Reclaim Plastics recognizes Fraser Valley Regional District Board as a leader in child car seat recycling; expanded funding for a pilot recycling program will continue into 2027.
Burnaby, BC, June 11, 2026 – Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) and Reclaim Plastics, local recycling centre in Burnaby, has helped to divert nearly 10 tons of child car seats from BC’s landfills, since initiating a pilot program in July 2025. After exceeding the initial program target, the two-year program has been expanded to recycle 4,000 more car seats by July 2027.
The original program budget anticipated a collection of 1,000 seats, over two years across three sites, in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Mission. However, the initial target was achieved in less than six months, and by February 2026, more than 1,500 car seats were collected, processed and diverted from going to a landfill.
The FVRD’s pilot program aims to reduce landfill waste, increase the diversion of recyclable materials, and collect data to support advocacy efforts for a provincial Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for child car seats. Funding from the FVRD is being used for car seat collection, transportation services, data and reporting purposes, as well as the recycling process itself, including manual decontamination, sorting and material processing.
“Deconstructing a car seat is a highly labour-intensive process,” says Bash Jamal, Co-Founding & Managing Partner at Reclaim Plastics. “It can take up to 45 minutes to disassemble each seat, with a majority of the work completed by hand using specialized tools. While the process is time-intensive, recycling these materials play a crucial role in diverting waste from landfills, where they can take up to 1,000 years to decompose and impose heightened risks for climate change, environmental pollution and human health.”
According to BCAA, roughly 85,000-100,000 used, expired and end-of-life car seats are thrown and discarded into BC’s landfills each year. Child car seats are difficult to recycle, given the number of different material components. However, if recycled correctly, almost all the components of a car seat can be recycled, or repurposed, and given a second life.
The polypropylene plastic shells are processed and granulated into plastic pellets, enabling the creation of new auto parts, roofing applications, outdoor plastic furniture or plastic lumber. The metal frame and rivets are able to create new steel products, while the foam is used for underlay, sound proofing or picture frames.
While the momentum and urgency for plastic recycling continues to increase, child car seats are not currently included in a provincially regulated recycling program in BC. The pilot program remains imperative for waste reduction efforts and landfill diversion within the Fraser Valley and will hopefully help result in the establishment of an EPR program across BC.