W. Ralston (Canada) Inc., a privately held family business, began extruding polyethylene film in Montreal in the early 1960’s. The company first supplied jumbos of film to bag converters in Eastern Canada until it eventually began converting its own finished products. It was one of the first Canadian companies to produce garbage bags, offering a new, cleaner, method of waste disposal for both household and commercial marketplaces.

As demand grew, so did the company and we expanded to a new production facility in Brampton Ontario in the 1968. In 1983, we opened a second manufacturing site in Drumheller, Alberta, in order to be closer to the fast growing economy in Western Canada. One of our first production lines enabled us to produce wide rolls of construction film that was used as a vapour barrier in new homes across the West.

Further expansion occurred in both manufacturing sites as we added both new extrusion and converting capacity to cope with growing demand. Some of the technical and product innovations included multi-layered films, automated end-of-line packaging, anti-bacterial, compostable films and the use of household post-consumer scrap. Today, our workforce of 250 people work from manufacturing and warehouse space totaling 300,000 ft2.

Our single largest market has been in the area of garbage bags and can liners. Over the years, our involvement has followed society’s evolving views towards solid waste. Garbage in no longer just something to be tossed into a landfill but, rather, should be considered a recoverable resource that needs greater management at a local level. As a result, bag manufacturers no longer produce just a black or white bag to be thrown away. Instead, our product line offers waste management solutions that include colour-coded products, clear bags for security requirements, compostable materials and blends of virgin and recycled plastic that enable thin-walling. In a disposable product line such as this one, it is a core belief that “less is more”…the thinner a product can be while still fulfilling its market use, the better the product is.

As we move into the future, Ralston is committed to maintaining its market leadership position across the country. As in the past, we will continue to re-invest all profits into our products, technological capabilities and service enhancements.

The CTT/WR group of companies – Canadian Technical Tape Ltd, Cantech Industries Inc., and W. Ralston (Canada) Inc. – manufactures a range of pressure sensitive tapes, plastic film and a wide assortment of trash, recycling, storage and compostable bags.

Privately held, the company employs 500 people in seven manufacturing and warehousing facilities located across Canada and in the United States. Since 1950, our focus on developing superior products and services has helped create a diverse North American customer base in a range of markets including: industrial and packaging, construction, medical, hockey and athletic, hardware distribution, food retail and mass merchandisers. We also export our products to selected distributors in over 25 countries around the world.