Thank you.
Evidence of meeting #100 for Science and Research in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was plastics.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #100 for Science and Research in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was plastics.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Shaun Chen Liberal Scarborough North, ON
That's wonderful to hear.
Could you give some examples of some projects your students have worked on that can demonstrate how the circular economy can be understood and applied to solve existing problems society is faced with?
Department Head, Selkirk Technology Access Centre, Selkirk College
A student I recently hired is now an employee of the college because of his work as a student. His capstone was to develop the extrusion process on our very large 3-D printer that we built here at the STAC. This extrusion process basically takes the pellets from KC Recycling and extrudes them in the 3-D printing process.
The build volume of the printer we built here is four feet by three feet by six feet tall. It allows us to make very large parts from fully recycled car battery parts. If we used other plastics to generate that, we would have to buy virgin material and then print the part. This would be used to make moulds for any other type of manufacturing process.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Valerie Bradford
Thank you.
Now we'll turn to MP Blanchette-Joncas for six minutes, please.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to welcome the witnesses who are with us for the second hour of the meeting.
First of all, I'd like to thank Ms. Pietrosel for being here today. She travelled to join us less than 24 hours after receiving the invitation. I think that's remarkable and deserves to be recognized.
Naturally, I also want to commend you for your commitment, Ms. Pietrosel. You've been working as an expert in environmental management for over 25 years. You're a woman of experience.
Principal, Sustainable Development and Compliance, Sustainable Strat Inc.
It's been 30 years, actually.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Okay. I said it was over 25 years, so I wasn't wrong. I was going by the documents I have in front of me. We will have to make sure that the information is updated. If it's 30 years, that's even better than 25.
Ms. Pietrosel, given your experience, I would like you to tell us more about the tangible things you are hearing or seeing on the ground.
We see governments making decisions. They want to eliminate certain uses of certain materials, such as plastic. Based on your perspective and experience, shouldn't they instead rely on science to make decisions before trying to ban certain types of materials?
Principal, Sustainable Development and Compliance, Sustainable Strat Inc.
That's a very good question, Mr. Blanchette-Joncas.
I'll give you an example. I'm working with a company today that uses different plastic films, such as LDPE films, which are simple, meaning they don't contain any other resin. Previously, this company also used multilayered films, that is, films made up of multiple layers of polypropylene and polyethylene, for example, to ensure the preservation of the packaged product. In Quebec, we've managed to find people who manufacture packaging composed of a single material with the same properties, not only for food preservation, but also for health and beauty products. So we do have some very interesting resources. We're still working on both aspects, meaning what is recyclable and what is recycled.
One of the most important things is testing. Here, I'm talking about science on the ground.
First, we conduct in situ tests to see if a product works, if it's clean enough, if it's made from the same resin and if it's recyclable.
Second, we do lab tests to see if the new packaging with just one material preserves the products as well as the old packaging. So it's a scientific effort that we are conducting with people from the Institute of Packaging Technology and Food Engineering and the Industrial Ecology Technology Transfer Centre, among others. We make sure that the shelf life of products is adequate for consumers.
Third, we do in situ testing using producer equipment. Today, most of the resins used to make standard packaging come from India or elsewhere in Asia, whereas here, we have literally the best recyclable and recycled material possible. Yes, the other options may cost less right now, since the wave of extended producer responsibility has only just started and producers have to pay 100% of the system costs. However, it will soon become much cheaper to use recyclable and recycled materials.
I'm focusing on recycled content, as the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment did in 2021 by calling for recycled content targets, like California, which has set a target of 25% to 30% for all packaging. There have been some steps taken in Colorado as well. That's what I heard last week when I was at the Canadian Stewardship Conference. Some states in the U.S. are really starting to set concrete targets for recycled content, and we need to do that as well.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Thank you, Ms. Pietrosel. Your experience says a lot. I really like your holistic view of the recycling system, but also of the value chain and all its facets.
As you know, the federal government wants to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030. It's an ambitious goal, one might say. Again, nothing is going to come into effect until December 2025, so there could be a new government between now and then, and that government could make different decisions.
I know that you actively participated in the creation of the practical guide on eco-responsible food packaging in Quebec. Could you to share your main recommendations with us? What do we need to try to improve in all of this? We're the decision-makers, but you're on the ground. What do we need to know to improve things and, above all, to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?
Principal, Sustainable Development and Compliance, Sustainable Strat Inc.
Thanks to the new program, we have an opportunity to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
First, the legislation to ban certain plastics by 2030 is inconsistent with provincial regulations. That's obvious. I can speak to the Quebec and Ontario legislation, in particular. I know the other provinces as well, but I don't know the specific dates, since it's more recent. For some plastic categories, the issue will be addressed between 2027 and 2030, to analyze the situation. So, if we ban certain plastics in 2030, first of all, which ones will be banned and why? Second, how will the companies marketing products be able to get the recyclable and recycled packaging they need by 2027? There's a dichotomy there. We have to align with the same dates.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
From what I understand, Ms. Pietrosel, you have a lot of doubts about feasibility.
