To achieve sustainable solutions, three elements must be considered in balance: environmental, economic and social. Too often, the environmental impact has not been considered at all, or the attempt failed to use the appropriate science. The consequences of this have borne environmental, economic and social repercussions.

Let's look at a case study where everyone's hearts were in the right place, but some of the outcomes may not be meeting expectations. In 1988 there was an idea - get industry to take more responsibility for its material generation and waste disposal. The National Packaging Protocol (NaPP) was conceived. Canada exceeded the NaPP milestone targets ahead of schedule, as the National Packaging Survey for 1996 conducted by Statistics Canada has indicated.

A 51 percent absolute reduction, a 56 percent reduction on a per capita basis, was achieved in 1996. The year 2000 target was achieved four years ahead of schedule! (See Spring 1998 - NaPP Proves Voluntary Measures Work.)

One consequence of NaPP was a shift from heavier weight to lighter weight materials. That meant that some products moved into materials with a lower recycling content, and in some cases, with technological barriers to recycling. There was an impact on the glass container industry, recycling programmes and householders.

Now, it seems that there is a strong interest from some parties to mandate recycled content. Let's walk through the logic.

Recycled content is an attribute that brand owners have indicated is of critical importance in an evaluation of the Consumers Glass Product Stewardship Process. They also indicated that they were very satisfied with the performance of Consumers Glass in this area.

Consumers Glass is a strong supporter of achieving recycled content voluntarily. They have won awards for their achievements (See Spring 1998 - Moosehead Breweries Ltd.,Saint John, NB ). They have also been asking for more recycled container glass for the last five years. The commitment of Consumers Glass to continual improvement can be evidenced in its adherence to quality management through the adoption of ISO 9001, and the over 10 year dedication to support post-consumer, post-use recycled glass as a raw material.

The proof of these results comes from NaPP - glass, along with two other packaging materials, have already achieved more than a 50% recycled content, as shown in Figure 1. Note that not all materials enjoy this same level of performance.

1996	Tonnes Consumed	% Reused & Reycled	Tonnes of New Packaging Used	% Recycled
All Packaging Materials	8,905,760	70.3%	4,885,740	45.0%
Plastic	1,288,768	45.4%	827,655	16.2%
Wood	2,484,080	76.2%	766,120	24.7%
Paper & Paperboard	2,441,286	68.5%	2,181,229	60.9%
Glass	1,382,005	81.5%	551,739	55.0%
Metals, Ferrous	963,078	80.4%	275,816	41.5%
Aluminum	129,920	63.0%	107,357	56.5%

Recycling is not a panacea for waste management problems. Mandating recycled content is not necessarily a sustainable solution. THINK! Is mandating it going to bring more glass back? The container glass industry is only one of the stakeholders in the recycled container glass supply chain. Are householders going to be fined for not recycling? Are municipalities going to be penalized by the provinces? Are the provinces going to lose transfer payments from the federal government? What would be the impact - environmental, economic and social, if everyone in Nunavit had to send their container glass back to Toronto?

Mandating recycled content, without balancing environmental, economic and social consequences, is not responsible and will not lead to a sustainable solution. When each of us have a role and responsibility in the system of supply, we all have to match our words to our actions. (See Summer 1997 - Road to Sustainability).

Glass Works challenges those interested in working towards a sustainable solution to post their ideas on the IDEA CENTRE BBS. Let's just see who's serious about our future.

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