Pot packaging could be more green, critics say
Excessive packaging remains a problem one year after cannabis was legalized, but retailers say change is on the horizon.
Consumers criticized the often multi-layered and single-use packaging of plastic, paper and cardboard for even small quantities of weed.
Greenpeace Canada is also speaking out on what it says is a “missed opportunity” in the battle against plastics and single-use disposables.
“It’s unfortunate that the federal government and provinces are working together on a zero-waste strategy, but can’t create a better model for products they’re responsible for,” said Sarah King, Greenpeace Canada’s head of oceans and plastics campaign. “They could have piloted a model that is more sustainable.”
Licensed producers are responsible for packaging, which has to follow Health Canada requirements, including being designed to show any signs of tampering, to be child-resistant and to prevent contamination and keep the product dry. The packages also have to be large enough to accommodate required labelling information, including the type of product, THC and CBD levels, and warnings.
B.C. retailers, which receive cannabis products already packaged from producers through the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch, often bear the brunt of customers’ complaints about excessive packaging.
“They feel it’s completely crazy that this packaging is in our stores, and they get pretty upset, and … we don’t have a great solution for them,” said Harrison Stoker, vice-president of brand and culture at the Donnelly Group, which operates three Hobo cannabis stores in British Columbia.
Retailers say that in the face of stringent federal regulations, and in the rush to market last year, licensed producers took the path of least resistance, defaulting to disposable plastics. But now more producers are making an effort to use sustainable packaging.
“There’s some new manufacturers of more environmentally friendly substrates coming into the market,” said Stoker, noting packaging from suppliers from Colorado and California, where the recreational cannabis market is more mature, is starting to be used in B.C.
Geoff Dear, president of Muse Cannabis, which operates a store in South Granville, said the packaging is evolving.
Muse had been passing on consumer concerns to producers, which have been “receptive,” said Dear.
“Some vendors are improving on it. Every so often, you’ll see a product come in a new and improved packaging,” he said.
Most items in cannabis packaging are accepted in residential blue bin recycling programs, but not all.
Muse and Hobo offer in-store recycling bins.
In a statement, Health Canada said the federal government recognizes plastic pollution is a growing problem. “Health Canada encourages the use of innovative and environmentally sound packaging approaches, provided the requirements in the regulations are satisfied.”