On the Cusp - Alberta's Circular Podcast

The History of EPR in Canada from Glenda Gies

This segment features Glenda Gies who led the EPR program implementation for Multi-Material BC (now Recycle BC) from 2011 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2020 she chaired the Board of Directors of the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) in Ontario. Glenda brings 40 years of experience across multiple sectors as an independent consultant and will talk about the history of EPR in Canada to demonstrate our journey and how far we’ve come. *Please note that our initial audio recording quality was poor which led to some disruptions in sound quality. We still wanted to share this valuable content, but be aware and be patient with the audio issues.

An Introduction to EPR from the RCA

In this segment we hear from Jodi Tomchyshyn London with JTL Squared Consulting and the president of the RCA. Jodi has worked on Policy and Planning in Ontario, Alberta and New Zealand and will share the basics of EPR to set the stage on where we go from here.

Chemical Recycling with CARBIOS

In this segment, we hear from Martin Stephan, the deputy CEO of CARBIOS. Based in France, CARBIOS is the first and only company in the world to develop biological processes for the end-of-life of plastics with the potential to engage the entire industry in a truly circular economy. The company is now moving to industrialization with two disruptive innovations, one of which is a process to infinitely recycle PET without any quality loss, opening the possibility to create a virtuous circular economy scheme. 

 

Accelerating Circular Supply Chains for Plastic

In this segment we hear from Paula Luu with Closed Loop Partners. They authored the report Accelerating Circular Supply Chains for Plastics that explores the challenges of managing plastics and identifies $120 billion addressable market in the U.S. and Canada to recover waste plastics and the technologies to create safe and high-quality materials. Paula introduces some general definitions of advanced recycling and outlines next steps to make the technology integration successful.  

Chemical Recycling with Pyrowave

In this episode, we hear from Jocelyn Doucet, the CEO Pyrowave. With offices in Ontario and plants in Quebec, Pyrowave is a pioneer of the Plastic-to-Plastic microwave-based chemical recycling technology that allows post-consumer and post-industrial plastics to be regenerated and restored to their full value. Its patented high-power microwave catalytic depolymerization technology platform is the most advanced worldwide and is now at the forefront of the new generation of plastics. 

New Brunswick's EPR Plans

Mark Miller has been with the New Brunswick Department of the Environment for just over 30 years. He speaks to New Brunswick’s development of new diversion programs such as the recently announced PPP-EPR program.

 

Quebec's advancement of waste management policies

Marie Dussault is with the Quebec Environment and Fight against Climate Change Department. In this podcast she speaks to Quebec's latest advancements to its waste management regulations including plastic, composting and EPR.

Federal efforts to shift to a circular economy

In this episode, Ryan Parmenter provides the latest federal updates from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) on the actions to advance a circular economy at the Federal level.

British Columbia's Growing EPR Programs

On June 29, British Columbia (B.C.) became the first province to announce extended producer responsibility (EPR) requirements for single-use items and packaging-like products. B.C.’s incoming regulation will take effect in 2023. We hear from Bob McDonald with the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy on next steps.

Policy Updates from Ontario

Ontario is transitioning to full producer-led EPR in the coming months. We will hear the latest updates on this transition from Peter Hargreave with Policy Integrity Inc.