Waste program in Waterloo recycles used chopsticks into furniture

Furniture and accessories… made from old chopsticks? CTV’s Karis Mapp finds out how it works.

A waste reduction program in Waterloo is giving used chopsticks new life.

The initiative, ChopValue, transforms the utensils into a variety of furnishings, including shelves and desks.

“Around one-third of the world uses chopsticks everyday, with 80 billion being produced in China alone,” explained Monique Chan, ChopValue’s community builder.

“We’re only using them for 20 to 30 minutes and throwing them straight to the landfill,” she said.

With the program spanning largely across the Greater Toronto Area, a student housing building in Waterloo is one of the latest locations to install collection bins.

Two receptacles can be found in the food court of Linden Village at 203 Lester Street, a building managed by Asset Maintenance Pros (AMP).

“I didn’t think it would take off as much as this has, but our residents are really engaging with the sustainability program,” said Roxane Bernhard, AMP’s senior property manager.

Organizers said the building was a perfect fit because the program resonates with the consumer’s culinary elements.

“There are a lot of international students. There’s a growing East Asian population, and with that comes a lot of demand for more cuisine that uses chopsticks as a utensil.”

Since launching in Waterloo during fall 2024, 13,852 chopsticks have been recycled. That’s lead to 42 kg of waste repurposed and up to 674 kg of CO2 emissions reduced.

How it works

Once someone has finished eating their meal, they can toss their used chopsticks into one of the bins. From there, the utensils are transported to a manufacturing facility in Niagara Falls.

That’s where they’re made food-safe, dried and molded into uniform tiles to be used for future projects.

“We have a system of micro-factories across the world,” said Chan. “Any orders that are put through our system are then shipped directly from the closest micro-factory to your address. That way, we’re able to cut emissions.”

Anyone can purchase a variety of home and office furnishings on the ChopValue website. They also accommodate custom orders.

“They already are a study material, bamboo in general. It’s really easy for them to reprocess, remanufacture and make them into sustainable furnishings,” said Bernhard.