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This Week's Highlights
Four Opportunities to Address Plastic Waste (Automotive, Alternatives to Single-Use Plastic, Textile/Microfibres, and Electronic Waste)
NOTE: This opportunity has expired or is an event which has already taken place.
Calling all Innovators, Leaders, & Stakeholders! This is an exciting opportunity to contribute ideas and solutions to four big problem areas facing Canadians and the Globe.
The Government of Canada continues to work with provinces and territories to implement the Canada-wide Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste. The Strategy aims to address plastic waste using a life-cycle approach, from the design of plastic products to their production, use, collection, recycling, and recovery.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is conducting a comprehensive online engagement with key stakeholders to inform the design of four (4) new potential Innovation Solutions Canada (ISC) Plastics Challenges based on the following key areas of focus:
Automotive Plastics
Plastic waste from the automotive sector is substantial, at 309 kilotons per year – second in volume only to waste from packaging and equivalent to 1.6 million end-of-life vehicles annually. However, there is currently no value to this plastic waste because of the way it is processed. Most automotive plastics are mixed with other non-recyclable materials and landfilled.
Alternatives to Single-use Plastics
Single-use plastics are often used for less than one day, and are difficult to recycle, making them highly visible and prone to leakage into the environment. As such, single-use plastics account for an estimated 43% of marine litter worldwide. In Canada, single-use plastics account for over one third of plastic pollution.
Microfibers from Textiles
Synthetic textiles, such as nylon and polyester, represent 6% of plastic use in Canada. Textiles have a value recovery rate of only 7%, in terms of recycling and waste diversion. In addition, microfibers from synthetic clothing are released into wastewater systems after washing, harming ecosystems and potentially compromising human health.
Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment
Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment (or e-waste) represented 7% of plastic waste in Canada in 2016. In addition, end-of-life e-wastes often contain metals and heavy metals, brominated flame retardants, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), phthalates, cobalt and acids, which have potential to cause both harm to the environment and human health in the long term, but also make recycling difficult. The current value-recovery rate for the plastic components of e-waste is just 15%.
Online Consultation Sessions
A series of online consultation sessions will be hosted in both English and French focused on the topics above to identify technology gaps. The dates for these consultation sessions are provided as follows.
- Automotive Plastics Online Consultation
English and French: November 26, 2019, 10 am PST - Alternatives to Single-use Plastics Online Consultation
English and French: November 27, 2019, 10 am PST - Microfibers from Textiles Online Consultation
English and French: November 28, 2019, 10 am PST - Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment Online Consultation
English and French: November 29, 2019, 10 am PST
If you are interested in participating in one or more of these online consultations, please click here.
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