Evidence of meeting #97 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 waste.
A video is available from Parliament.
Professor, Queen's University, As an Individual
Producing more plastic will mean that we're producing more oil, more fossil fuels.
Thank you.
Liberal
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Thank you, Chair.
I'm going to come back to you again, Dr. Hird.
I really appreciated what you said about how much plastic is used in things that we purchase.
Do you think that one of the rules or legislation that Canada should have is limiting that kind of usage? I have literally unpackaged things and have just gone through layers and layers of plastic, for what cause? I don't know, except for somebody who really likes to use plastic.
I'm wondering if that is one of the steps that could be taken.
Professor, Queen's University, As an Individual
Absolutely. As I mentioned before, packaging represents the largest consumer contact with plastics, so it's something that we need to really tackle, and we can tackle it. We have alternatives. Most packaging isn't actually to protect the product; it's to advertise the product.
When the packaging companies use all of this packaging, they say that it's to protect, but actually research clearly demonstrates that the packaging itself is meant to advertise the product, which means that if we do away with the notion that this is here to protect the product, that changes our approach to packaging. There are many examples of how we can absolutely redesign packaging to minimize it and, in a number of cases, actually get rid of it. That would already do a lot to reduce plastics.
However, again, that's not at the consumer level. That's at the product production level. That's what we need to be targeting—not consumers who want the product and get the packaging, and then are made responsible for it, and then we have to pay taxes for a company to come to take it away: What we need to be doing is focusing on the producers.
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
I agree with you. I think it's important, because I agree that a lot of the ideas of recycling have been downloaded onto everyday people. I think that's leading to a sense of frustration, because they want to see the change. Of course, individually, we can do so little compared to what we could do if we had legislation that was meaningful and actually dealt with some of these issues.
I find that when I buy groceries, if anything is in plastic, I take it out, because the plastic makes it go bad faster, actually. It doesn't protect it.
In terms of innovation, are you seeing anything that can fill in some of these gaps around packaging, as opposed to continuing the packaging in plastic?
Professor, Queen's University, As an Individual
Oh, yes. I work with.... Oh, I'm at time?
Professor, Queen's University, As an Individual
Yes, there are certainly alternatives. I'm working with a restaurant right now, for instance, that is using alternatives to all of their food packaging. It's Ms. Bāo restaurant in Kingston, Ontario.
Yes, there are certainly alternatives.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Valerie Bradford
Thank you to all of the witnesses—Dr. Myra Hird, Ziya Tong, Peter Vinall and Robert Richardson—for your testimonies and submissions and participation in our study of innovation, science, and research in recycling plastics. Please see the clerk if you have any questions. You may also submit additional information through the clerk.
We'll suspend briefly now to allow for the next witnesses. We'll resume with our second panel.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Valerie Bradford
We have a hard stop at 6 p.m., so we are going to try to get the testimony in. I'll try to keep it tight on the time.
It's now my pleasure to welcome, from the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, Christa Seaman, vice-president, plastics division, and Peter Mirtchev, policy manager, plastics division.
From Competitive Green Technologies, we have Atul Bali, chief executive officer.
From the University of Guelph, we have Dr. Amar Mohanty, professor and distinguished research excellence chair in sustainable materials and director of the BDDC, the Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre—you must have a very large business card—and Dr. Manjusri Misra, professor and tier 1 Canada research chair in sustainable biocomposites.
Up to five minutes will be given to each of you for opening remarks. For the University of Guelph, that'll be for the two of you, as you have more than one witness, and then we'll proceed with the rounds of questions.
Ms. Seaman and Dr. Mirtchev, the floor is yours for an opening statement of up to five minutes.
Christa Seaman Vice President, Plastics Division, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada
Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members.
Our industry, all levels of government and all Canadians want to build a circular economy for plastics. Doing so will require more than the existing regulations and bans. It will require billions of dollars of private capital investment. There's an urgent need for the Government of Canada to establish conditions whereby that investment can flow into, rather than out of, Canada.
In 2022, the Canadian chemistry and plastics industry produced 108 billion dollars' worth of products, with exports tallying $68 billion. By 2030, it is projected that as much as $11 billion of valuable plastics will end up in our landfills annually. A circular economy will allow us to recover this valuable resource, strengthening our economy and our export potential while keeping plastics out of the landfills and out of the environment. Furthermore, by using our plastic resources efficiently, substantial greenhouse gas reductions can be realized, thus supporting Canada’s net-zero goals.
