Cannabis consumers, if you're concerned about the amount of packaging your government weed comes in, two companies have teamed up for a solution.
Weed giant Tweed and recycling company TerraCycle have created a free program for recycling any and all packaging legal recreational marijuana comes in in Canada.
Most of the cannabis packaging is technically recyclable, but every municipality is different. For example, the city of Toronto does not accept black plastic for recycling, which some of the legal cannabis products are packaged in.
Whether it's tins, plastic bags, or bottles with child-proof caps, all you need to do is empty out the containers and put them in a drop-off bin at any Tweed marijuana store or partner retailer.
But if there's no brick-and-mortar weed store near you, you can mail your packaging in a box. Shipping labels can be downloaded from the TerraCycle website, and are completely free after registering for the program.
Watch: Canada faces weed shortage just two weeks after legalization. Story continues below.
Gina Herrera, TerraCycle's U.S. director of brand partnerships, told HuffPost Canada that after the packaging is collected and cleaned, it gets melted down into plastic pellets and used to make other recycled products.
"So you can think about park benches, picnic benches, playgrounds— (the pellets) replace all of the virgin plastic material that would otherwise be used for some of these more common or household items," Herrera said.
TerraCycle has similar programs with other companies, who offset the cost of shipping and recycling to provide free shipping labels for the customer.
"Because of their commitment to sustainability and their ability to see that it's something that's important to their consumers, both Tweed and any of our brands that support free recycling programs understand that this is something they see tremendous value in," Herrera said.
"It's something their consumers see tremendous value in, and that's what's sort of part of their holistic brand story and message."
'National recyclability'
Herrera said TerraCycle encourages "responsible recycling," so if you have recycling options available that are closer to you, use them.
"The idea with our programs it that we're intending to work with materials that otherwise don't have a solution."
Herrera said the company's programs offer "national recyclability."
"So anyone with a computer or access to a computer and a printer can find a correct and responsible way to recycle and not feel so unable to participate in something just because maybe their municipality doesn't offer it to them."
With files from The Canadian Press