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O-I attacks Ontario recycling system

Container glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois (O-I) through its Canadian subsidiary O-I Canada Corporation has criticized the effect of the current Ontario curbside recycling system on glass container r…

Container glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois (O-I) through its Canadian subsidiary O-I Canada Corporation has criticized the effect of the current Ontario curbside recycling system on glass container recycling in the province. The company expressed its concerns in a five-page letter to members of the Stewardship Ontario Blue Box Funding Review Committee. O-I, which operates two large glass recycling plants in Ontario, says in the letter, “Glass “recycling“ in Ontario is failing – of the 115,000 tonnes of recycled glass utilized by OI Canada in 2005 only 46% was sourced from Ontario (down from 80% in 2004)”. Of this amount, most of the recycled glass was derived from the Beer Store refund-deposit scheme and not from the single stream system. The company attacks the “Single-stream” blue box collection of recyclables, which it says means that more glass is being sent to landfill now than just a year ago. Under the single-stream system, glass of mixed colors and other recyclables end up in one container: the high cost of sorting the mixed glass for recycling into glass packaging means it is only suitable for low-end recycling such as aggregate or is simply dumped in landfill. “Ironically, as Ontario ships millions of tonnes of garbage to Michigan each year for disposal, O-I Canada is importing cullet derived from Michigan“s deposit-refund based recovery system to manufacture glass packaging in Ontario”. O-I says in the letter that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), the single largest source of waste glass in the province, instead of addressing the problem of low glass recycling rates, is coercing its suppliers to switch to Tetra Pak cartons that are recovered at a rates of only 12.7% (or one-fifth the rate at which glass is recovered by the blue box today). “While low-weight packaging with a low recovery rate certainly offers the LCBO lower applicable stewardship fees, it comes at a tremendous cost to Ontario“s environment and economy,” the letter states.

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