As a pioneer of the circular economy for decades, Goodwill Industries, Ontario Great Lakes (OGL), headquartered in London, Ontario, is committed to environmental stewardship, repurposing millions of pounds of goods each year in collaboration with the communities they serve.
For FY 2024-25,聽Goodwill Industries OGL collected more than 69 million pounds of donated goods, with just over 45 million pounds sold for reuse, and another 14 million pounds to recycling, repurposing approximately 86% of all goods received.
However, Goodwill is striving to achieve zero waste, and hard plastics 鈥 like large Tupperware or toys 鈥 have lacked a sustainable solution. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 an aftermarket solution in place, so we needed to create one,鈥 says John Quigley,聽Circularity and Sustainability Specialist at Goodwill.
The company turned to Rotogran International, the Ontario-based size reduction equipment manufacturer for the plastics and recycling industry, on building a custom granulator to meet Goodwill鈥檚 need to process inconsistent feedstock such as LDPE, HDPE and more.
鈥淩otogran put together a plan to custom-build a granulator based on our specific needs,鈥 Quigley聽says.聽鈥淭he granulator is integral to this circular solution which will repurpose these plastics, keeping them in use.鈥
Partnering on Sustainability聽
Goodwill values its community partnerships, and this collaboration with Rotogran is a testament to this. Goodwill preferred to partner with a local recycling machine manufacturer, which factored in the decision to work with Rotogran, known as the Ontario-based custom machine builder. However,聽Quigley聽says what also set Rotogran apart were the fantastic reviews of the company鈥檚 equipment as well as recommendations from other industry partners. Rotogran worked with Goodwill to put together a complete package:聽a granulator, feed conveyor, and evacuation system.
Rotogran is highly respected within the industry, and since partnering, Quigley says their customer service has been second to none. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly personal with their eagerness to check in,鈥 he says. 鈥淭hey are fantastic at communicating, troubleshooting and just in general follow up to see how things are going. They have an incredible response to help find solutions.鈥
Given the immediate impact and potential to help address plastic waste in other regions, Goodwill plans to replicate this initiative, researching working with Rotogran and the business community across Ontario. 聽鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to work with Goodwill Industries, Ontario Great Lakes on their sustainability efforts,鈥 says Mike Cyr, President of Rotogran. 鈥淭his is a game-changing initiative that will divert plastics from landfill and help contribute to the Circular Economy in an impactful and meaningful way right here in Ontario.鈥
鈥淎t Rotogran, we do things differently, such as building and selling to the application,鈥 Cyr says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we do.鈥 Goodwill Industries OGL also partnered with GreenWell Plastics, a Canadian remanufacturer, that is converting Goodwill鈥檚 granulated plastic into dynamic lumber, outdoor furniture and more. 聽鈥淭here is a lot of capacity to expand,鈥 Quigley says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to seeing how this sustainability initiative continues to evolve and grow.鈥