New plastic baler in British Columbia boosts Canada's automotive container recycling capacity

Interchange Recycling, the not-for-profit organization dedicated to the collection and recycling of used oil, antifreeze, and automotive containers in British Columbia, announced that its industry partner Safety-Kleen has installed a new plastic baler in Delta, British Columbia. The new plastic baler will help improve automotive container recycling rates across British Columbia and Canada and will process over half a million kilograms of automotive plastic annually. According to the company, it's the first-of-its-kind in British Columbia capable of facilitating increased consolidation with other automotive and industrial liquid packaging from across the country.
 
"We have been working with Safety-Kleen Canada Inc. for two decades to help close the loop on the life cycle of oil in the auto industry by diverting used oil, oil filters, and used antifreeze from landfills," said David Lawes, CEO of Interchange Recycling. "With this new infrastructure, our partnership with them has deepened as they have expanded their operation to include the collection of automotive containers. Currently, in B.C., 1.7 million kilograms of automotive plastic containers are recycled every year, but I expect that will grow with the new plastic baler. Most of the recycled containers will end up being used again in industrial sectors or in landscaping, and the plastic collected will circle back into the North American economy."
 
Part of Canada's zero plastic waste agenda includes retaining the value of products and facilitating the transition to a circular economy. The new plastic baler in Delta supports Canada's shift from a linear "take-make-dispose" method by handling automotive containers at the end of their anticipated life, extending their use, and sending them back into the production chain to create new and useful products. 

"We needed brand new infrastructure to help process plastic locally," said Sam Glofcheskie Regional Vice President, Safety-Kleen Canada Inc. - Bulk Product and Services. "Right now, only around nine percent of plastic waste is recycled in Canada. We want to help fix that. The new baler has allowed us to create jobs in the province, has expanded our partnership with Interchange Recycling, and is going to help British Columbia move a step closer towards a circular system in the auto space. The plastic we encounter and bale at our facility in Delta will go to the RPM eco processing facility in Quebec where it will be recycled and eventually re-used as new product."

"RPM eco has years of operational experience in collecting contaminated plastics in New Brunswick, Prince-Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. We're grateful that they have now entered the market in British Columbia and will be helping us collect plastic in the Lower Mainland before it is baled in Delta, and then processed at their facility in Quebec," added Glofcheskie.