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Panel One: Circular Economy and Sustainable Materials Management

Circular Economy helps to build economic, natural and social capital by relying on system wide innovation. Rethinking progress supported by renewable energy sources allows society to redesign how the economy works and facilitates the creation of products that can be “made to be made again”

Sustainable materials management broadly covers the optimization of design and manufacturing by focusing on the reduction of materials required to make our products, maximizing the impact of the benefit of the finished product and ensuring that the end of life of these products results in the least environmental impact. This sustainable business model includes the entire value chain (i.e. raw material, manufacturing and production, transportation, retailing, marketing, disposal and reuse).

Which approach is better? How can they work together? What is the value that we can take from each concept?  Our panel of industry experts, environmental scientists, and academic researchers will contrast the implications of the circular economy and sustainable materials management at the Canadian and global scale.

Panel Two: Carbon Capture, Reduction and Preservation

Waste management has been considered a significant emitter of carbon dioxide in both the public and private sector.  Ambitious carbon reduction initiatives are necessary to lower targeted greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. New technologies, innovative approaches to redesigning existing processes and a long term vision are all key components to making effective and sustainable change.

Our panel of municipal leaders, material scientists, and geotechnical engineers will discuss the development of emerging technologies and how the strategic importance of long range carbon reduction planning in waste management can optimize the environmental benefits at the local and macro levels.

Panel Three: Moving Forward - How to Advance the Resource Recovery Agenda Towards Acceptance

Resource recovery challenges the notion that there is only one right answer to leveraging the maximum benefit from products, minimizing the consumption of virgin resources and lowering our waste and carbon footprint.  It is no longer a commonly accepted belief that there is only one viable approach to the stewardship of our resources, but rather that we, as a society, have a much broader continuum of resource optimization strategies available, that can be used to access the full potential of the full value of our products.  Our panel of academic scholars, business experts, and social scientists will discuss and analyze innovative strategies and paradigm shifts necessary to advance the agenda of resource recovery towards these goals and towards greater social, political, and economic acceptance.

Carol Hochu is the President and CEO of Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA), a position she has held since January 1, 2012. With nearly 30 years’ experience and leadership in the not-for-profit sector, Carol previously served as the Chief Staff Executive of Ontario Electronic Stewardship; the Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association; and the Confectionery Manufacturers Association of Canada.

A respected and knowledgeable advocate for the environment, and a distinguished industry speaker, Carol is listed in the “Who’s Who of Canadian Women” and “Women in the Lead”.  In addition, Carol is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, and a Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) degree from the University of Guelph in Guelph.

As Director of Admissions for the Faculty of Engineering, Bill Anderson is involved with all aspects of admission to our first-year programs in engineering. He work closely with several individuals in the Faculty and in the Registrar's Office to formulate and implement our policies on admissions and entrance scholarships.

In addition to this administrative appointment, he is also a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, where he teaches courses in the areas of chemical process and plant design, and air pollution control. His research interests lie in the area of photochemical (UV) and biological air and water pollution control, and biochemical engineering of fermentation and pharmaceutical processes.

As Vice President of Sustainability, Joe Hruska leads the development and execution of the Canadian Plastics Industry’s sustainability, advocacy, and partnership programs to promote solutions that increase the recycling and recovery of plastics at their end-of-life and reduce marine litter.

More than 12 years ago Joe created and managed his own consulting firm, Hruska and Associates. He has extensive knowledge of and experience in the fields of recycling and recovery of plastics, in leading and managing stewardship programs, and has been the agent of success in numerous post-use/sustainability projects.

Rachel Morier is the Director of Sustainability at PAC Packaging Consortium and oversees sustainability programs including PAC NEXT and PAC FOOD. Rachel has been with PAC since the PAC NEXT program launched in 2011 and joined upon completing a Master in Environmental Studies at York University, and a Graduate Diploma in Business and Environment from the Schulich School of business where she presented her thesis research on packaging sustainability at the 2012 Zero Waste Conference in Vancouver.

 Today, she continues as a guest speaker and course presenter of the Sustainable Packaging & Optimization course which focuses on optimizing package designs for efficient recovery and waste reduction.

Maurice Dusseault is a professor of Engineering Geology at the University of Waterloo. He carries out research in petroleum geomechanics (drilling, hydraulic fracturing, reservoir geomechanics), and is a world expert on new production methods, deep waste sequestration in sedimentary basins, and reservoir geomechanics.  Professor Dusseault is a registered professional engineer in Alberta and Ontario. He frequently works with governments and industry as an advisor and instructor. Presently, Prof. Dusseault is pursuing R&D activities in deep waste disposal, so solid and liquid disposal, deep into sedimentary basins or into salt caverns, through methods of injections.

Kris Hornburg joined the City of Toronto in 2013 through the Toronto Urban Fellows Program. Since then he has worked in progressively more responsible roles and is now the Senior Project Manager – Strategic Projects for the Solid Waste Management Services Division. Kris is currently leading a number of the Division’s projects related to revenue generation and emissions reductions including the transition from electricity generation to renewable natural gas, the conversion of the Solid Waste Fleet from diesel to alternative fuels, as well as more policy oriented projects, such as impacts/opportunities stemming from the Ontario Cap and Trade Program and the United States Renewable Fuel Standards Program.

