This Canadian Company Transforms Plastic Waste into Building Lumber

If you’ve been listening to the elite political talking heads of late, then you’re already aware that climate change is the “Holy Grail” of the far left political establishment, attempting to shore-up conflicting scientific data with their own skewed orthodoxy concerning the environment.

Regardless of what is taking place millions of miles above the earth’s atmosphere, there’s little doubt that our planet is being directly impacted negatively right here at home due to the growing crisis of plastic waste pollution.

According to recent studies, plastic waste pollution is known to release harmful toxins back into the environment once the plastic components begin to break down. The materials used in making plastic water bottles or other plastic commodities are not biodegradable and cannot be decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms, thus winding up in harmful landfills or polluting our oceans.

However, thanks to innovative companies like Goodwood Plastic Products Ltd. based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, a healthier planet looks like it could be within reach. This company is now recycling about 80% of municipal plastic waste into synthetic lumber, wharf timbers, guardrails and agricultural posts.

Andrew Philopoulos, manager of Halifax’s solid waste division, said that after China refused to accept recycled plastic in 2017, there was a 95% backlog of the waste that accumulated. He believes that Goodwood has solved this problem, at least in the short-term.

“We are very, very fortunate here in Nova Scotia to have that local company taking the material,” Philopoulos told CBC’s Information Morning News. “Without them, I think we would find it challenging to find a market for a lot of the plastic packaging that we are collecting.”

Goodwood went even a step further and partnered with another local company, Sobeys, and created one of the first parking lots in Canada made almost completely out of recycled plastics. Everything from the asphalt mixture used for the actual parking lot to the signs and parking cones was comprised of more than 6-million plastic shopping bags redirected away from the landfill.

Goodwood’s vice president Mike Chassie, a long-time environmental advocate, is proud that they have been able to find a “home-grown” solution to their local plastic problem. His company’s product has now been used by other businesses to build outdoor furniture like park benches and picnic tables.

“I have 500 phone numbers of people I am supposed to call back when I have lumber ready. They want it for anything outdoors. If you’ve building a shed and you need a bottom, your shed is going to sit on the ground, it’s the perfect product, it will never rot out,” Chassie said.

“Goodwood Plastic Products Ltd. turns plastics such as shopping bags into plastic lumber. It’s possible the plastic shopping bags that you recycled last week could eventually be turned into a bench you’ll one day sit on.” https://t.co/whsroHYzN2 pic.twitter.com/mYwDKHHsQo

— Mary-Lou Schagena (@radiogirl985) June 21, 2020

Unfortunately, foolish government regulations like a ban on plastic bags may actually torpedo Goodwood’s successful plastic waste solution. These regulations actually do little in solving the crisis, and instead focuses on political bureaucrats (much like government bureaucrats in America) attempting to posture on someone else’s success for political expediency.

“The plastic bag ban is something that is created by individuals who don’t understand the industry and don’t understand a quality resource that creates jobs,” Chassie said. “Plastic bags are not a problem. People are a problem. If you fill your plastic bag with garbage and then throw it into the landfill, then its landfill. But if you collect it, sort it and make sure it goes to a recycling facility.”

Chassie argues that if a single-use plastic can be turned into a board, it is no longer single-use. Having experience with government interference in other industries like tires and hardwood, he fully expects they will interfere with this as well.