Could food “waste” be used in natural beauty products? What are the opportunities for horticulture in deep space exploration? What secrets does the genome hold for the future of farming? As industry becomes increasingly concerned with sustainable development, Loyalist College is working to answer these questions through applied research in the bioeconomy.

Over the last five years, Loyalist College has transformed itself into a destination for applied research, rooted in strong relationships with community and industry partners. Located in Belleville, Ont., between major producer markets in Toronto, Ottawa, and Kingston, the College has aligned its programming with the evolution of the local agriculture and manufacturing sectors as they pursue renewable resourcing — from vertical farming and sustainable building supplies to circular food economics and new cosmetic formulations.

“At Loyalist College, we are deeply connected to our industry and community partners and know that we have an important role to play in driving regional economic growth and development,” said Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan, President and CEO of Loyalist College. “The innovative partnerships and synergies we are developing across natural products and the bioeconomy will benefit regional employers while also providing Loyalist students with unparalleled work-integrated learning opportunities. It has been truly remarkable to see the many ways in which our students and employees are lending their talents to our growing network of partners and demonstrating how being small gives us the power to do big things.” 

Tapping into the regional innovation network

Loyalist College’s Applied Research and Innovation Office has launched a series of partnerships to bring new sustainable products and processes to market — driving a new generation of social and economic development in the process.

Case in point: Canadian natural beauty company Afiya Beauty hoped to address one of its customer’s top requests — an all-natural product that helps fade skin discolouration. Traditionally, skin care companies rely on harsh de-pigmenting agents to treat dark spots. Afiya worked with Loyalist College and GreenCentre Canada, dynamic partners in applied research and industry, for formulation expertise. Afiya is now testing and formulating new products to create a de-pigmenting cream that meets customer demands and matches its all-natural ethos.

At Loyalist College, we are deeply connected to our industry and community partners and know that we have an important role to play in driving regional economic growth and development.

Leveraging each other’s expertise

With its mission to support sustainable chemistry and advanced material startups, GreenCentre Canada is the perfect ally for the College. Together, their focus is offering support for small- and medium-sized enterprises and multinationals who wish to transform their products, processes, and services. 

“The idea is to enhance the service offerings that Loyalist College and GreenCentre have to support companies that are developing new sustainable technologies, specifically in the bioproducts sector,” says Fatme Dahcheh, GreenCentre Canada’s Director of Business Development.

Alongside GreenCentre Canada, Loyalist College’s Centre for Natural Products and Medical Cannabis have used GreenCentre Canada’s CONNECT program to help seven companies grow and develop their technologies and products.

“Loyalist College has been fantastic to work with,” says Dahcheh. “Both organizations want to support innovative companies who are developing sustainable technologies, so we’re able to really leverage each other’s expertise and funding opportunities.”

Launching big ideas locally and beyond

Nowhere is this opportunity to connect local strengths with global challenges more evident than in Loyalist’s innovative new partnership with Ontario Genomics and Canadore College, which will mobilize DNA information to create advances in natural product development and research.

“Loyalist College is a very avant-garde college,” says Bettina Hamelin, President and CEO of Ontario Genomics. “We’ve been working with Loyalist and Canadore to unify genomics-based applied research, education, and training across the province. Loyalist is really working at the forefront of these emerging and game-changing technologies.”

As with all the College’s applied research partnerships, the goal is to help drive industry evolution while providing students with exceptional work-integrated learning experiences. 

Students in programs including Culinary Skills and Management, Cannabis Applied Science, Horticulture, and more can help solve real-world problems that small businesses are grappling with.

At the intersection of industry demand and research potential, these “local to global” partnerships represent the key to how Loyalist College is unlocking the future of Canada’s bioeconomy. 

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Jamie Bakos

President & CEO, Titan

Dr. Robin Smith

Academic Chair, SLICE, School of Natural Resources & Built Environment and School of Mining, Energy, & Manufacturing

Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s innovative new Sustainability-Led Integrated Centres of Excellence (SLICE) is empowering a better Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic (Sask Polytech) engages in applied research, drawing on faculty expertise to support innovation by employers and providing students the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills. The institution’s new Sustainability-Led Integrated Centre of Excellence (SLICE) is an industry-centric, solution-oriented development and deployment centre that’s bringing sustainable development to Saskatchewan and Canada through local technology solutions with global application potential.

