Physical flow account for plastic material, 2022
Released: 2026-03-26
The Physical Flow Account for Plastic Material is an environmental-economic account that estimates the flow of plastic through the Canadian economy. The account provides annual estimates by product category, resin type, and province and territory. The time-series starts in 2012 and now includes 2022.
The flow begins with production, continues with use and tracks waste and recycling.
Infographic 1
Flow of plastic through the Canadian economy
Plastic production for Canadian consumption on the rise due to increasing international net trade
In 2022, the amount of plastic in new products produced for Canadian consumption was 7 585 kilotonnes (kt), an increase of 4.1% from 2021, following two consecutive year-over-year declines. The amount of plastic destined for the Canadian market—derived from net trade and domestic production—reached its highest level in 2022 since the series began in 2012, surpassing 2019 levels by 58 kt. The rise in 2022 was mainly attributable to net trade, calculated as imports minus exports, which rose by 11.9% from 2021 to 3 106 kt in 2022.
Net trade grew for most product categories in 2022, due to general increased demand for consumer goods and merchandise imports, except for plastic in construction materials, which decreased as construction output varied across provinces and territories.
Total domestic production was steady from 2021 (4 511 kt) to 2022 (4 479 kt).
Chart 1
Amount of plastic in products produced for Canadian consumption, 2012 to 2022
Diverted plastic continues to increase, surpassing pre-pandemic levels
Businesses, institutions and households in Canada discarded 5 152 kt of plastic in 2022, a 2.9% increase from 2021 and following two consecutive years of decline, signalling a return to activity levels last seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost all of this amount (98.6%) was collected for waste disposal and material recovery, while the rest (1.4%) leaked into the environment.
Plastic recovery activities also rebounded after the pandemic, with total collected plastic increasing by 2.9% in 2022 to 5 079 kt. Almost four-fifths (78.3%) of collected plastic waste was directly disposed of (3 979 kt), while the remaining amount was diverted for material recovery (1 098 kt). In 2022, the amount of plastic diverted for material recovery increased 2.1% from 2021, with transportation vehicles (584 kt) and packaging (417 kt) accounting for most of it (91.2%).
Chart 2
Amount of plastic discarded in Canada, by waste stream, 2012 to 2022
Canada's total sorted and baled plastic was steady in 2022, at 428 kt, and packaging made up 84.4% of this total. Together, Ontario (140 kt), Quebec (116 kt), British Columbia (71 kt) and Alberta (50 kt) contributed 88.3% of total sorted and baled plastic.
From 2019 to 2021, Canada was a net importer of plastic bales. However, in 2022, Canada was a net exporter, which decreased the amount available for recycling within Canada.
Packaging materials make up the majority of recycled pellets, flakes and fibres
Recycled plastic processed into pellets, flakes and fibres totalled 333 kt in 2022, a decrease of 10.4% from 2021, primarily attributable to a 12.1% reduction in recycled plastic packaging. Plastic packaging (281 kt) remained the largest category of recyclates in 2022, accounting for over five-sixths (84.3%) of recycled plastic resins destined for manufacturers, with plastic bottles (184 kt) making up almost two-thirds (65.4%) of the category.
Infographic 2
Source of recycled plastic pellets, flakes and fibres ready for use in production of new products in Canada, by product category, 2022
The largest contributors to recycled plastic resins in 2022 were high-density polyethylene (HDPE) (27.1%), which is common in milk jugs and bottle caps, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (25.5%), which is common in water and soft drink bottles.
After accounting for trade, disposed plastic waste and scrap totalled 4 274 kt in 2022, almost all of which (97.3%) was sent to landfills or incinerated without energy recovery, while the rest (2.7%) was incinerated or gasified for energy recovery.
Note to readers
The Physical Flow Account for Plastic Material (PFAPM) was created to support the Government of Canada's comprehensive plan to reduce plastic waste and pollution. The PFAPM measures the flow of plastic in products through the Canadian economy by providing annual estimates from 2012 to 2022 by product category, resin type, and province and territory.
The PFAPM accounts for the plastic content of internationally imported and exported products as well as international imports and exports of sorted and baled plastic and disposed plastic waste and scrap. The PFAPM does not account for international trade of recycled plastic resin, nor does it account for interprovincial trade in sorted and baled plastic or recycled plastic resin. Because of this, the geographic dimension of estimates for recycled plastic resin represents the province or territory where the plastic was discarded, not the location of the final processor producing the recycled pellets, flakes and fibres.
The PFAPM only estimates the mass of plastic in items, not the total mass of an item itself, nor other materials that make up the item. It does not, for example, include the mass of metal in vehicles, or the fraction of that metal that is recycled.
In the account, recycled resins are produced from plastic recovered from discarded products that enter waste management streams and are processed into pellets, flakes or fibres ready for use in the production of new products.
Items that may be re-used, such as vehicles or clothes, are accounted for in the net stock of plastic in products that remain in use. This variable is the difference between plastic in new products produced for Canadian consumption and total discarded plastic in products, and it accounts for products that are produced in the current year but will only be discarded in future years, products that were produced in previous years and are being discarded in the current year, and products that are being discarded by one user and re-used by another, without entering a waste management stream.
In addition to releasing data for 2022, some estimates for 2012 to 2021 have been revised to reflect updated data sources.
Products
The infographic, "Plastics in Canada: From production to recycling, 2022," part of the Statistics Canada – Infographics series (11-627-M), is now available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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