Improving the capture and recovery of small packaging items to increase recycling opportunities and reduce material loss.
Small packaging items can be challenging materials to capture and recover within Canada’s recycling system. Due to their size, format, and movement through sorting equipment, many of these materials may be lost during processing and ultimately sent to landfill, despite having the potential to be recycled.
To address this challenge, Circular Materials (CM), Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ) and Recycle BC have launched a collaborative initiative to better understand the flow and recovery of small packaging items across the recycling value chain.
With the support of the Circular Plastics Taskforce, this project is establishing a common Canadian approach for defining, quantifying and assessing how “small items” move through recycling systems. Through targeted audits and material flow studies, the initiative will quantify material recovery and losses, evaluate impacts on sorting efficiency, and identify practical opportunities to improve capture rates while reducing contamination.
As part of this work, the project team will conduct detailed audits of key material facility (MRF) output streams, including glass, residue streams, mixed paper, mixed plastics and metals, to better understand where small items are successfully recovered and where losses occur. Multiple samples will be collected at participating facilities to generate a robust understanding of material pathways and recovery performance within different systems.
Objectives
- Establish a harmonized Canadian and North American definition for small items.
- Quantify the volume of small packaging items supplied into the Canadian market.
- Understand the impact of small items on sorting and processing efficiency.
- Measure capture rates and material loss throughout the recycling value chain.
- Identify operational and technological solutions to enhance recovery at MRFs, plastic sorting facilities, and glass processing operations.
- Support the development of practical recovery pathways that advance circularity and resource conservation.
Leadership team
Project manager
