There’s no debating the fact that not nearly enough of the volume of plastic containers that can be recycled are properly handled and then either reused or the plastic is repurposed in some way. Much of that failure falls on the individuals, but a good bit of it can be attributed to insufficient governmental polices over many decades. Fortunately there is positive change occurring on both sides, and collectively as a whole cities and citizens are doing better with plastic recycling. As you’d expect there is still plenty of room for improvement though, and we’re seeing that with a new agreement between Canada and the USA that will improve plastic food container recycling.
This is something that is very much needed, and all anyone needs to do to realize the vastness of this issue is to think about how much of our food comes in plastic clamshell packaging at the grocery store. Clamshell packaging is very common with all sorts of other consumer goods too. For waste disposal and dumpster rentals in Trenton or Colborne we are going to be your best choice, but the type of waste we’ll likely be collecting in our mini disposal bins isn’t going to be any type of shell packaging. Anything that can be recycled needs to be redirected properly, and no amount of our services is going to be putting a dent in any shortcomings there.
What will be making a differences there is the new bilateral national standard for plastic food container recycling that was agreed to between Canada and the USA just a little over a month ago now, and it’s already being implemented at the civic level across both countries. These types of changes are very important given the very pressing need to keep plastic out of landfills and – perhaps most importantly – out of the oceans and the environment as a whole. Here’s what you need to know about this new agreement between the two countries.
Fewer Gaps
This new system that promotes much greater container reuse will add new steps to the food supply chain that are still not accounted for in existing food safety programs and food codes. The aim is to fill those gaps, with a primary focus on how reusable containers are washed and handled. The hope is that there will be much more of the safe transport of clean reusable containers to places they will be filled and re-filled.
Examples of this will cafes, deli counters, stadiums, and packing facilities. Not the type of place you’d find a big bin, but we are your guys for trash disposal bin rentals for Brighton and Cobourg at any time of the year. in Quality and safety are always foremost expectations with food packaging, and this new system also intends to keep that focus in place with continued adherence to existent food safety guidelines in both countries.
This new standard has been agreed upon by both the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). It provides clear requirements for reusable container washing facilities to enhance safe and consistent practices across reuse systems.
It’s an important step toward building safe, scalable, and consistent reuse systems and what it will do is set clear expectations for container washing, sanitizing, inspection, and packing. The expectation is that this will provide a strong foundation for businesses and communities as they look for a realistic and practical way to transition away from single-use packaging.
More than 100 stakeholders from over 20 countries were part of the input process that went into creating this new standard, and it is the first in a series of six reusable packaging system design standards being developed by PR3 and CSA Group. The belief is that it will support the global harmonization and scale up of reuse systems and lower facility operating costs, improve efficiency, and achieve environmental benefits. There’s also a focus on promoting more equity. The remaining five standards should be finalized by the end of next year (2026).
The focus is on companies that wash reusable packaging, and especially packaging that comes into direct contact with products, what most people will call ‘consumer’ or ‘retail’ packaging. With it there will now be more of a benchmark for confidence between those facilities and their business partners across reuse systems. Food and beverage service providers, retailers, logistics partners, and consumers will be provided with a better framework for plastic container recycling.
This is timely, because there have been several intractable problems that have existed in this sphere in both countries for a long time – plastic production, climate, and waste – and increased reuse of these containers with having to reprocess the plastic is really what’s been needed. We are now seeing more complex and robust reuse industry standards coming from a diverse array of interest groups and federal / provincial / state governments. This promises to be first-in-the-world reuse washing standard, and it’s definitely as step in the right direction with plastic container reuse and recycling.
Call Load n’ Lift first for any large-scale trash disposal and rubbish removal service in the Colborne and Trenton area of Ontario, as well as for any nearby communities in this area of the Province. We are Ontario Ministry of Environment certified and have been member of the Better Business Bureau here in good-standing for many years.
Our focus is always on customer satisfaction and 100% responsible handling and disposal of the waste collected in our bins. If you need to rent a dumpster with delivery and pickup we can usually have bins delivered to your job site the same day you call for them. Please have a look at our offers for senior citizens and CFB Trenton members as well as customer reviews that will indicate how we meet expectations for our service with real consistency.
