Arc’teryx, a Canadian company based in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, has been designing and manufacturing high-quality outdoor clothing and climbing gear for 30 years

 
The design process is connected to the real world, focused on delivering durable, unrivalled performance. Arc’teryx products are distributed through more than 2,400 retail locations worldwide, including over 115 branded stores. The company is comprised of problem solvers, always evolving and searching for a better way to deliver resolved, minimalist designs. With a goal to build a sustainable, low-emissions mode of operations, Arc’teryx is pursuing circularity following the principles of the Ellen McArthur Foundation, as part of the path to net zero.

Like other top outdoor brands, Arc’teryx uses Gore-Tex ® technology to create high-performance waterproof, lightweight and breathable products. This means there’s a layer of ePTFE membrane bonded between nylon or polyester fabrics and linings in all Arc’teryx Gore-Tex products. Arc’teryx is seeking innovative solutions to make high value use of stockpiled end-of-life technical outdoor gear made with Gore-Tex.

We are one of Canada’s most admired and trusted companies.

 
With world-class owned brands and exciting market-leading merchandising strategies, we are continually innovating to excite and serve Canadian customers from coast-to-coast.

At no point in our 100-year history has it been more important to genuinely live our purpose “We are here to make life in Canada better.” Canadian Tire is interested in making its artificial Christmas trees “better” through all circular solutions from design, to second-hand reuse, and final product end of life management.

Mountain Equipment Company (MEC) has been Canada’s go-to place for outdoor gear, know-how and inspiration since 1971.

 
All MEC’s products are back by their Rocksolid Guarantee; if the quality or suitability of an item doesn’t meet customer expectations, they can bring it back. MEC works to ensure that their business and products have the smallest possible footprint and that purchases help conserve the places where we play and support all Canadians getting active outside.

MEC offers a range of outdoor gear made of a variety of materials. They are seeking a 100% circular solution for materials such as wool, polyester, nylon, cotton or down that they can scale across Canada. They want you to identify material streams for them to take back and used as a feedstock for new materials or products. This solution could include reverse logistics, disassembly of products to extract the material(s), recycling or upcycling into a new products or materials. MEC would look to collaborate with other brands to create enough volume to scale these solutions. The intent would be that MEC would use these new products or materials, through the recycling of their old products, for their MEC Label.

Metro Vancouver is a federation of 21 municipalities, one electoral area, and one treaty First Nation that collaboratively plans for and delivers regional-scale services to 2.7 million residents.

 
Metro Vancouver and our members are part of a regional system that collects and treats over 1 billion litres of wastewater every day. We operate five wastewater treatment plants in the region. One solid residual that is extracted during the treatment process is called grit. Grit is composed of dense materials such as sand, pebbles, cinders, coffee grounds, seeds, cigarette filters, and organic matter. Metro Vancouver produces approximately 3,400 tonnes of grit per year, which is currently disposed of in the Vancouver Landfill.

Metro Vancouver is seeking to find a higher use for wastewater treatment plant grit than landfill disposal. A desired application, innovation or technology would adhere to the following:

• Provide a local solution to limit hauling distance
• Use the material in a way that appropriately manages or treats the pathogens or odours in the material
• Allow for the safe next use of grit
• Minimize greenhouse gas impacts

Save-On-Foods LP is Canada’s largest Western-based grocery retailer

 
We want to operate Canada’s first zero-waste conventional grocery store, re-imagined and built on circular economy principles. We are seeking to eliminate the need for conventional waste hauling, and at the same time, to establish necessary processes needed to capture lost value from current “waste” streams that are being managed in traditional ways. Our most challenging waste streams include: styrofoam, waxed cardboard, soft plastics (LDPE, HDPE, film, bags, etc), black plastics (as they cannot be managed by current recycling sorting systems), and to a lesser extent, food waste.

To achieve this goal, Save-On is looking to pilot software, AI / machine learning, on-site resource capture mechanisms, and/or other tools at one pilot store location to achieve the following:

• Determine items/materials that can be eliminated entirely from the supply chain (i.e. packaging, film wrappings, items of little re-use)
• Identify local streams of reuse, re-allocation, and/or redistribution for every material type brought into its stores/facilities (i.e. finding demand and uses for waste/surplus materials and resources such as wooden skids, plastic film, damaged food, etc.)
• Enable stores to self-facilitate a “back of store marketplace” (i.e. e-bay-like bids for items and materials, scheduled pickups, price indexes reflecting local supply and demand for various material types).
• Improve hauling efficiency for unclaimed/low value waste not reallocated through the “back of store marketplace.”

The solutions must be designed for simplicity of execution, adaptable to the capacities of any operating market, and scalable.