Wikipedia User:CCCABOX



Overview

The Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association (CCCA) / Association Canadienne du Cartonnage Ondulé et du carton-caisse is the national trade association for the Canadian corrugated packaging industry and related containerboard mill manufacturing. The original members operated the corrugating machines that produce the sheets for a corrugated box and the converting operations that produce the finished packaging product.

Mission/Mandate

Once legally established, the association expanded to include integrated converters, corrugated sheet feeders and Canadian containerboard mills. Initially, the association’s mandate was to establish a forum for members to exchange information about negotiations and labour settlements but expanded to include other key functions for the members. The current mission statement of the CCCA is: To lead by advancing the competitiveness of the Canadian paper packaging industry; by embracing sustainability in all its forms (environmentally responsible, economically viable, socially desirable); by protecting the health and safety of our stakeholders; and to communicate this to our customers, governments, and the public at large.

Our members supply essential packaging products to a broad cross-section of the economy. The food and beverage sector make up the largest component of customers – frozen foods, fresh produce, canned goods, pizza and every beverage we enjoy are shipped in a corrugated “cardboard” box. Paper products, construction materials, pharmaceuticals and the E-commerce, home delivery segment all count on corrugated packaging as well.

History

Originally a subcommittee of the Canadian Manufacturers Association, the Canadian Corrugated Case Association was established in Toronto in 1970. The originating members are understood to be: Abitibi Containers, Atlantic Packaging, Bathurst Containers, Boxcraft, Domtar, Kruger and Standard Paper Box. Of these original seven companies, only Atlantic Packaging and Kruger remain as acquisitions, mergers and closures changed the industry and therefore the association over time.

In 1973, the company members established a more formal arrangement when Statistics Canada served notice that it would withdraw from receiving, processing and disseminating industry statistics. The name Canadian Corrugated Case Association/ Association Canadienne des Fabricants de Carton Ondulé was federally registered, the membership criteria was formalized and a fee structure was established to support the association’s mandates which included the statistical reporting previously performed by the federal government. From this point, the association, under an executive director, operated under a committee arrangement with finance, human resources, and manufacturing committees established to ensure that appropriate industry needs were legally addressed.

The collection and distribution of statistical data was assigned to a professional accounting firm in 1996 to perform a reliable confidential management of industry data, which continues to support the members in the same fashion today.

By 1985 the market had evolved to include independent stand-alone corrugator operators owned in partnership with independent sheet plant converters. To maintain the integrity of the statistical data being generated by the CCCA, the board voted to widen its membership requirement beyond the corrugator–converter companies to include sheet feeders. Tencorr was the first sheet feeder to join the CCCA, followed by Montcorr and Independent Corrugator. Today, the combined body of both integrated corrugated manufacturers and the sheet feeders represents essentially all of Canadian corrugated paperboard manufacturing.

Starting in 2001, to comply with the Canadian government’s revised Trade Association Registration requirements, the board undertook the creation of a formalized mission statement and a major revision of the association’s by-laws. In 2008, in response to economic challenges, the boards of the CCCA and the industry’s environmental council, PPEC (the Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council) decided to share offices and staff. At the same time, most of the containerboard mills of the Packaging Mills Association of Canada (PMAC) decided to leave that association and join forces with CCCA. The new combined association (containerboard mills and corrugated converters) became known as Paper Packaging Canada.

As the economy recovered, and the amount of work required to service the needs of members increased, it became clear that Paper Packaging Canada required its own executive director. This happened in 2011 and the name of the association shortly thereafter reverted to the CCCA acronym but with a change to acknowledge the membership of the mills: The Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association, its current name.

A memorandum of understanding with the Washington, DC-based American Forest and Paper Association was put in place at this time, with the goal of developing a North American Demand Report for Containerboard. The CCCA also strengthened its historical ties with the Fibre Box Association and Association of Independent Corrugated Converters in the United States as well as with FEFCO, the European Corrugated Packaging Association. Membership is also maintained with the International Corrugated Case Association to provide a Canadian presence on the global position of corrugated packaging.

