April 22nd marks Earth Day and at WineCollective we take our impact on the world around us pretty seriously. In fact, it’s one of the reasons we chose to forgo traditional print tasting cards in favour of our digital tasting guides. Since our business relies heavily on shipping fragile product across a very large country, we have to ensure our shipments are protected to minimize breakage. We are always looking for innovative changes to wine shipping and try to source packaging that is sustainable and protective enough so that you always get unbroken bottles that are ready to drink.
The reality is, because of the fragility of wine bottles, we need something substantial to protect them. So we ship our wine in cardboard boxes with expanded polystyrene (EPS) #6 inserts – which is the most readily recyclable Styrofoam material. Luckily over the years it has become increasingly easier to recycle EPS, however we do acknowledge it is still not a perfect process.
Polystyrene (EPS/Styrofroam) Recycling in Canada
(Updated September 2019)
We wanted to take the time today to highlight the locations across Canada that allow for recycling of EPS:
BC
- Recycling BC offers polystyrene recycling at over 250 locations across BC. Check out their website to find the location nearest you.
- London Drugs stores offer free polystyrene recycling at any of their locations throughout BC! Through their “What’s the Green Deal?” program, you can drop off your foam packaging any time.
AB
- Airdrie: Eastside Recycling Depot, 21 East Lake Hill
- Cochrane: Eco Centre, 50 Griffin Industrial Point
- Grand Prairie: Aquatera Eco Centre: 10431 – 96 Avenue
SK
- Regina: Crown Shred & Recycling, 225 6th Avenue East
ON
- Keswick: Georgina Transfer Station, 23068 Warden Ave
- Niagara Region: acceptable to place in your Blue Box
- Richmond Hill: Elgin Mills Community Environmental Centre, 1124 Elgin Mills Road East
- Vaughn: McCleary Court Community Environmental Centre, 130 McCleary Court
- Walkerton: The Walkerton Landfill, 320 Kincardine Hwy
NS
- Pictou County: acceptable in Blue Bag
- Colchester County: Packaging can be placed in your Containers Product Bag (bag #2) and left curb-side with your other recycling before 7am on pickup day
YK
- Whitehorse:
- Raven Recycling, 100 Galena Rd
- Whitehorse Waste Management Facility, Mile 91972 (Mile 919.72) Alaska Highway
Wine: Reuse & Recycle
Did you know there are a number of ways to recycle wine products?
- Corks are recyclable across Canada at ReCork locations
- Wine bottles are 100% recyclable and can be brought in to any bottle recycling depot near you
- Reusing is even better than recycling and there are a ton of craft projects for old wine bottles
As everyone tries to work harder and make changes in their lives to reduce their plastic consumption, recycle more, and change old habits, WineCollective is right there with you. We are always striving to look for new ways we can have minimal negative environmental impact and hope that as time goes on, there will be further changes in the packaging industry to offer sustainable and protective shipping solutions.
Happy Earth Day and let’s celebrate our amazing home with some wine by candlelight!