The Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) is pleased to announce the release of a technical report entitled “A landscape review of plastics in the Canadian fresh produce sector” developed by Value Chain Management International (VCMI), and subsequent roadmap addressing plastic packaging in the produce industry. Both documents are outputs of the CPMA Plastics Packaging Working Group.

The CPMA Plastics Packaging Working Group was established in May 2019 and convened its first meeting shortly thereafter to begin the process of identifying a path forward to address the use of plastics within the produce sector, identify efforts already undertaken by industry, determine best practices, and develop an industry-supported roadmap to maintaining food quality and safety while reducing the environmental impact of plastics.

The Technical Report details the results of months of research on Canadian and global plastic use, focusing on the fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain’s impact. The purpose of the study was to aid the development of a pragmatic roadmap that will assist the produce industry to navigate the highly complex, multifaceted topic of utilizing plastic packaging in the most economically and environmentally responsible means possible over the short, medium and long term. This roadmap is now available for public viewing on the CPMA website.

Direct links to the published documents: