Province’s children’s car seats end up on Plessis Road

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This article was published 21/08/2020 (1844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Parents and caregivers know the value of an approved car seat for their children. 

In Manitoba, you can’t leave the hospital without one for a newborn child. But what happens to the thousands of car seats sold in Manitoba each year once they reach their expiration date?

“Car seats in Manitoba are not recyclable at this time,” explained Brian Smiley, media relations spokesperson for Manitoba Public Insurance, which offers a disposal service for expired car seats. “We don’t have a hard number, but roughly 1,000 are disposed of a year with us.”

Parents and caregivers should pay attention to expiration dates, Smiley said.

“If a vehicle is in a collision, we would never deny a claim based on the fact that a car seat is expired,” Smiley explained. “But expired car seats could compromise safety of the child.”

Transport Canada’s website explains that manufacturers of child car and booster seats  are required to post expiration dates for a number of reasons. Exposure to sunlight over time can damage the plastics, for example. Safety standards also change, so safer products may be on the market, while second or third owners may not receive recall information. 

“You should not use child car seats and booster seats past their expiry date,” Transport Canada’s website states. “You should dispose of seats with expired dates. Do not give the seats to friends or relatives, donate them to charities, or sell them second hand.”

Typically, a new car seat is manufactured to last between six and 10 years.

In Winnipeg, car seats can be returned to MPI locations at 1981 Plessis Rd. and 930 St. Mary’s Rd. during regular business hours. Rural residents can return them to local MPI locations. Eventually, all those seats end up at MPI’s Plessis location, where they are collected by an industrial recycler.

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“(They) pick them up and shred them,” Smiley explained. “They have a magnet that goes over it all, which picks up the metals that are left over.” 

Plastics and foam are sent to a landfill.

If owners are unable to return them to either location in Winnipeg, MPI recommends that the “straps be off and broken, ‘do not use’ or something along those lines be written on the expired seat to prevent others from picking it up and using it,” Smiley added.

The City of Winnipeg stopped collecting car seats for recycling at the 4R Winnipeg depots, due to changing recycling markets, explained Adam Campbell, a communications officer for the City.

“You can still bring car seats to the Brady 4R Winnipeg Depot for disposal; however, these will be treated as garbage and have a disposal fee,” Campbell said. “Car seats can also be collected for a fee through our bulky waste collection program. Residents can contact 311 to request a special pickup.”

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112

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