Canadians are keenly aware of the consequences tied to plastic waste and are eager to learn how they can reduce the impact of choices they make as individuals, businesses, and governments.

Despite the increasing interest in plastics and reducing its environmental impacts there is no single national repository that provides governments, businesses, educators, researchers, and citizens the necessary scope of information to take meaningful action.

With the belief that information leads to action, Circular Innovation Council has developed the Plastic Action Centre, a knowledge hub that gathers information to educate, engage, and empower action on plastics.

Launched in April 2019, the Plastic Action Centre includes:

• Inventory of resources and tools
• Relevant facts and figures
• Market developments and business efforts
• Regulatory advances and policy initiatives
• Media coverage
• Educational material
• Consumer tips and more

The Plastic Action Centre is constantly growing and being updated. To receive the most up-to-date information about plastics news, resources, and initiatives in Canada please check back often, join our newsletter, and follow us on social media.

Circular Innovation Council

Circular Innovation Council – originally established as Recycling Council of Ontario in 1978 – is a membership-based non-profit environmental organization that believes solutions for greater resource efficiency is to advance the circular economy. 

We are inclusive and collaborative among supply and value chains, and seek to advance business models, products, and services that can deliver on the values and benefits of a circular economy. Through better resource efficiency – reuse, share, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, recover in a closed-loop system – we can reduce waste, pollution, and carbon emissions. In doing so, we showcase innovation by putting circular economy concepts into action. 

Since 1978 our commitment to Reduce, Reuse, Recycling has driven our actions, and is the bedrock of our efforts to help facilitate the efficient use of resources and transition the economy from a linear to circular model where post-consumed materials are integrated back into use and production cycles. We also have a long history of designing and executing high profile school campaigns and public events that showcase the 3Rs into learning opportunities and action.

Founding Sponsor

Walmart Canada is proud to be a founding sponsor of the Plastic Action Centre. Reducing unnecessary plastic waste and increasing plastic recycling are key priorities for Walmart Canada and its customers.

As the world’s largest retailer and producer of private brand products, Walmart Canada believes it has a responsibility and opportunity to take a leadership role in reducing plastic waste in Canada. 

Walmart Canada’s Charter on Plastics outlines how the retailer will address plastic waste in Canada through a three-pronged strategy designed to use less plastic, recycle more plastic and support improvements to the plastic waste reduction system.

Walmart Canada’s key plastic commitments include:

• Reducing check-out plastic bags by a further 50 per cent by 2025, taking approximately 1 billion bags out of circulation over that period
• Eliminating “hard-to-recycle” PVC and expanded polystyrene packaging from all its own private brand products by 2025
• Targeting at least 20 percent post-consumer recycled content in private brand packaging by 2025
• Eliminating unnecessary plastic packaging in all its own private brand products
• Eliminating single-use plastic straws and replacing them with paper alternatives by 2020, taking approximately 35 million single-use plastic straws out of circulation annually
• Providing customers with more environmentally-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic household products, including utensils, plates and cups
• Achieving 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging for our private brand products by 2025

Disclaimer: the resources and news items provided through the Plastic Action Centre do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Circular Innovation Council. The mission of the Plastic Action Centre is to provide an inclusive scope of information.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding content on this website, please email [email protected].