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Canadian Plastics Industry Correspondence

March 9, 2007
 
Re:  CPIA Review of Return to Retail Locations for Plastic Shopping Bags
             
The CPIA is committed to working with local governments and retailers to improve and expand the return to retail network for recycling plastic shopping bags in BC.
             
Plastic shopping bags are a valuable resource; a resource that should be reused many times and then given new life as a recycled new product.  Unused plastic shopping bags are too valuable to throw away.
             
Plastic shopping bags can be recycled into new bags or into plastic lumber products like flooring, decking, and patio furniture. This is a market already worth $2 billion and growing 14% a year.
             
As part of that commitment, we have visited retail locations taking back bags from consumers that are listed on our web site.http://www.myplasticbags.ca. This web site provides consumers with a listing of the nearest retailer that provides return to retail collection for plastic shopping bags. We have developed this web site as part of our
efforts to make consumers aware of the opportunities to recycle their plastic shopping bags at retail local stores. We have been actively promoting this web site in BC and welcome your support to promote this site to your residents.
             
The intent of these visits is multi-fold; first, to see how the retailers are providing the service to the customer; second, to assess if there is an opportunity for CPIA to help the service by providing information such as our best practice
guides; third, to make sure that there is an higher level of awareness on the part of local
government officials of the proactive efforts of the retailers and their customers to sustainably
manage the use of plastic shopping bags. 
             
During the period from January 22 2007 to March 03 2007, we have visited 75 major retail stores in 13 GVRD member municipalities and cities as representative sampling of the stores listed. We are pleased to report that with the exception of 5 locations, all of these retailers are providing easily identified and accessible containers for the collection of the plastic shopping bags from their customers.
Several of these stores have placed their collection containers at the store entrances to ensure maximum visibility.
             
From our observations of the retuned bags, it appears that the customers that are using the system are well educated in how to recycle their bags. The bin contents appeared to be clean and of good recyclable quality.
             
Return to retail recycling of plastic shopping bags is working in BC and is a model for others across Canada. The key for the future is to ensure greater numbers of consumers make use of the system.
             
We see opportunities for improvement at some stores and we have forwarded our suggestions to the retailers. One of the critical steps we have specifically identified to all of the retailers is the need to improve the communication with the
consumers about how the program is working.
             
Further, CPIA believes that the return to retail voluntary product stewardship program provides an effective and convenient tool to help the consumer to responsibly manage their use of these bags to provide safe, secure and efficient transport of their grocery purchases, without imposing additional costs to the public systems.
             
We will continue our work with retailers to improve and expand the return to retail network for
plastic shopping bags in BC. We will also be promoting the use of best bagging practices with
retailers and consumers to ensure the efficient use of bags.
             
CPIA believes that local government can help this improvement and expansion process by supporting this voluntary stewardship program that has been in existence for so many years. For example providing links on their local web page to the http://www.myplasticbags.ca web site, by encouraging other retailers to participate in the network and by giving a pat on the back to the participating retailers who have been quietly and proactively providing this BC
initiated voluntary product stewardship program to their customers for so many years.
             
CPIA welcomes the opportunity to work in partnership with local governments and retailers to ensure the expansion and greater utilization of this BC initiated voluntary stewardship program.
             
Yours truly,
Craig Foster
BC EPIC Representative
             
Cathy Cirko
Director General,
EPIC  VP Environment & Health,
CPIA            
Canadian Plastics Industry Association
L'Association canadienne de l'industrie des plastiques
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