Principal, Sustainable Development and Compliance, Sustainable Strat Inc.
I have doubts about the timelines, yes, because the extended producer responsibility will start on January 1, 2027.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Valerie Bradford
That's the time, please. Thank you.
We will now turn to Mr. Cannings, for six minutes, please.
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Thank you, and I thank all three of you for being here today.
I am going to start with Mr. Taylor, because it's very nice to see and hear from you today from the Selkirk Technology Access Centre. I've had the pleasure of touring there. I also toured KC Recycling, which you mentioned. Right next to KC Recycling is Cirba Solutions, another big recycling centre. Trail, B.C., is a real centre for recycling of all sorts.
KC Recycling, as you mentioned, recycles primarily lead acid batteries, so the main products are the polypropylene pellets you mentioned, and the lead goes right into the Teck lead and zinc smelter in Trail. Cirba Solutions recycles every other kind of battery you can imagine.
Both of them are the biggest of their kind in North America. The Teck smelter operation is now proposing a large EV battery recycling centre to make it one of the biggest on the continent. It's a very exciting sector in Trail, and a very exciting place to be for you. You're right in the centre of all that.
First of all, you sort of touched on some of those things, but how do you see your research there with the students connecting with these various companies that are really at the cutting edge of recycling not just plastic but metals and battery materials, etc.? How do you see yourself and your facility really playing into that?
Department Head, Selkirk Technology Access Centre, Selkirk College
To start with, my facility is too small, so we're looking at an expansion or a new building for future opportunities. We are always working with new or existing partners, like Teck Metals or Mercer Celgar, just up the highway in Castlegar, and of course other avenues of research.
It always comes down to time and money and the opportunities we can involve students in before it just becomes too big or too much for our current capacity, but we're expanding. We're looking at new opportunities in 2025.
It's great to see some of the new grant opportunities. The plastic grant opportunity in B.C. was called CleanBC Plastics, which was great for industry partners and ourselves alike.
It just comes from having key people. If we can keep doing what we're doing, and if the team at LCIC and KC Recycling can keep supporting the educational opportunities and the research opportunities, we can involve tech and other larger companies while still keeping the small SMEs involved as well.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
I was going to ask you about other products. We've been talking about alternatives to plastic here as one of the solutions. You mentioned Mercer Celgar. It's a big pulp mill. Are there any initiatives going on there with new materials that might...?
Department Head, Selkirk Technology Access Centre, Selkirk College
I believe it's still working on lignin as an opportunity. In this region, ABC3D, Advanced BioCarbon 3D, was researching opportunities of extracting lignin from wood chips to create a biodegradable plastic. I haven't heard what their latest opportunities are there, but through the pulp and paper process, lignin is extracted and can be utilized as a biodegradable polymer.
I'm not sure where it's at right now. Oftentimes, big industry gets really busy and the opportunities for applied research are put on the shelf.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
You mentioned you were part of a network of technology access centres across the country. I don't know how connected you are with them in terms of what they're doing.
Are there any other synergies in that network that would touch on plastics, plastic recycling and trying to solve this major issue?
Department Head, Selkirk Technology Access Centre, Selkirk College
Yes, absolutely.
The tech access centre network meets every three months, if not more. We really promote inter-TAC partnerships. Currently, in other sectors and other areas, we're working with a TAC in Red Deer. Another one we work with all the time is in Camosun College.
There are only three TACs in B.C. There are 30, I think, in Quebec, and there's almost the equivalent to that in Ontario. For us to partner, it definitely is virtual rather than visiting another TAC.
I know the TAC network definitely has other research areas in recycling composite materials. There is another one in waste recycling and recovery in water treatment in that area as well. Many other TACs have a subset of recycling or circular economy as part of their mandate.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Valerie Bradford
We'll now turn to our second round of questioning.
We'll kick that off, please, with MP Lobb for five minutes.
Conservative
Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON
Thanks very much.
My first question is for Mark.
Mark, if you look at all of the municipalities throughout the area and the different recycling companies, and some of what Marina was talking about with the manufacturers, the companies, and everything else, what is the percentage that actually gets recycled?
Some of these municipalities recycling in conjunction with the recycling companies list off all the different things they won't recycle. Do you have a notice for that? Part of it is education. You think you're doing the right thing, but they don't even accept it, or they won't recycle it when you think it should be recyclable.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Council of the Great Lakes Region
That's a great question.
Principally, that's why we're moving to extended producer responsibility systems right across the country, and B.C. has been leading the way on extended producer responsibility for years. There hasn't been consistency in terms of how programs are run, what types of materials are accepted at your curbside, and making sure that the industry that is making the products to be used is taking on the responsibility for managing that system. Within the next few years, as the whole country moves to extended producer responsibility, you're going to see a dramatic change in terms of the types of materials that can be accepted into those types of programs.
Conservative
Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON
I have a couple of questions on this.
Plastic lawn furniture is one. When I make my trip to the local landfill, it's always littered with plastic lawn furniture. When would we stop that practice? Plastic toys are another. I don't think they recycle plastic toys, do they?