A guide to the terms and calculations used in plastics recycling written by a major Canadian standards organization is a welcome idea that could settle some ambiguities but still leaves questions unanswered, industry figures say.

The CSA Group set out to formalize the language and methodologies used in plastics recycling to inform policymakers, governments and businesses, noting there is no consistent concept of plastics recycling in Canada.

The task extended to what kind of plastic is eligible, which kind of recycling methodology counts, how a plastic recycling rate should be calculated, and even defining "recycling" itself.

Federal extended producer responsibility policies reveal a “need to level the playing field” by creating the requirements, fostering consistency and developing the methodologies and measurements to ensure “we’re pushing the market towards best practice(s),” Jo-Anne St. Godard, executive director of the Circular Innovation Council, said during a CSA Group media briefing.

The CSA Group is helping to “align everyone and create that consistent approach to measurement and understanding where that recycling is defined as taking place,” Tammy Schwass, the executive director of the Alberta Plastics Recycling Association (APRA), told Sustainable Biz Canada in an interview.

The non-profit’s members include companies across the plastics value chain in manufacturing, processing and recycling, as well as governments and academics.

While the document is clear and concise, it is basic and “doesn’t get into a lot of the grey, weedy areas in terms of definitions,” Tribu Persaud, the director of business development at Cambridge, Ont.-based Norwich Plastics, said. Norwich is a PVC and vinyl recycling firm that handles 15 million pounds of plastics per year.

Much-needed transparency and concreteness

Among the thorny issues CSA Group tackled is a definition of recycling, now considered to be processing waste materials to produce secondary materials used to make new products. It applies only to non-biodegradable plastics in any sector, excluding biodegradable alternatives and related products such as inks and greases.

The CSA Group, Persaud said, is clarifying a sector where some have perceived waste-to-energy — burning plastic waste to generate electricity — as recycling.

He is pleased with how it introduced a transparent array of methodologies for calculating recycled content. “Just because you’re diverting it from landfill, if you’re still making offal, you’re still making scrap from that recycling process, you can’t count all of that weight.”

CSA Group addressed the problem via a calculation for waste diversion that factors in how much waste has been recycled and how much was thrown out.

Schwass mirrored Persaud’s thoughts, saying the definitions go “a long way to try to get everyone across the industry on the same page and working towards those common objectives.”

The recycling industry can rely on oversimplified terms, so firmer notions that extend to where recycling occurs is a positive development, she said. Nationwide definitions and means of measuring and tracking recycling helps all stakeholders achieve recycling targets and know where they stand on meeting goals, Schwass continued.

“Will it increase business or will it increase sales? I don’t really see that happening,” Persaud said of the CSA Group document. He does not believe writing definitions are “going to directly help somebody or cause them to be more environmentally friendly or less environmentally friendly.”

The gaps in the definitions

Though Schwass said the document is a good starting point, she and Persaud said the industry still must come to a consensus on the terms “recyclability” and “recyclable”, which the document did not delve into.

Defining recyclability has to be handled carefully, Persaud observed, as the technology and material use is advancing rapidly, meaning what was not recyclable yesterday, could be tomorrow.

Like Persaud, Schwass said it is too early to judge how the definitions could affect industry figures. APRA is talking to its members, who are considering embedding the CSA Group’s voluntary recommendations across their operations, to gauge their impressions she said.

For future plastics recycling standards from the CSA Group, Persaud hopes to see end-of-life management addressed. Plastics are made to last and have properties superior to cardboard, metal and glass, but are underappreciated, he said.

"If we didn't make plastics with the vast majority of the chemistry we use, those industries would burn those things off."