Recycle it!
Can I put this in my curbside recycling?
Likely not, but it depends on where you live. Currently Recycle BC is testing out curbside recycling of flexible packaging in a few select areas. If you don’t live in one of those select locations, you can bring it to your local Recycle BC (or equivalent) facility for recycling. London Drugs is also a Recycle BC collection point, and accepts flexible packaging.
Does this apply to other Level Ground packages, like the 2lb coffee from Costco or dried fruit?
It does! This applies to all flexible packaged Level Ground products including: 300g coffee, 2lb coffee, and dried fruit. 5lb coffee can also be recycled by separating the paper box from the plastic liner.
What happened to the compostable package?
The compostable package we innovated in 2015 wasn’t as perfect as we had hoped. We learned that it was not accepted by municipal composting programs, because those are designed for food scraps only. Any other compostables (like cutlery, bags, and our coffee packages) were seen as contaminants to be placed in landfill. This left backyard compost as the only viable option for this package. We also learned that the package wasn’t breaking down as it was supposed to. Rather than months, it was taking years, and wasn’t producing valuable soil as compostable materials should.
Currently the industry is innovating around recyclable flexible packaging, which is why we’ve made this change. If the industry begins to take care of compostable packaging, and the material does a better job of turning into soil, we will be ready to switch back!
If you’ve got information, ideas, or want to connect on this, we would love to hear from you!
Please send an email to info@levelground.com or call us at 250-544-0932.
Resources
- This Recycle BC link answers many questions about their program to reclaim flexible plastic packaging to keep it out of the landfill and process it for use as fuel (pellets, currently mainly used in place of coal to produce a component of cement). This link has lots of great information on flexible packaging.
- London Drugs has done an incredible job in collecting flexible packaging.
This Greendeal link answers various questions about flexible plastic packaging, how it is processed, what it is used for.
This link shows all items that London Drugs takes back, at all of their locations.
- For our customers in Ontario, this link shows all the municipalities and what is accepted at curbside recycling.