Turning waste into something useful 

“SLICE is a new Sask Polytech applied research centre advancing sustainable resource management with a full life-cycle lens approach,” says Dr. Robin Smith, Academic Chair of Applied Research Operations at SLICE. “Our focus is on key sectors of Saskatchewan’s economy including energy resources, manufacturing, agriculture, and forestry. SLICE is really about delivering solutions to applied research partners in support of a circular, bio-based economy.” 

The circular economy prioritizes reusing, recycling, and upcycling of materials and resources to minimize waste and promote sustainability, and two of SLICE’s recent projects highlight innovations in the field.

The ecological soil reclamation project was undertaken after Sask Polytech was approached by Andrew Carpenter, a freelance Environmental Consultant and President of Reclaimit, a company focused on forest and land restoration.

“I was doing a soil reclamation project up in Northern Saskatchewan and it failed,” says Carpenter. “I realized that I’m not a researcher — I’m a practitioner. I needed some horsepower from the research end.”

Carpenter went looking for support and came upon Sask Polytech. Together, they’ve been exploring how to restore soil using biochar, a charcoal produced by the thermal decomposition of biomass. 

“Biochar is made from repurposed waste, so we’re taking a waste product that would end up in a landfill and repurposing it into solid carbon, which is now considered sequestered carbon, so we’re using sequestered carbon to help repair the soil,” says Carpenter. “It’s really cool.”

One of the benefits of partnering with SLICE is that it’s a single-entry point to multiple areas of expertise at Sask Polytech. Sustainability issues are complex and we recognize that through our collaborative approach.

Supporting a bio-based circular economy

Another exciting project being undertaken by SLICE is the Waste Not, Want Not project, which aims to develop a biocarbon masterbatch, a solid additive used to impart colour and other properties to plastics, that could replace traditional petroleum-based carbon black. This project is with Titan Clean Energy Projects.

“We’re working with Sask Polytech and looking at how we can use materials that might be considered waste from another segment of the economy to improve processes and cycle back into the system,” says Jamie Bakos, President and CEO of Titan. “In this case, we’re looking at developing a product that could assist in making compostable bioplastics. We have the potential to export this material worldwide.”

SLICE’s collaborative, integrated, transdisciplinary approach is focused on understanding the relationships required to address complex issues related to sustainability. “Our partners have access to exceptional facilities, faculty expertise, and an amazing pool of student talent,” says Smith. “One of the benefits of partnering with SLICE is that it’s a single-entry point to multiple areas of expertise at Sask Polytech. Sustainability issues are complex and we recognize that through our collaborative approach.”

The first step to learning what Sask Polytech and its applied research team of expert faculty can do for your business is reach out. “All it takes is a phone call or an email to get started,” says Dr. Susan Blum, associate Vice-President, Applied Research and Innovation. “We’ll work with you — whether you’re just starting out or in a large organization — to determine what you need to accomplish and how we can help you get there.”

The post Addressing Complex Sustainability Issues Head on with SLICE appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Anne Toner Fung

CEO, Innovation Guelph

A long-time leader in cleantech and sustainability, Guelph is transitioning to the circular economy. Here’s how Innovation Guelph is supporting that transition.

Cleantech innovation and sustainability are nothing new to the City of Guelph. “Guelph has always been a bit of a natural centre for cleantech activity,” says Anne Toner Fung, CEO, Innovation Guelph, a regional business incubator that helps to accelerate start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Guelph was one of the first North American Cities to develop a community energy plan (CEP) and there has long been a cluster of companies in the Guelph Wellington area that fall into the cleantech sector. They range from wastewater management firms to water quality companies to solar panel manufacturers.

More recently Guelph has seen increased activity around the circular economy – an economic model that aims to transform the linear “take, make, waste” paradigm to the circular one of “reduce, reuse, recycle” and further to include “reimagine and redesign.”

It started about three years ago at the intersection of the food sector and sustainability with a Smart Cities project to create a circular regional food economy in Guelph-Wellington. This project has now expanded to include broader environmental issues. “It’s no longer just around food waste and access to food, but sustainability and cleantech in general and it’s now tied to the post-COVID green economic recovery,” says Toner Fung.

Innovation Guelph offers funding, mentorship and education programs

Innovation Guelph has been supporting the cleantech ecosystem in and around Guelph for the past decade through funding, mentorship, and education programs. These programs range from supporting women-led businesses, to start-up mentorship, to project-based programs for more established SMEs.

As the city and county further embrace the circular economy, Innovation Guelph is expanding its programs to do likewise. Building on its experience and expertise as one of the program delivery partners for the Smart Cities “Our Food Future” initiative, Innovation Guelph is also contributing to its next stage: COIL (Circular Opportunities Innovation Launchpad). COIL is an innovation platform and activation network dedicated to advancing circularity in businesses and communities. Through COIL programs, companies have the opportunity to create, prove, and scale transformative solutions. “The vision for this is a user-centred open innovation eco-system which fosters the development of new businesses and collaborations that support regional circular economy,” says Christopher Coghlan, Program Manager, Circular Economy iHub & COIL Accelerators, at Innovation Guelph. One of COIL’s key programs, the Activate Circular Accelerator, for example, focuses on funding and accelerating innovative circular economy businesses working in the nexus of the food and environment sectors.   

Gaining momentum and attracting international attention

Both within Innovation Guelph and around the City of Guelph, the circular economy is gaining traction with broader initiatives taking place. “We’ve managed to garner the attention of some international players,” says Toner Fung. “One of the entities that provided curriculum for the Activate Circular Accelerator program was the University of Exeter in England, which is affiliated with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a global group of thought leaders on the circular economy, so I’d say the momentum is fairly significant and we’re just a piece of it,” says Toner Fung.

In support of COIL, Innovation Guelph has engaged with circular economy accelerators and investment firms around the world, such as Closed Loop Partners in New York City, Tondo in Milan, and Circular Valley in Germany. “The work being done here is certainly attracting interest in organizations that are working in this space worldwide,” adds Coghlan.

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Dr. Sylvain Charlebois

Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University

Kathlyne Ross

Vice President of Product Development & Innovation, Loblaw Companies Limited

Club Coffee’s innovations and strong partnerships are helping Canadian coffee lovers make more conscious, sustainable choices.

Coffee is a beloved and welcome part of everyday life for millions of Canadians. Its inviting aroma and distinctive flavour start our mornings, end our dinners, and give us breaks in between. With more than 70 percent of Canadian adults enjoying a coffee on an average day, that calls for a lot of coffee beans — about 1,000 tonnes of them daily.

Canadian coffee lovers increasingly expect more from that coffee — they want sustainable options like fair trade coffee and compostable or recyclable packaging. Club Coffee is helping top-selling North American brands and many of Canada’s leading retailers answer the call. Leveraging its long history and expertise, Club Coffee is leading the way in sustainable packaging innovations and helping Canadians make their coffee habit more sustainable.

A long history of innovation

Club Coffee has a 100-plus-year history, having evolved from a roaster to a sustainable packaging innovator and long-term partner of choice for major names like Loblaw.

“We’re known for delivering coffee innovations,” says Solange Ackrill, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Strategy at Club Coffee. “Many of our people have come to us from big retailers and consumer packaged goods companies. Their wealth of knowledge enables us to execute breakthroughs that really create points of differentiation that add value for our customers and their consumers.”

Building an innovation-focused culture and agile team has helped Club Coffee drive industry-leading advances. “Our culture is grounded in our people and our talents,” says Ackrill. “We can see what consumers want and know what our customers need. We put all that together to get to results faster.”

Creating sustainable solutions

Consumer demand for more premium and sustainable offerings is putting Club Coffee in the spotlight, as industry experts are seeing firsthand.

“A growing number of Canadian consumers are expecting Canadian companies to do things differently,” says Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. “They want to support brands that are great environmental stewards.”

Club Coffee’s ability to translate environmental stewardship and other priorities into action makes it a great partner to major brands and retailers. Those strong links help it to drive innovation, value, and consistent supply.

Food costs are obviously influenced by agricultural commodities, which can drive prices higher. But the sector can also be impacted by higher material costs as well, and steel is a good example right now.

A new step forward in sustainable packaging

“We’re always looking for ways to bring innovation to the food industry and in doing so, develop partnerships with companies that share our passion,” says Kathlyne Ross, Vice President of Product Development and Innovation at Loblaw Companies Limited. “Our partnership with Club Coffee began several years ago, and in 2016 we launched our PC® 100% Certified Compostable Single Serve Coffee Pods, kicking off our journey together on developing sustainable packaging in the coffee category.”

Canadians love coffee and drink quite a lot of it, so when we work with partners on packaging that’s recyclable, our work together starts to make a big impact.

Supported by Loblaw’s leadership and commitment to sustainability, Club Coffee is now helping the retailer meet consumer needs and its ESG commitments through the latest world-class innovation with the launch of the new AromaPak coffee packaging. AromaPak featuring Boardio^® paper-based technology is recyclable packaging for bagged and can coffee. This sustainable packaging solution significantly reduces plastic use and is made using fibre from sustainably-managed forests, certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

“We want to offer our customers choice in the grocery aisle and that includes innovative packaging solutions that reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills,” says Ross. “Canadians love coffee and drink quite a lot of it, so when we work with partners on packaging that’s recyclable, our work together starts to make a big impact.”

Making your coffee habit more sustainable has never been easier.

The post Making Your Coffee Habit Sustainable Just Got Way Easier appeared first on HiveInnovates.

The plastic pollution crisis meets the underlying criteria necessary to classify the issue as a threat to global security, yet it lacks a legally binding global treaty.

The potential long-term detrimental health effects of plastic pollution remain contentious while environmental implications are wide-ranging and globally devastating. Investigatory research demonstrates genuine cause for concern and evolving consequences when evaluating the effects of mismanaged plastic waste. When defining matters of global security using a plastic pollution lens, traditional definitions of security are widened to include matters of environment, health, and civil rights. These matters are increasingly being considered politically important and, as matters of security, as they take the center stage of many political agendas globally.

Defining security and plastic pollution

When defining matters of global security, research demonstrates that specific criteria must be met, which include:

• Threat to preservation of international peace
• Transboundary threat
• Political action has been taken
• The issue has “real-world” consequences
• Drastically threatens or degrades the quality of life of state inhabitants over a brief time span

These underlying criteria are found in other significant environmental crises that are well established as threats to global security such as global climate change, biodiversity and species loss, invasive species, ozone depletion, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These recognized threats have extensive binding global treaties which catalyze global action to minimize or eliminate their effect. What is alarming, however, with the issue of plastic pollution is that, although it meets all the same criteria, the world has not yet developed a globally binding treaty to curb the devastating effects and serious risk of this ubiquitous pollution. To make matters worse, plastic pollution contributes to many of the existing recognized ecological threats to global security, worsening their cumulative effects such as atmospheric carbon.

Finding solutions among the disparity

There are no proven formulas which provide one solution to ending the plastic pollution crisis. Solutions must be localized, diverse, accessible, and as equally complex as the issue of plastic pollution itself. Over the last decade, Ocean Legacy has been creating a plastic pollution emergency response program called EPIC, a strategic platform which integrates Education, Policy, Infrastructure, and Cleanup. This program was designed to educate a global population around the effects of plastic pollution, to build advocacy tools, and identify policy gaps that build effective practices which manage plastic wastes, to give plastic waste an economic value and stimulate the plastic circular economy with infrastructure development, to provide training to facilitate cleanups, and to develop immersive learning tools to steward the natural environment.

The future of plastic is circular. Circularity is a founding ideology that I believe will become the accepted norm which sustains the very basis of humanity’s survival. Circularity is where humanity learns to harmonize its behaviour with nature and provides the opportunity to reevaluate and redesign our current state of affairs. To move forward into a life-supporting reality, establishing the following will be critical:

• We need a coordinated globally binding treaty to catalyze world-wide action and to harmonize patch work policy
• We must teach our children the importance of building a meaningful relationship with the natural planet and educate the general population on the threat of plastic pollution
• The need for more long-term research on the human health effects of plastic pollution is urgent
• Mandating recycled content standards in manufacturing and redesigning products with their full life cycle in mind must become common practice
• Capital investment to build new systems which foster behaviour change and develop infrastructure are paramount

The post Plastic Pollution is a Threat to Global Security appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Plastic can be a valuable material. But the amount of it that currently ends up in oceans and landfill is now almost universally recognized as unacceptable.

Plastic can be a valuable material. But the amount of it that currently ends up in oceans and landfill is now almost universally recognized as unacceptable. In Canada, over 85% of plastic is used only once and is then discarded.

This huge waste problem is an inevitable part of the linear economy that we all operate in – we take resources from the environment, make things with them and then dispose of them as waste. It’s an unsustainable system and one which is responsible for at least 45% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

There is another way. The adoption of a circular economy can tackle plastic pollution at the source as well as potentially mitigate climate change. But it does require some big changes to the ways that most businesses operate – eliminating the plastics we don’t need at the design stage; innovating to ensure the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable; and circulating everything to keep it out of the environment and in the economy.

Get this right and the benefits could be widespread. A circular economy has the capability to reduce GHGs from the production, use, and disposal of plastics by 25%, and create 700,000 new jobs by 2040.

In 2018, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme established the Global Commitment to bring together businesses and governments behind a common vision of a circular economy for plastic. More than 500 organizations have agreed to work towards concrete 2025 targets on how they produce, use, and reuse plastic.

These actions are furthered by a network of groups, sharing best practices. Under the banner of the Foundation’s global Plastics Pact Network, there are now 10 Plastic Pacts convened at individual country levels, together with two regional Pacts.

Canada’s Plastic Pact was launched in January 2021, led by The Natural Step Canada and with members including Walmart, Danone Canada and Maple Leaf Foods. The group has just unveiled its Roadmap for 2025 – a manifesto comprising four targets;

1.    Define a list of plastic packaging that is to be designated as problematic or unnecessary and take measures to eliminate these by 2025

2.    Support efforts towards 100% of plastic packaging being designed to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025

3.    Undertake ambitious actions to ensure that at least 50% of plastic packaging is effectively recycled or composted by 2025

4.    Ensure an average of at least 30% recycled content across all plastic packaging (by weight) by 2025.

These are ambitious goals, but action is already happening among international businesses. The latest Global Commitment Progress Report shows that after decades of growth, the use of virgin plastic (i.e plastic that has not yet been used) appears to have peaked for Global Commitment brands and retailers.

Many challenges remain. Progress has largely been driven by recycling, but that is not enough to solve plastic pollution. We need urgent action to eliminate single-use packaging.

We also need a legally binding, global agreement to level the playing field so that all businesses and governments can play their part. A large number of businesses and countries are supportive of a UN treaty on plastic pollution.

Everyone has a vital role to play in solving the plastic problem. Businesses, public organizations and citizens are all encouraged to be inspired by the Roadmap and find their way of contributing to this shared action plan. Where will you start?

The post Eliminating Plastic Waste at Source in the Circular Economy appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Nivera Wallani

President & General Manager, KFC Canada

Armando Carrillo

Food Innovation Manager, KFC Canada

KFC’s commitment to sustainable packaging is setting an example for the industry and helping to protect our planet.

Protecting the planet is one of KFC’s core values, and over the last several years the company has made great strides in lessening its environmental footprint. A big part of this initiative has been the restaurant’s commitment to evolving its food packaging. Today, you won’t find a plastic straw in sight at a KFC restaurant, and the company has launched some truly innovative new products, like bamboo buckets and fibre based cutlery along with other sustainability-minded initiatives, including their recent commitment to move to 100 percent home compostable packaging by 2025.

A long history based on unique values

KFC’s leadership in making its food packaging more environmentally-friendly and sustainable has a big impact, especially as it’s one of the largest global restaurant chains.

Founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952 down in Kentucky, KFC is now the world’s most popular chain of chicken restaurants. Today, KFC has more than 25,000 restaurants across 145 countries and territories around the world, including more than 600 locations right here in Canada. 

To this day, the Colonel’s proprietary blend of 11 herbs and spices is still used to season KFC’s world-famous chicken, and it remains a closely-guarded secret. Colonel Sanders, the visionary behind Kentucky Fried Chicken, is still an important part of KFC’s brand and values. Throughout everything the Colonel did, he espoused his own unique brand of values, famously saying, “A man’s life is written by the way he lives it.” Here in Canada, the team at KFC has been writing its own unique chapter in the KFC story — and embodying the Colonel’s integrity and spirit of hard work remains at the core.

Protecting the planet is one of KFC’s core values and over the last several years the company has made great strides in lessening its environmental footprint.

Sustainability that’s grounded in a sense of responsibility

Reducing plastic packaging and waste is essential for conserving resources and energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and decreasing pollution. KFC understands this imperative and is at the forefront of sustainable packaging and practices in the fast food industry.

KFC has been leading the industry in sustainable packaging since 2019, when it removed all plastic straws and bags from its restaurants, eliminating 50 million plastic straws and 10 million plastic bags across the country and replacing them with fibre-based alternatives. KFC also now sources 100 percent of its fibre-based packaging from recycled sources.

“We’re on a continuous journey to lessen our environmental footprint and believe that, as one of the largest global restaurant brands, we can make a tremendous impact not only in our local communities but our global footprint as well,” says Nivera Wallani, President and General Manager of KFC Canada.

A commitment to reusable, recyclable, and compostable packaging

The KFC bucket is an iconic part of the brand’s heritage, and evolving it into a bamboo version was a major step forward in achieving their goal to eliminate non-recoverable or non-reusable plastic-based packaging by 2025. Bamboo is fast-growing, anti-bacterial, and 100 percent biodegradable — the perfect solution. KFC has removed 12 million plastic poutine containers from its operations by transitioning to bamboo.

“We want KFC’s packaging to be forward-thinking and inspiring, and to champion functionality, food safety, and eco-friendly solutions,” says Armando Carrillo, Innovation Manager at KFC Canada. “We’ve continued to accelerate our efforts and push the boundaries to bring more environmentally-sustainable packaging solutions to market, including our move to bamboo poutine buckets.”

Inspiring change and constantly innovating

KFC has also been testing fibre-based cutlery. In November 2020, select restaurants began testing a new fibre-based spork made from bamboo, corn, and sugarcane. The new cutlery naturally decomposes at room temperature and requires no additional treatment, nor does it leave any toxic by-products. The process of decomposition takes approximately 18 months. Once fully introduced into the KFC restaurant system, the compostable cutlery will eliminate 40 million pieces of plastic cutlery annually.

KFC also recently announced that by 2025, all consumer-facing packaging will be fully home compostable, and the first home compostable bucket will begin piloting this year. KFC’s new eco-friendly sandwich bag, currently rolling out across all restaurants nationally, is an excellent new addition to the company’s home compostable initiatives. It’s made with 100 percent sustainably-sourced paper and coated with a plant-based, certified home compostable, marine-degradable coating. This bold commitment will divert nearly 200 million pieces of packaging from Canadian landfills each year.

“We hope it encourages our peers in the industry to follow suit,” says Wallani. “One of our leading principles at KFC Canada is feeding people, not landfills. The move to 100 percent home compostable consumer packaging is a bold and ambitious step we’re taking to inspire positive change in the communities we operate in.”

Giving back with the Harvest program

Alongside its packaging, KFC also takes food waste extremely seriously and donates its surplus chicken to charities within its local communities through its Harvest program. The team at KFC was inspired to create its prepared food donation program when it learned that there’s enough wasted food in the world to feed two billion people, as estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

KFC works with suppliers to purchase only as much fresh food as it expects to sell to customers based on its projections, and any surplus food is donated to food banks, soup kitchens, and other non-profits across Canada through Harvest. The restaurant donates an average of 85,000 pounds of food annually. Since 2016, KFC restaurants have donated over 260,000 pounds of food to 241 unique charities across the country.

“KFC Canada is committed to fighting food waste through our Harvest program while helping nourish those in need of high-quality protein — one of the most in-demand foods at relief shelters and food banks across the country,” says Wallani. “Colonel Sanders famously said, ‘I’m proud that I’ve helped bring good chicken to the tables of millions of people.’ Through Harvest, we’re building on that achievement beyond our restaurants while also ensuring it doesn’t end up in landfills.”

Fostering a sustainability culture

There’s no doubt that KFC is a major player in sustainability. The company’s strong voice and stance on sustainability demonstrates to its team members and franchisees that it has a stake in the game and that it cares. The KFC team lives and breathes a heart-led culture, giving its teams the permissibility to live these values every day.

KFC also works hard to ensure that its in-store initiatives make living this approach easy. For example, it’s on a mission to digitize all back-of-house operations, meaning no more paper and waste, and doing everything electronically (which also helps with supply chain management), allowing its team members to focus on delivering the best possible customer experience. KFC has also removed all financial barriers for its franchisees by paying the up-front costs for their restaurants to onboard onto the Harvest program.

KFC is working hard to inspire its industry peers and make a tremendous impact. And it’s working.

The post KFC’s Bold Sustainability Strides Are Setting an Industry Example appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Steve Rakidzioski

Business Development Specialist, RNG

As decisions are weighed over longer-term climate plans, here’s why leaders are choosing renewable natural gas (RNG) as an immediate, cost-effective solutions to reduce Ontario’s emissions

Climate change is imminent, and decisive action is needed on the
best path forward. For governments and business leaders, it’s a complex issue: many solutions require significant cost investment, new infrastructure, or decades to effectively transition. As decisions are weighed over longer-term plans, here’s why leaders are choosing renewable natural gas (RNG) as an immediate, cost-effective solution to reduce Ontario’s emissions.

A pragmatic solution to a tough problem

To step up climate action quickly and affordably, RNG is among the most pragmatic of approaches. More than a third* of the food produced and distributed in the country gets discarded. RNG is produced from organic waste, so that uneaten potato salad or apple core is diverted from the landfill and repurposed as a renewable energy source. RNG is carbon-neutral and can also be added to the natural gas network. Unlike the electricity system, no infrastructure expansion is required to enable greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions.

The benefit of producing and using RNG is that it captures methane that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Although methane from decomposing organic waste accounts for only 10 percent of GHG emissions, it contributes to global warming — it’s about 25 times^† more harmful than carbon dioxide.

Proven, scalable, and quick to implement, RNG is not the only solution to climate change — but it’s an immediate, feasible way to reduce emissions and put Ontario on track for its long-term climate commitments.

With RNG produced from organic waste, vehicles can be carbon-negative

One of the most exciting applications for RNG is in the transportation sector. Earlier this year, Ontario’s first carbon-negative bus in Hamilton
set new standards for sustainable transit. Launched in partnership with Enbridge Gas, the bus is fuelled by locally-sourced RNG produced at
the StormFisher facility in London, ON. RNG is renewable and plentiful, and its cumulative impact — from diverting methane to displacing diesel emissions—takes the vehicle’s emissions to below zero.

The carbon-negative bus is just one example of an effective and scalable step forward. In recent years, Hamilton Street Railway moved away from diesel and expanded its fleet with more than 130 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. Today, it’s uniquely positioned to fuel them with compressed RNG and amplify its environmental impact even further.

The “quick win” of decarbonizing light-duty fleets

So what about vehicles that still have years of useful life? Rather than electrify an entire fleet at once, it’s more manageable to convert existing diesel, propane or gasoline vehicles to RNG and reduce emissions right away. There are many opportunities in light- to medium-duty fleets
(Class 1 – 6), including:

1. Snow plows
2. Refuse trucks
3. Delivery trucks
4. Supervisory vehicles
5. Public works vehicles
6. Emergency vehicles
7. School buses

CNG vehicles serve as a low-risk, low-cost “proof of concept” to support the case for larger RNG projects. In the long run, demonstrating success at a small scale will help strengthen the case for broader RNG fleet conversions.

The City of Toronto has implemented an initiative to produce and use RNG. Every year, about 35 percent of the City of Toronto’s Green Bin organic waste is transformed into RNG, diverting about 55,000 tonnes of organic waste from landfills. The RNG is used to fuel the city’s waste collection fleet and added to the natural gas system, which cuts down on GHG emissions and reduces reliance on landfills.