However, these benefits can only be realized if we recognize the value remaining in plastic products when we are finished using them.
As a starting point, we recommend establishing federally and provincially harmonized policies that support industry’s principles for designing for circularity. Furthermore, aligning with our largest trading partners will allow Canada to capitalize on our competitive advantage of lower-carbon feedstocks, lower-carbon electricity and our innovative mindset. We will also be able to promote economies of scale, letting Canadians enjoy the products they need without risking access or being priced out of the market.
Although Canada has started on this transition, there is still much to do.
To achieve Canada’s circular economy, it's estimated that $6.5 billion of capital investment is needed to expand existing recycling capacity, but this goes beyond investing in more of the same. Investment in innovation is going to play a key role in expanding the applications of recycled plastics. For example, improvements in tracking, sorting and cleaning technologies will allow cleaner feedstocks to be processed, providing higher-quality recycled plastics. From a recycling technology perspective, for those materials where mechanical recycling is challenging—like construction materials, textiles and durables—advanced recycling is a solution. In fact, we have multiple members at the CIAC, such as GreenMantra, Loop Industries, Aduro Clean Technologies and Polystyvert, that are scaling advanced recycling technologies right here in Canada right now.
Beyond recycling, a circular economy embraces using the correct material for the job while minimizing the impacts of that material's use. Not all plastics or alternatives to plastics are equally suited for a given application. In recognition of this, we recommend the federal government be science-driven and employ a life-cycle approach to assessing materials and their applications as part of their policy process so that we can avoid regrettable substitutions.
There are two other important roles for the federal government in creating conditions for a successful low-carbon circular economy for plastics.
First, the federal government must remain technology-neutral in its policy development and focus on setting ambitious but achievable targets related to plastics circularity. Just like when you use Google Maps, you put in your starting point and your end point, and multiple routes will pop up based on various applications or attributes. Then if you take a wrong turn, it will recalculate and get you back on track. The federal government should be like Google Maps, setting the starting and end points and providing course corrections when needed while industry traverses the various paths between point A and point B.
The second area is to use existing programs and policy development to incentivize and de-risk the private capital investment that's going to be needed to address that infrastructure gap I mentioned earlier.
Perhaps during the questions, I can respond and provide thoughts on what is working and what isn't working with Canada's efforts to establish a circular economy for plastics.
With that, thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Valerie Bradford
Thank you very much.
That was just under the time. That was terrific.
We'll now turn to Mr. Bali, from Competitive Green Technologies, for five minutes.
Atul Bali Chief Executive Officer, Competitive Green Technologies
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, everybody, and good afternoon to you.
I am Atul Bali, the CEO of Competitive Green Technologies out of Leamington, Ontario, the centre of our universe.
It's an honour to present to this very august gathering.
The Canadian Climate Institute estimates that climate change has caused billions of dollars in damages to Canadian households. That is just the tip of the proverbial soon-to-be-extinct iceberg.
The choice of plastics plays a crucial role as part of the effort to adapt to climate change. We need to adopt a science-based, three-pronged approach to address the subject under discussion: one, using plastics with low global warming potential, or GWP; two, reducing end-of-life greenhouse gas emissions of plastics; and three, promoting material circularity, which my colleague here referred to just now, through end-of-life recycling infrastructure.
The last prong, recycling infrastructure, promotes a “make and reuse to remake” kind of a model, be it for organic or non-organic recycling, and promotes sustainable material circularity. This three-pronged approach facilitates the creation of a low-carbon footprint economy in the world of plastics.
For context, let me cite the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, CPLA, that was passed in our country in 1970.
Consumers were provided accurate information on the ingredients of a product. The CPLA underwent revisions as science progressed in 2002, 2011, and 2015. Each revision promoted greater transparency for consumers, for us Canadians, helping to make informed decisions about our well-being. Choices made by the consumer in picking one product over the other accelerated industrial-scale innovation. Market forces played out. The time has now come for transparency on plastics and their impact on the environment, and letting market forces decide.
Biocomposite materials technologies have a tremendous impact on the environment and on the choices we make towards living in a better world. The end of life of the incumbent multi-material pod is an example of something very real. To illustrate my point, I'm going to cite a very quintessential and ubiquitous example: the single-serve coffee pods sold across our nation today .