In 2014, to conform with Industry Canada’s updated regulations, the by-laws were amended and the newly required registered Statement of Purpose was drafted to read: To foster and to promote the best interests of the Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard industry and to define acceptable standards in the industry. Further to promote by collective action improved manufacturing methods, engineering services, safety programs, techniques on handling and distribution, sales training, and the collection of industry statistics in the Canadian corrugated and containerboard industries. Also to provide a forum for the interchange of information by members on subjects of interest to the Canadian corrugated and containerboard industries, to make representations to government and their public bodies on the issues of concern to the Canadian corrugated and containerboard industry and other complementary purposes.



Activities/Achievements

A significant outcome of the early activity of the CCCA was the establishment of the Strike Support Procedures, which were reviewed and approved by the Combines Investigation Section of the Federal Department of Industry as it was known in the 1970’s. An early achievement of the Manufacturing Committee was guidance on Metrification. In response to the Canadian Government’s decision that Canada should change from the traditional British Imperial measurement system to the metric system of measurement, a Manufacturing Committee was formed to ensure that there would be a consistency to the units of measurement used and to the conversion factors from the traditional data which were the basis of box making specifications. Under the CCCA, a booklet of the conversion tables was published for its members. These unique standards remain in effect today.

By the early 1980s, colour choices for corrugated boxes had become prolific. To bring a modicum of standardization to an unwieldy range of the fundamental colours required by the market, the CCCA established Canadian Colour Standards Guide (CCSG). Its genesis was the USA based GCMI colour guide but reflected common colour preferences within the Canadian market. This guide reduced confusion and provided a cost benefit to both Canadian manufacturers and their customers. The CCSG continues to serve as an industry-wide guide, augmented by unique special colours reflective of individual customer’s corporate identities.

Also, in the 1980s, heightened awareness for the health and safety of the members’ employees became a focus of the CCCA’s Manufacturing Committee. As a result, the CCCA led a program to focus on the issues surrounding health and safety, leading to the development of a process to help members ascertain high-risk activities within the production arena. Plant specific guidelines were established for safe manufacturing processes, including retrofitting of equipment with the singular goal of plant floor accident reduction. In 1995, traditional performance standards for containerboard began to evolve from the traditional and measurable resistance to burst, as determined by the basis weight of the paper grades, to a measurement of the resistance to crushing of a finished box when put under top to bottom compression. This performance standard was termed the Edge Crush Test or ECT and quickly became the criteria in predicting a box’s performance. This evolution more effectively transferred responsibility for box performance squarely onto the box manufacturer. Technological advances to the conversion process added to the flexibility of ECT determinations necessitating user guidance from the box supplier. This new area of box conversion was, in part, guided by the CCCA who in February 1996 developed a series of bulletins to explain the Edge Crush Test options and the decision inputs facing box buyers and suppliers who were considering the adoption of the ECT approach to specifications.

Today, the Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association’s members represent essentially all containerboard mills, integrated box plants and sheet feeders in Canada, employing more than 11,000 Canadians with facilities in every province. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the industry was deemed an essential service and during the first month of the pandemic shipments soared to support the economic needs across Canada. Members have implemented measures to ensure the health and safety employees and products – accomplished with industrial co-operation, not political influence.

Most recently the CCCA has undertaken a project called “Corrugami” to allow elementary and high schools classes to engage in the artistic and creative opportunities of corrugated cardboard. Some schools develop their own “Corrugami Challenge” competitions to enhance the fun. This is a great way to learn about the environment and recycling.

General References

Yam, K.L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-08704-6 Soroka, W, “Illustrated Glossary of Packaging Terminology”, Institute of Packaging Professionals, [1] Fibre Box Association, “Fibre Box Handbook 75th Anniversary Edition”, 2015, ISBN 978-0-6928-1086-6 Mullinder, John, “Deforestation in Canada and Other Fake News”, 2018, ISBN 978-0-2288-0090-3 Brittain, J.A. & Perkins, S.R. & Schnell, P.G., “Corrugated Containers Manufacturing Process”, 2000, ISBN 978-0-8985-2360-7