Reusing our resources

January 25

A fascinating panel discussion on The Circular Economy was presented by the Globe and Mail, with Ryan MacDonald, senior editor of Climate, Environment and Resources, as the moderator.

Tima Bansal, Canada Research Chair in Business Sustainability at the Ivey Business School, spoke first.

Current linear economy allows what we use to keep accumulating in the earth, in the air, in the water. In the circular economy of the future, we shall be able to keep reusing our resources. The Council of Canadian Academies has published a report on the "state of circularity" in Canada that reveals how far we have to go. Canada lags behind. At present only 6% of the materials we use are circled back into use, in comparison with 30% of materials in the Netherlands and 19% in France. This difference is partly because it is more expensive to collect and move stuff within Canada. Our three layers of government are another challenge. How do we make the system more harmonious? How we we get our supply chains lined up? Canadians are great consumers. We "love our stuff" and there's so much demand for plastics! So some education is needed. Canadians are good at extracting mineral resources but we ought to understand the value of re-manufacturing byproducts into something else.

Recycled plastics can be reintroduced into the economy. The right to repair should be paramount (although if consumers repair their own goods it may invalidate the warranty). Packaging should be up-cycled into multiple-use containers.

Julie Poitras-Saulnier, CEO and co-founder of Loop, that "repurposes the outcasts of the food industry," claims that the food industry discards huge amounts of fruit and vegetables which can be turned into new products: juices, smoothies, sauces, crusts, even gin! Loop's trick is to pay money for the rejected products, so as to encourage food companies and retailers to get rid of their waste productively. However, to avoid too much delay and to keep the supply of food consistent, the distribution model needs to change. It takes three days to press 50 pallets of grapes, she said, so timing is crucial. 

How are Loop's products marketed? The right words have to be chosen; people can be educated to appreciate "up-cycled" food.

As everyone should know, there's a difference between "best before" and "use by" dates on products. Another panellist, Bilal Jarmakani, representing Solar X, said that home-owners and business owners were asking "Is solar sustainable?" Solar panels that are past their prime and ready to be replaced by more up-to-date models are usually "still fully functional" in fact, and, until Covid restrictions put a stop to this, were being shipped to Nigeria. More recently the northern communities of Canada have been making use of them, via a social enterprise called Indigenous Clean Energy, ICE.

Another interesting contribution to the discussion was by Tim Faveri, VP Sustainability and Shared Value at Maple Leaf Foods. Because his company is famous for its meat products, and meat-consumption is questionable these days, they are doing their best to come across as eco-friendly. He said their goal was to be "the most sustainable protein company on earth!" That's a big ambition. Circularity in the case of Maple Leaf Foods starts with the production of manure from animals raised for meat. He mentioned their "hog operations in Manitoba" in this context, where they are doing their best to eliminate wasted energy and wasted water. The energy generated by their "processes" is used for heating the water that cleans and sanitizes the animal pens. Then he spoke of the company's packaging goals. They need better infrastructure to bring this about, but the eventual objective is to make all packaging from recycled or biodegradable materials. The waste generated from their food processing can be repurposed as by-products: pet foods, oils, soaps, fertilizers. Anything organic can be turned into renewable fuel. This does require some collaboration with other companies.

Sheri Hinish, a spokesperson for IBM, wants environmentalists to add another R-word to the usual Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose / Redesign, Recycle options: ReTHINK. There will have to be shorter supply chains in the future. Tim Faveri agreed with that, saying that 82% of the emissions generated in his business come from the supply chains and it's important to keep measuring and recording this. 

A question from the audience led to a discussion of how consumers can be persuaded to change their spending habits. This is an important question; we are "feeding the machine" and it's up to us, when we go shopping, to choose the right brands. Consumers do want to make a difference as is evidenced by the popularity of the Thank My Farmer initiative, enabling people to make donations to coffee farmers, for example.

Of course, consumers also ask "What's in it for me?" If people are made to feel they are part of something larger, they become "empowered by purpose" and spend their money on the right things. Julie Poitras-Saulnier of Loop advised, "Don't talk down to your customers. They're smart." Transparency builds trust.

Circular products don't have to be more expensive. Initiatives for change are mostly at the local level, for now.

There's inevitable resistance from the traditional natural resources economy in Canada. We could upgrade our own oil and gas rather than shipping it elsewhere; this is something we'll have to think about. Because our natural resources are relatively cheap, we ought to put a higher price on carbon and disposal fees should be higher. 

We should embrace the shift to renewables, and build locally. Decision makers must anticipate the transformation, asking "what about jobs?" We're going to need more minerals to reach a net-zero GHG emissions target, hence more jobs. So that communities become more resilient in the face of change, we should think in terms of redeployment rather than unemployment. Here too, transparent decision-making is important, more effective than offering subsidies! Banks should be encouraged to support companies that have a positive environmental impact; this added value must be integrated into the business model. Data collection is a low-hanging fruit, but it requires a process imposed by the government.