The end of life of the incumbent multi-material pod is incineration or landfill, with 120 tonnes of greenhouse gases being emitted per million pods at the end of life. The equivalent of 42 tonnes of carbon dioxide is the global warming potential per million pods, so at 42 plus 120, there are 162 tonnes per million pods of total carbon emissions. Canadians use 1.5 million single-serve coffee pods a day. It is impossible to recycle such a multi-material structure for a use-and-dispose convenience product containing biomass at the time of disposal. It made it an ideal candidate for a biocomposite compostable resin solution.
We scaled up and commercialized the BDDC's invention to make the world's first certified 100% compostable biocomposite resin-based coffee pod, with zero microplastics at the end of life. We reduced the carbon emissions by 120 tonnes for every million pods, from 162 tonnes down to 42 tonnes. Since the invention, which was commercialized in 2016, we are very proud to say that we in our country have reduced 50,200 tonnes of total carbon emissions so far, with zero microplastics. Every day, 1.2 million pods are made and sold in Canada as we speak, with an enhanced user experience.
How is it achieved? The biocomposite resins have over 90% renewable carbon content, compared to zero for the incumbent material, as measured using the universally accepted carbon-14 dating system. The GWP is 1.41 kilograms versus 3.57 kilograms CO2 equivalent using the internationally acknowledged ISO 14044 standard.
This is the key insight, ladies and gentlemen. Reduce the total carbon emissions in both making the plastic, and at its end of life—and simultaneously increase the biogenic content, the carbon content, for reducing dependence on non-renewable resources.
This Canadian innovation has created employment, with high-skill and high-paying jobs across the entire country, and reduced the country's dependence on non-renewable resources. There are many other examples we can go through in the question-and-answer session, including in the automotive sector.
The point is that the science and the industrial scaling of that science exist right here and now in our great nation.
Parliamentarians must seize the moment and pass the following laws: Make it mandatory for every brand owner to prominently display on their packaging the renewable carbon content of the plastic used and the total carbon emissions of that plastic, citing internationally acknowledged standards, and mandate them to declare the designed end-of-life of that packaging.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Valerie Bradford
That's way over our time. Thank you very much.
Now we will turn to the University of Guelph.
You can divide the time between you however you like for five minutes.
Dr. Amar Mohanty Professor and Distinguished Research Excellence Chair in Sustainable Materials; Director, Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre, University of Guelph
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the entire committee for inviting us.
My name is Amar Mohanty, and I am from the Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre at the University of Guelph. My colleague, Professor Manjusri Misra, also joins me here. We are pleased to be here and to contribute to your study.
Our remarks will focus on sustainable solutions for plastic waste management.
The focus of our research centre is on sustainable materials development for green manufacturing that supports a circular economy.
What are sustainable plastics? Sustainable plastics are defined as materials manufactured from renewable, recycled or waste feedstock and their combinations. There are two types: biodegradable, compostable materials that can replace single-use plastic for applications where recycling is not possible, and non-biodegradable but reusable and recyclable materials for durable applications, such as automotive and construction applications.
Currently, the world produces around 450 million metric tons of plastic, but production is projected to be doubled to around one billion tonnes by 2050. That is the truth. The global landfills now swell with nine billion tonnes of plastic. That is around one tonne for every person on earth.
It is essential to design and implement end-of-life strategies for all plastics. We know the ultimate goal is to have zero waste, with no plastic being diverted to landfills. The waste of one industry can be the resource of another industry's application. We need a plan on how to get there.
Around 90% of Canada's plastic waste is not recycled or recovered. Today, 50% of the plastic produced is for single-use applications. This is why we believe that action on single-use plastic destined for landfills is critical. When left in the environment or a landfill, plastic does not biodegrade. Instead, it breaks down to smaller parts—including microplastics—that have devastating impacts on the ecosystem. We need alternative solutions. With respect to plastic packaging, we must target to reach 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable single-use plastic options.
For the committee's consideration, we'd like to highlight three key material segments.
The first is packaging with mixed materials that combine plastic, paper and metals, such as single-serve coffee pods, yogourt and ice cream containers.
The second relates to multi-layer films that recycling facilities cannot separate, like a Tetra Pak, or chip and cookie bags.
