NAIT applied researchers to explore ways to recycle drink pouches

“Our ability to find the most impactful end-markets for recycled materials is critical”


In 2023, Albertans purchased almost 15 million drink pouches, those convenient, single-serve containers made from aluminum and plastic. Of those collected in Alberta, none are recycled. They’re sent instead to a facility in British Columbia, and incinerated as a fuel source.

Through supporting a $300,000 partnership with NAIT, the Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation (ABCRC) would like to change that.

“As the steward of recyclable non-refillable beverage containers, our ability to innovate and find the most suitable and impactful end-markets for recycled materials is critical,” says Guy West, ABCRC president and CEO. “A container type that has always presented challenges in recycling is drink pouches. It’s what has led us to this partnership with NAIT.”

As industrial surface chemist Kelsey Deutsch explains, the layers of a drink pouch are bound together with adhesives, “which makes them incredibly difficult to separate. You can’t just pick out the different plastics on an assembly line like you would for other beverage containers.”

NAIT applied researchers are exploring possibilities that will keep the containers out of the landfill or from being incinerated – which, while creating energy, also creates pollution. That may involve developing ways to separate the materials or to convert them to value-added fuels or feedstocks.

Either solution would provide for “a stronger circular economy, environmental sustainability, and economic and community benefits,” says Dr. Olle Lagerquist, associate vice-president of NAIT’s Industry Solutions. “We are proud to be able to support Alberta-based sustainability initiatives like this.”

The investigation and work will be carried out over three years, with Deutsch and fellow researcher and Applied Research Chair in Materials Circularity Dr. Xiaohua Kong taking the lead on identifying “the best possible future for these materials,” says West.

“Challenges create opportunities to innovate and develop made-in-Alberta solutions. This partnership is a step forward in unlocking future economic gains for an untapped resource.”

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