Canadian firm Modix Plastique secured the Plastic reduction initiative of the year award after delivering a solution to North American recycling challenges, supporting hundreds of jobs and saving thousands of tonnes of virgin plastic resin use.

Modix takes the waste plastic treated by local recycling facilities serving 800,000 people in Quebec and converts this into recycled plastic resin granules which can be reused for the manufacture of other plastic products.

The firm was able to step up its activities in response to the serious problems faced by the recycling industry in North America caused by the import ban by China of plastic waste. Modix now works with more than 10 of the recycling facilities in Quebec, generating 20 direct job opportunities – mostly from vulnerable populations – and saved almost 100 jobs from recycling facilities which had tended to close due to the lack of local solutions for recycling household plastic waste.

Overall, Modix has treated more than 5,000 tonnes of household flexible plastic waste from these municipal facilities – avoiding the use of 3,000 tonnes of virgin plastic resin, and saving more than 15,000 cubic metres of landfill space.

The firm is working closely with brand owners to create a circular economy for plastic products, and the recycled resins it has generated from its technology have already sold out in the region.