The third relates to items that are impractical to recycle even though they are mono-material, such as disposable cutlery, straws and takeout containers.
Implementing compostable alternatives in these three areas is a real opportunity to position Canada as a global leader in sustainability. This is a market with global growth potential.
The advantage of biodegradable, compostable plastics is that they break down to water and carbon dioxide without leaving microplastics. They are designed to degrade within a specified period in a particular environment—for example, six months or less in industrial composting, one year in home composting, or less than two years in soil.
As an example of upcycling, we have successfully used recycled plastic and biocarbons in composite materials. We have invented biocarbons that are derived from various wastes, including agri-food, forestry and plastic waste. We then utilized these to manufacture, for the first time in the world, high-performance biocomposites for durable application. The Ford Motor Company has adopted our biocarbon technology to manufacture lightweight headlamp housing. It's lighter by about 20%.
I would like Professor Misra to conclude here.
Dr. Manjusri Misra Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Biocomposites, University of Guelph
Thank you, Madam Chair and honourable members.
In conclusion, while Canada faces significant challenges with plastic waste, it has a unique opportunity to contribute to global solutions. Here are our recommendations.
First, invest in waste disposal infrastructure, including industrial composting, across Canada.
Second, build advanced recycling systems, including upcycling and leveraging artificial intelligence.
Third, embrace sustainable materials from recycled plastics, renewables or waste.
Fourth, and finally, have enhanced education and awareness from schools to the general public and policy-makers on the impact of sustainable material in mitigating climate change.
The path forward requires collaboration, innovation, investment, incentives, de-risking and policy support.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Valerie Bradford
Thank you.
We will now begin our first round of questions, starting with MP Tochor for six minutes.
Conservative
Corey Tochor Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
Thank you so much, Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses today.
Ms. Seaman, you brought up Google Maps, which got me thinking about a couple of our other witnesses here today.
Canadians right now are living in a cost-of-living crisis, obviously. The dollar isn't going as far as it did before. Food costs are up. We heard that plastics actually don't keep food better. I was surprised, because some of the studies I've read, like the ones on cucumbers, say it extends life for 10 days.
If you were planning a route and trusting an expert who says you shouldn't use plastic on cucumbers, would that be what I think you called a regrettable decision?
Vice President, Plastics Division, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada
I would like to respond to that by saying when we talk about a regrettable substitution, it can be either in removing plastic from an application where it provides a tangible benefit through food preservation, for example, or through substituting it with a material that actually, when you look at it from a life cycle basis, provides a worse environmental outcome but is perceived to be better.
Conservative
Corey Tochor Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
We've heard that before as well.
I know the U of S is actually working on a faba bean film that could replace plastic, but it's not there yet. Rushing toward something before the replacement is worked out leads to disastrous results. We're seeing this with the plastic straws. The courts have ruled that it's worse for the environment, worse for your health and worse for our economy in Canada, and this government is still fighting that court decision, which is regrettable.
You also mentioned the circular economy. Other witnesses have spoken about that and the importance of it, but what isn't working in the circular economy right now in Canada?
Vice President, Plastics Division, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada
From a circular economy perspective, we're looking to try to go from plastics back into plastics. It doesn't have to be packaging into packaging. One of the areas where we're seeing some conflict, though, is in some of the policies that have been brought forward by Environment and Climate Change Canada.
As an industry, we absolutely support recycled content requirements in products, and we support labelling a recycled package and trying to gain that consumer trust to say that, yes, it is actually being recycled. We know today that we're not there.
The combination of the recycled content minimums regulation and the labelling regulation is going to create a situation in which we are trying to increase the demand for recycled content through the recycled content minimums requirements. However, based on the thresholds that are going to be used to determine whether or not something can use the chasing arrow symbol, nothing—probably not even our pop bottles, which are recycled at 80% to 90% today—will be able to claim the recycling symbol.
Conservative
Corey Tochor Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
Wouldn't that be misleading the Canadian public, then, when there are things that can be recycled that aren't?
Vice President, Plastics Division, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada
It's the threshold. It says that 80% has to be collected and 80% has to be recycled, which is causing that problem, so yes, there is a challenge.
Conservative
Corey Tochor Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
How does building a...? We talked about Canada. I want Canada to become a world leader and superpower in recycling plastic, but how does recycling both lower greenhouse gas emissions and build a stronger economy for Canadians?