Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC)

Great article via Trellis Group on Delta Air Lines and their process for identifying an alternative to plastic cups for use on its flights. The article explains how the U.S. airline is replacing plastic cups with new recyclable paper cups, starting with transcontinental flights by end of year and domestic flights in 2025. Delta evaluated potential suppliers who would produce the paper cups — opting for one size with a 10.5oz drink cup for both cold and hot beverages — ultimately deciding on Blulabs, a private, family-owned company serving customers in aviation, food service and retail. "Traditional paper cups come with a polyethylene liner, but that makes them difficult to recycle. Delta sought recyclable cups that are also home and industrial compostable, so they comply with European standards. The cups supplied by Blulabs are certified as “plastic-free” by certification agency flustix - Rethink Plastics. In reality, that means they contain less than 0.75 percent plastic. The cups have a primarily aqueous liner, which means they can be recycled in traditional paper recycling systems that the airline already uses." Great sustainability initiative from Delta that aims to decrease waste sent to landfill and increase recycling. https://lnkd.in/gD_BDiCG

Great initiative from PPEC member company Kruger Inc. on establishing its 3R Sustainability Committee for its Trois-Rivières Mill in Québec. The goal of their new Collection and Reclamation Project is to divert more materials from landfill by auditing waste disposal containers in their mill to identify recoverable materials, which will allow the mill to reuse more paper and paperboard, and recover more recyclable materials. Kruger's commitment to the environment goes back decades to 1961 when it became one of the first companies in North America to offer recycled containerboard. Its Trois-Rivières Mill produces 100% recycled linerboard, which is used as the flat outer layers of corrugated board to make boxes and other types of paper-based packaging.

Such a great educational initiative from PPEC member company Royal Containers Ltd with their new Sustainability Brochure, which includes lots of excellent and fact-based information on their sustainable business model in providing boxes, cartons, and other corrugated products to Canadian industries. PPEC particularly likes the "Royal Containers Lifecycle" image which illustrates how they prioritize sustainability in their operations and work with their supply chain partners. Greenpac, a 100% recycled paper mill, supplies raw material consisting of recycled containerboard paper rolls to Tencorr Packaging Inc. to combine with corrugating medium, allowing Royal Containers to deliver sustainable and recyclable products to their customers. And once the consumer uses the packaging, it can be recycled, which allows those materials to make their way back to the mill where it gets recycled and reused to make new paper packaging. And PPEC is pleased to be listed as an industry resource in Royal's new Sustainability Brochure along with our association colleagues at AICC Canada and Fibre Box Association. Be sure to check out the new brochure to learn more about Royal's circular economy approach to making recyclable paper packaging products in Canada: https://lnkd.in/gMgjR9m9

“We know our customers rank packaging as a top priority, and M&S is committed to reducing plastic packaging as a key part of our Plan A roadmap to Net Zero.” -- Lucinda Langton, head of Sustainability at Marks and Spencer Food, on how the UK retailer has switched its packaging for its garlic baguettes to Forest Stewardship Council-approved and recyclable paper, which will remove 5.5 million units of plastic from its supply chain. https://lnkd.in/e72jq5gw?

Congratulations to PPEC member company Cascades on being one of the recipients of Canadian Grocer's 2024 Impact Awards for sustainability, recognized for its new Fresh Guard EnVision egg carton, which is made from 100% recycled fibres. Cascades’ goal was to create a sustainable packaging solution that would offer an alternative to PET and polystyrene egg packaging, while reducing breakage and improving protection. All the winners of the 2024 Impact Awards are featured in Canadian Grocer’s August issue. https://lnkd.in/e7T5TyFz

An amazing few days with the Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association in beautiful British Columbia. It’s great to get together with our association colleagues and joint members at offsite meetings, especially when they have the backdrop of the mountains and ocean. In addition to some picturesque sightseeing, a local lunch packed in a reusable tiffin container, and a celebratory dinner as CCCA Chair of the Board Eric Paradis of Cascades shared stories about the Canadian corrugated industry, PPEC also provided an update to CCCA’s Board of Directors on Canadian environmental issues impacting the industry.

In U.S. Extended Producer Responsibility news, Circular Action Alliance (CAA) announced that Jeff Fielkow has joined CAA, the United States’ first Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) for paper and packaging, as its first CEO. “Over the course of my career I have developed a deep passion for sustainability and recycling to better understand how packaging circularity can be advanced through collaboration across the value chain. This journey has brought me to CAA, an organization that has incredible potential to transform how packaging is managed in the United States, and I am committed to ensuring that we get EPR implementation right." As recycling and EPR is a key issue for PPEC and its members, we closely monitor EPR activity for packaging and printed paper products (PPP), not just here in Canada, but also in other jurisdictions. As such, we have been closely watching as EPR for PPP unfolds in the U.S. where several states have passed packaging EPR legislation: California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, and Oregon. https://lnkd.in/ezRQJnFM

This week's Board Converting News features a story by Larry Montague, CEO of TAPPI, the Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry, who recently met with some of the leadership team from Graphic Packaging International, LLC. They chatted about one of GPI's largest active projects, a new paperboard mill located in Waco, Texas, which broke ground last year and is expected to open by the end of next year. The new mill will have three feedstock lines with a top-of-the-line drum pulper (used to produce pulp from recovered paper and paperboard products) that will even manage paper cups with a light PE coating, OCC, and mixed paper. The construction of this new recycled paperboard mill is a great example of the innovations and investments being made by the paper packaging industry to help advance recycling technology. https://lnkd.in/gv3VDUpR

PPEC member company Cascades released its 2023 Sustainability Report, providing an overview of their sustainability initiatives and circular economy business model. "Since our beginnings, we have given new life to millions of tonnes of paper and cardboard. In 2023 alone, Cascades purchased 1.84 million short tonnes of various grades of paper and cardboard for reintroduction into our products, bringing our recycled material up to 82%." Cascades' report is filled with valuable insights and data on their sustainability operations. One area of the report that particularly stood out was in reference to the growing proportion of contaminants in bales, a challenge of using recycled fibre as a raw material. Cascades buys close to two million tons of fibre per year to reuse in their operations. But in the bales of waste paper and cardboard that they purchase, there are contaminants (ie. a material or substance that is not paper or cardboard) that needs to be separated out from the fibre during the pulping process. Contamination is an important issue as it impacts the effectiveness of recycling programs and quality of materials. PPEC is also pleased to be recognized in Cascades' Annual Sustainability Report under the 'Associations' section, which lists the organizations they are members of. We are proud to have Cascades –  a company with six decades of experience using recycled fibres –  as a member of our industry association, which represents the environmental interests of the Canadian paper packaging industry. Learn more about sustainability at Cascades and their recycling-based business model in their 2023 Sustainability Report 👇 https://lnkd.in/g4g-Q8Ur

Informative podcast with PPEC associate member company Sun Chemical about sustainability and recycling via Packaging Strategies Magazine. In the interview, Sun Chemical explains how it helps converters meet their sustainability goals, and how they consider circularity in their product development activities, including designing new inks, coatings and adhesives adapted to recyclability standards. “Reducing and reusing are important to our converter customers. They strive to not only meet recycling requirements but to reduce their own consumption of energy, materials, and waste streams." They also discuss some of the key drivers of sustainable packaging solutions in North America, such as the emergence of new Extended Producer Responsibility recycling legislation in the U.S., which they say will fundamentally shift the labelling and packaging markets. https://lnkd.in/ghctaB7G