The city of Montreal and CPIA extend PS recovery and recycling program

The City of Montreal and the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) have announced a five-year extension of the polystyrene (PS) recovery and recycling program.

This announcement is a follow-up of a successful pilot project "In search of number 6" which, between October 2013 and September 2014, saw the recovery of more than two and half tons of PS, diverting this material from landfill sites.

In addition, CPIA also introduced a new partner, Polyform, to the program, who will use the PS collected at the LaSalle Ecocenter in Montreal for the manufacturing of durable construction products.

"While the pilot succeeded in collecting 2.5 tons of polystyrene, the real success of the project is that we were able to establish the necessary collection and recycling infrastructure, including the partnership with Polyform that will allow the program to remain a valuable service at the LaSalle depot," said Krista Friesen, Vice President, Sustainability at CPIA. "We are also interested in seeing this program model expand to other communities across Quebec."

"Polyform is proud to participate in this recycling program with the City of Montreal and CPIA," stated Fran?ois Beauchesne, Vice President of Sales and Business Development. "Our recycling center can recycle millions of kilograms of plastics every year, including the polystyrene containers and packaging that we find regularly in the Montreal homes. These containers and packaging represent a source of recycled content that is useful when manufacturing new sustainable products."

The program "In search of number 6" allows Montreal residents to bring back their PS items to the LaSalle Ecocenter. The items had to be clean and free of packaging, labels, absorbent pads and aluminum covers.