2007 we had to make a change and reduce our reliance on virgin plastics. We started BMP Recycling in 2010 and are the first company in North America to operate our own closed-loop recycling system. We have built our business upon the success of the Blue Box system in Ontario and produce all of our bottles with 100% recycled PET. Our flake processing occurs in Shelburne, ON and our food-grade rPET processing occurs in our Feversham, ON facility.

Here are a few more examples that demonstrate our full commitment to the development of a circular economy in Ontario:

- In 2016 we purchased CRP Products, a furniture company in Stratford, ON that produces high-quality outdoor furniture from recycled polyolefins (HDPE and PP lids and caps). We have a product line that uses 100% recycled cap material harvested from the Blue Box PET bales we purchase for BMP Recycling.

- In 2018 we started BMP Extrusion in order to once again, integrate our manufacturing and secure the feedstock for the film we wrap our cases in. At this time, we have achieved 20% recycled content in our shrink film which is unheard of in the industry.

- Our next endeavour is BMP Packaging. This company will be looking at innovative ways to use difficult to recycle PET packaging such as transparent coloured or opaque PET. We have been consulting with many of our retail customers to assist with packaging design with circular economy in mind. Until packaging can fully transition to circularity there will be difficult plastics that need to be consumed.

Ice River operates 10 facilities in Canada, 7 of which are located in Ontario, employs over 600 people in rural areas, and recycles approximately 30,000 tons of plastic per year. We appreciate being included in the Blue Box working group in the Circular Economy division over the last year. As an example of a well-established circular economy within Ontario we ask that you fully consider our recommendations as this regulation will have a tremendous impact on our businesses.

Sincerely,

Crystal Howe – Sustainability Manager
Ice River Sustainable Solutions

We strongly support the Beverage Container diversion target of 75% by 2026 and 80% by 2030. RPET is the easiest and safest way to incorporate recycled content resin into food grade packaging and demand is expected to grow steadily over the next several years. Supply of recovered PET containers must increase to fulfill the demand as producers incorporate more and more recycled content into their packaging. We feel that beverage containers in the residential sector are collected at a relatively high rate and while we want to see an improvement here, we also know that we need to access IC&I and “away from home” sectors. We support having more detailed data available on each target area to understand high and low performers within each subset.

Diversion Target Reduction – Recycled Content Incentive
Although we fully support the use of recycled content in packaging and products, we recommend that this portion of the proposed regulation be removed entirely. This piece has been met with resounding negativity from producers, manufacturers, brand owners and recyclers as there are many unintended consequences for this portion of the regulation, and each stakeholder has their own reasons that this will not work here. From our perspective, for those recycled packaging materials that already have a strong, competitive market in Ontario, increasing demand in this way will have a detrimental effect. The cost to procure recycled PET, for example, already significantly exceeds virgin PET pricing and this proposal will increase that disparity. Ontario recycled content will not be able to compete on cost with virgin materials or recycled materials from other jurisdictions which defeats the purpose, creates instability in a stable market and inhibits use of RPET in Ontario. Secondly, plastic waste is a global issue and we must encourage the use of recycled content from all sources. In addition, we feel that tracking Ontario material through the entire recycling and production system will increase the administrative and technical burden and cost.

Access to Materials
Over the last 10 years the current system has worked well for us and the PET bale market in Ontario. We are able to bid on PET loads from the MRF’s in Ontario. Not only does this ensure fair access to materials and a good price for the bales, it also allows for innovation and growth in recycling. We have been asked several times how we would design the system so that we could continue to have access to the materials. Multi-stakeholder marketing boards and producer-owned material systems have been mentioned, but ultimately the current system works well for us. Seeing a change to this open market bid system will likely have a significant negative impact on our business.

Harmonized List of Collected Materials
When this all began, we were invited to meet with Mr. David Lindsey and share our perspective and opinion on the current Blue Box system. Our key recommendation to him was to reduce Blue Box contamination by creating a harmonized list of collected materials. If all Ontarians recycled the same way producers would have a much better chance at educating consumers on how and what to recycle. Although we buy PET bales from the MRF’s we receive an abundance of contamination from flexible films, multilayer bottles, shoes, glass, stuffed animals, diapers, etc. There are many “wishful recyclers” out there that put everything in their bin in hopes that we will recycle it. With a concise list it will be far easier to educate consumers.
In addition to this, some municipalities currently collect items that are simply not recyclable. Holding producers responsible to maintain the same collection through transition does not allow for contamination reduction or efficiencies to be found. Ultimately, many of the items we collect today simply take a long, carbon-filled, expensive trip to landfill or incineration where they were unfortunately destined to go in the first place. We recommend that producers are given flexibility in this area recognizing that targets have been set and producers will work towards achieving those targets.

Compostable Plastics
As a recycler of PET, one of the major forms of contamination we find in our bales is PLA – a biodegradable plastic. In our system, we have learned how to manage up to 300ppm PLA in our flake. Put simply, one PLA bottle can contaminate resin that would make 3333 recycled PET bottles. We see more and more of this material entering our stream and it costs recyclers money through increased screening and sortation measures and loss of good recyclable material. It is discouraging to see that the current proposal only requires producers to report on their compostable plastics without any financial responsibility for their impact on the Blue Box. Financially encouraging compostable plastics at this time, when they often do not meet the requirements of municipal composting facilities will increase the contamination in the recycling stream and add more cost for recyclers. Compostable products and packaging must be designated materials with management requirements, but be excluded from the harmonized list for Blue Box collection. Also, compostable plastic packaging and product claims must be held to a strict standard as they are in California or Maryland. For example, in 2018 Maryland, USA “prohibit[ed] the use of the terms Biodegradable, Degradable, and decomposable in plastic product labeling.” Compostable products in Maryland must meet ASTM standards. A similar standard should be enforced in Ontario.

Eligible Management Methods
We support the proposed approved methods for management of Blue Box materials. Re-use, mechanical and chemical recycling must be priorities in packaging and product management. When Ice River started their movement towards Zero Waste to Landfill in all of our plants in 2015, we focused on the low hanging fruit and moved through phases to reduce our waste. First we determined “what can we recycle ourselves?, then “what can be recycled by other local recyclers?”, followed by “what can be replaced by reusable products and what can we implement that reduces our consumption of difficult items?”, “what can be avoided?” and lastly in 2017, once our plants had reduced their waste by 95%, we allowed use of Energy from Waste instead of landfill. We believe that technologies like Energy from Waste and fuel from waste will eventually be an important part of Ontario’s waste management program but can be added at a later date. We recommend writing this portion of the proposal in a way that does not stifle future innovation and increases producer opportunities to keep plastics in the value chain and out of the environment.