Prince Albert cannabis retailer Prairie Cannabis has a recycling bin set up in store for customers to return their waste packaging. The store is currently looking to secure a company to accept the recyclable containers. (submitted photo/Prairie Cannabis)

By Brady Bateman

rehashing pot plastics

Cannabis companies ‘going green’ by recycling containers

Mar 12, 2019 | 5:00 PM

It’s been four months since recreational marijuana use was legalized across Canada, but retailers are hoping to curb the amount of waste from hard plastic packaging — one of the mandates included in the legislation.

Government regulations imposed on the sector stipulate cannabis must be sold in sealed and properly labelled containers, which are almost all entirely made of hard plastic, and used only once before being thrown out.

This has led to cannabis retailers, as well as cannabis suppliers, to ‘go green’ and implement new recycling measures, aimed at reducing the amount of waste plastic created by the cannabis industry.

Jim Southam, owner of Prairie Cannabis in Prince Albert, said he knew a recycling program would be necessary since winning a permit to open a retail cannabis store, and seeing the provided packaging the cannabis is sold in.

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“When we saw what the packaging was going to look like, we obviously knew recycling was going to have to be a part of the business plan and the responsible thing to do,” Southam said. “Right now were looking at different recycling companies, and trying to see what companies will take them back. We are accepting the containers in the store right now so people can already bring them back to us. We just have to find a company to return them.”

Southam noted different distributors use different types of plastic for cannabis containers, which can add to the difficulty of finding a company capable of accepting the recyclables.

“The main thing is that we’re being responsible and doing what we can to minimize the waste from the packaging,” Southam said. “I think in general people do agree that its excessive packaging, and there probably are better and more efficient packaging materials and methods, but it’s a new industry and it’s just a matter of people learning new solutions.”

Southam added Prairie Cannabis already received several hundred containers brought back into the store.

“We’re hoping in the next day or two we can find a permanent solution,” Southam. “Bring in the containers if you have them, we are more than happy to take them back.”

Staff at Prince Albert’s other cannabis retailer, Canaba Cannabis, also noted they heard complaints of waste packaging, and are also making changes to address the concerns.

“I think a lot of people are concerned with some of the packaging, and just want to ensure that it’s being dealt with properly. The cannabis community has always been green, or recycling-friendly so I think it fits the community perfectly to have a recycling system in place,” co-owner Shaun Dunphy said. “As far as I know they (cannabis distributors) are working on new packaging, there are just a lot of rules in place. I think the goal overall is to seal the package better, while also shrinking the packaging.”

Dunphy noted while Canaba does not currently accept empty containers, staff at the store hope to have a recycling program in place within the next week. He said the business has a partnership with Terracycle, a recycling company. He expects recycling bins to appear in store within a week or two.

Dunphy added that Canaba will be hosting a grand opening for the store on April 20.

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brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy