Seed money for growing business
Local company part of $5-million B.C. grant to transform recycled plastic into new products
A Kelowna company that turns used plastic into new products — including teapots, wine glasses, and planters — will benefit from new government support announced Wednesday.
The Rogerie is among nine B.C. companies and social enterprises specializing in plastics reclamation that will split a total of $5 million in grants to develop and expand their operations.
“With this funding, we’ll be able to invest in equipment that will let us use basically any type of plastic to make our products,” Brady Rogers said during a virtual press conference Wednesday.
“We’ll be able to use anything from water bottles to shampoo bottles to car parts, pretty much anything plastic you can imagine, and make it into consumer products.”
The government says the $5 million in new funding, which must be paired with one-third support from the benefiting companies and non-profit societies, will replace or recycle more than 20,000 tonnes of plastic annually.
Other funded projects recycle the plastic housing on car batteries, fridge inserts, and automobile bumper covers.
Currently, 40% of all plastic material is used only once, with much of the rest ending up in landfills, the government says. “Today, we take another key step towards building a more conscientious and comprehensive B.C. recycling program that’s focused on transforming used plastic into an economic asset,” Minister of Environment George Heyman said.
The Rogerie is a company started by Brady and Angela Rogers shortly after they got married in 2019. Angela’s background is in design and Brady has experience in robotic engineering.
They use recycled plastic taken from the Kelowna dump and local waterways to produce a variety of stylish home accessories. They started selling their products out of a booth at the Kelowna Farmers’ and Crafters’ Market, and now ship to dozens of retail stores.
Their share of the government funding announced Tuesday is $40,000.