His education includes a Master of Public Administration (Queen’s University) and a Master of Legal Studies (Carleton University). His academic career focused largely on environmental economics and the evolution of environmental regulations.

Eric Croiset is an Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Waterloo. His research is in the field of clean energy, more specifically in three areas:

1) catalyst development/reactor design for hydrogen/syngas production,
2) solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), and
3) Greenhouse gas mitigation using carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

Prior to his appointment at the University of Waterloo, 11 years ago, he worked for Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa (CANMET laboratories). He holds a PhD from the University of Orleans, France, in Physical-Chemistry, and after graduation in 1995 did a postdoc at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California, USA. Dr Croiset was a visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and spent a sabbatical year at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, working with Professor Cai on SOFC and CO2 capture processes.

John has been with Unilever Canada since 1992.  He is a member of Unilever Canada’s board of directors, the Canadian Leadership Team and chair of the company’s Pension Committee.

John is well known for his leadership in corporate sustainability.  He is a passionate activator of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever’s strategy to grow the business, reduce its environmental footprint and increase its positive contribution to society.  John is Executive Chair of the Board of Canadian Stewardship Services Alliance, Inc., Chair of the Board of Stewardship Ontario and is a director of Evergreen.  In addition, John is Co-Chair of the Partners in Project Green steering committee, a major environmental initiative of the Toronto Region Conservation Authority.  John has been recognized for his leadership in corporate sustainability by being named by Clean 50 as one of Canada’s top sustainability leaders and in 2015, John was appointed as a member of the Ontario Government’s Climate Action Group advising the Ontario Minister of the Environment on effective climate change actions that will help Ontario meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals and transition to a prosperous, low-carbon economy.

John also works closely with industry groups and other organizations.  He is Chair of the board of Canadian Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association Foundation and is director and past Chair of the Association.

Fergal Mcdonough is president of Envise Consulting Inc., a firm specializing in the provision of innovative business development solutions to clients across a wide variety of industry segments. He is currently involved in projects concerned with waste diversion and program management, hazardous waste disposal, product stewardship and Extended Producer Responsibility. 

In his role as president, Fergal is responsible for overseeing the activities of Envise's subsidiary, Envise Recycling. Envise Recycling specializes in developing new end markets and collections programs while also offering brokerage services, mobile baling and transportation services to the agricultural sector, municipalities, and private industry.

Daniel has worked almost ten years in local government and he's managed large teams and worked with a variety of stakeholders. He joined the World Bank in 1993 through the Young Professionals Program and eventually served as Lead on Sustainable Cities and Cities and Climate Change.

Passionate about sustainable cities and has experience with more than 350 local governments, plus provincial and national agencies globally and at home in Ontario as a manager, researcher, board director, and mentor.

His education includes a Bachelor’s degree in Earth Sciences (Waterloo), a Masters in Environmental Engineering (Guelph) and in 2015 received a PhD in Civil Engineering (Sustainable Cities; University of Toronto): Daniel has also taken courses at Duke (Business), Cambridge (Sustainability), MIT (urban metabolism), and Madison, WN (composting).

Sarah Lindsay serves as public outreach manager for the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division. In this role, she leads all communications efforts for the Division’s recycling and energy recovery groups, including the self-funded Flexible Film Recycling Group and Plastics-to-Fuel and Petrochemistry Alliance. She also provides communications support to the Materials Recovery for the Future (MRFF) research collaborative. MRFF brings together leading brands, manufacturers, packaging companies and other key members of the value chain that are committed to enhancing recovery solutions for flexible packaging.

Jennifer Lynes is associate professor and director of the University of Waterloo’s environment and business program. She is Chair of the non-profit organization Residential Energy Efficiency Program (REEP Green Solutions) and co-founder of the North American Sustainable Concerts Working Group. With an educational background in both marketing and environmental studies, her expertise intersects business and the environment, where she focuses on investigating the marketing of sustainability.

Learn about Sutera's current 'poop power' project with the Region of Waterloo here: http://www.suterausa.com/poop-power 

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Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canda for 15 years. Working with 60 Universities, thousands of companies, and both federal and provincial governments, we build partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.

Mitacs was founded in 1999 as a Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence, dedicated to supporting applied and industrial research in mathematical sciences and associated disciplines. Open to all disciplines since 2007, Mitacs has expanded in response to industrial and university needs, including programs in R&D management, professional skills development, and international research training. Fully independent since 2011, Mitacs remains committed to its core vision of supporting research-based innovation and continues to work closely with its partners in industry, academia and government. 

Website: http://www.oce-ontario.org

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Waste Reduction Group Inc. specializes in providing services, products, equipment and consulting to reduce waste and improve recycling.

Waste Reduction Group Inc. helps our customers achieve reduction in waste to landfill and improvement in the 3R's, cost savings, and improved performance using either our current management structure approach or alternative consulting methods such as shared savings or incentive based pay. We are pioneers in Ontario's new 3rs certification and leaders in the field of certified waste audits. We help our customers become the best in their industry for recycling and waste reduction. Many of our customers have won awards and special recognition by several industry bodies.

Website: http://www.wastereductiongroup.ca/ 

CoLab is an online marketplace for R&D services based at the Velocity Garage. Companies use CoLab to ease budgets, shorten timelines and reduce technical risk so they can iterate and get to market faster. Corporate, academic and government labs use CoLab to generate more revenue from their underused equipment.

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