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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES <\/p>\n
The Brady landfill is logging an average of one fire month as a result of all-in-one vaporizers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the batteries get damaged, they can start a chemical reaction,\u201d Kinsley said. \u201cThe good news is, they\u2019re caught quite quickly, but you can see the potential. Fires are so destructive.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are more than 240 cannabis stores in Manitoba \u2014 including 142 in Winnipeg \u2014 since the drug was legalized in October 2018. As of last year, revenue growth from cannabis sales now outpaces alcohol sales in the province.<\/p>\n
The stores typically sell a wide range of cannabis-related products, packaged in a variety of containers, pouches and tubes, along with disposable vapes.<\/p>\n
Kinsley said there haven\u2019t been any fires at Winnipeg\u2019s recycling facilities, where there\u2019s less contact with heavy equipment, but the vapes show up in both waste streams.<\/p>\n
Efforts are underway to keep the devices out of the city\u2019s trash cans and recycling bins, Kinsley said, with the public encouraged to drop off used vapes at the city\u2019s 4R depots as part of a pilot project.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s efforts make a difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What is not acceptable for recycling, however, are the plastic pouches and black plastic containers used in packaging cannabis, he said.<\/p>\n
Kinsley would like to see manufacturers redesign the vapes so that the potentially dangerous batteries can be removed, while also switch to clear plastic packaging, which is easier to recycle and remade into new products.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep these away from the landfill and the recycling plant.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019d also like to see Extended Producer Responsibility applied to the vapes, which means manufacturers would be responsible for the products\u2019 entire lifespan, including its collection and disposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep these away from the landfill and the recycling plant,\u201d Kinsley said.<\/p>\n
Jesse Lavoie, founder and CEO of TobaGrown, an advocacy group turned grower and processor, said producers are keen to do their part to reduce waste but are limited in what they can do because the industry is heavily regulated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always looking for innovative ways to make our packaging more green, but a big part of the challenge is that cannabis packaging isn\u2019t designed by producers,\u201d he said, adding it\u2019s difficult to make the child-safety and tamper-proof packaging environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI truly wish we could use very green, easy-to-open packaging, but when we get the federal audits from Health Canada, they\u2019d rip us apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
He agreed the all-in-one vaporizing devices, including nicotine ones, should be designed so that batteries can be removed.<\/p>\n
And while he supports the city\u2019s trial collection of the vapes, he suggested it should be incentivized, much like it is for aluminum cans.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic first step, I think incentivizing that return could definitely bring it a lot further,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n