Recycling of Polymer Multilayer Packaging at TC Transcontinental

Context

TC Transcontinental, headquartered in Montreal, has been active since 1976 in the printing industry and currently owns 16 printing plants in Canada. With the decline in the paper print market, TC Transcontinental has acquired seven flexible plastic packaging plants since 2014, supporting its growth through an extension of its industrial and manufacturing expertise. In early April 2018, TC Transcontinental announced a definitive agreement to acquire Coveris Americas which, following the closing of the transaction, will result in the creation of a network of 28 packaging plants, mostly in North America, but also in Guatemala, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, China and New Zealand.

Description of the challenge

TC Transcontinental's packaging plants mainly produce multi-layered polymer packaging, sold as bags, pouches or rolls. This production generates, among other things, post-industrial waste of laminated plastic, the recycling of which is difficult, if not impossible. Currently, some plants manage to divert a portion of this waste from landfill through energy recovery but, in order to reach its high environmental performance targets, TC Transcontinental seeks to identify alternative ways to promote the reuse or recycling of multilayer plastics. They are therefore launching this challenge to Canadian innovators.

Constraint(s)

The ultimate goal of TC Transcontinental is to stop sending its post-production laminated plastics to landfill. Two Canadian plants, located in Vancouver and Montreal, generate annually approximately 300 and 150 metric tons of this type of residual material. Packaging varies from customer to customer, but the vast majority of produced multilayer packages have at least two laminated layers including LDPE and PET, with sporadic use of PP and HDPE. These films also contain additives that vary depending on the intended applications.

TC Transcontinental is ideally looking for commercially available technology. However, any proposal to raise the level of recycling or the value of the treated products will be considered.

Estimated duration of the project:24 months