Expert help to find the lowest-cost path to conversion

Every climate solution has complexity. Embridge Gas’ dedicated team of energy experts are ready to provide you with the technical expertise and information to produce and use RNG. Enbridge Gas works closely with agribusiness, food processors, municipalities, waste management, and other organizations to help identify, facilitate, and get RNG projects off the ground.

As partners in sustainability, Enbridge’s team can help find RNG opportunities that leverage existing investments in vehicles or buildings. Take advantage of expertise, insights from successful past projects, and access to the North American marketplace.

RNG will play an important role in the clean energy transition. As plans to reduce emissions evolve, it’s a promising and proven way for more leaders to take meaningful climate action.

^*Source: www.nzwc.ca/focus-areas/food/issue/Pages/default.aspx
^† Source: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/transparency-and-reporting/greenhouse-gas-data/frequently-asked-questions/global-warming-potentials-ipcc-fourth-assessment-report
^‡ CO₂e stands for carbon dioxide equivalent. It is used to describe different greenhouse gases in a common unit.
^** Net emissions from vehicle using 40,000 m³ RNG/year. 40,000 m³ of RNG is the equivalent of 1,623 GJ or 451,195 kwh of energy per year.
^†† 85,000 kg CO₂e/yr of CO2 is released from the combustion of RNG. Since RNG is derived from organic waste produced by plants that take up CO2, these CO2 emissions are considered biogenic and not additional to the atmosphere. Trace amounts of CH4 and N2O are also produced from the combustion of RNG that result in 11,000kg CO₂e/year of emissions being released.
^‡‡ Net emissions from powering electric bus using 451,000 kwh/year based on Ontario grid.
All calculations are based on Ontario’s electric grid for illustration purposes only. Actual calculations will be provided when working with Enbridge Gas. © 2021 Enbridge Gas Inc. All rights reserved. ENB 657 09/2021

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Xiaomin Zhou

Director of Operations, BioFuelNet Canada

The Biomass Cluster (BMC) is Canada’s first research cluster focused on commoditizing biomass, including farm-to-market supply chains and enhancing sustainability.

Climate change poses an increasing challenge to the production of both food and biomass crops. In addition to food security, these crops are necessary as they’ll play a key role in underpinning the developing Canadian bioeconomy through allowing for the reliable production of biomass (sustainable proportion of crop residues in the case of food crops) bioenergy, including biofuels, and associated high-value bioproducts, such as bio-plastics and pharmaceuticals. The agricultural sector has a key role to play in Canada’s drive to develop its bioeconomy and decrease the carbon footprint of the energy and materials that we consume and export. The potential payback, a thriving agro-bioeconomy, to Canada is enormous. The agricultural sector could reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions by up to the equivalent of 79 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and generate up to $3.8 billion in additional farm revenues.

What we can do?

BMC was developed by BioFuelNet, which was established through earlier Networks of Centres of Excellence funding. The BMC spans 5 years (2018 to 2023), with support from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership and other partners. The BMC includes 22 industry partners, as well as 7 universities, 15 lead researchers and co-leaders (five from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), plus 51 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows being trained. The BMC work will improve technologies and market opportunities for biomass, bioenergy, and associated high-value bioproducts, benefitting agricultural producers across Canada, including in the northern regions.

BMC seeks to mobilize Canada’s agricultural sector to commoditize biomass for bioenergy and bioproducts, to benefit agricultural producers across Canada, while mitigating and adapting to climate change. In doing so it will improve agricultural producers’ incomes through biomass production on marginal lands (where food material is generally not produced) and adding value to agricultural wastes. This will serve to improve the overall sustainability of Canadian agriculture by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (production of biofuels and incorporation of organic matter into soils) and making Canadian crop production systems more climate change resilient (enhanced stress resistance through plant-microbe interactions). BMC’s work will enable Canadian farmers to earn additional revenues from crop residues, biomass crops grown on marginal lands and from the emerging carbon credit markets. BMC is divided into three themes: 1) Biomass and bioenergy for northern latitudes, 2) Optimization of biomass production, and 3) Biomass pre-processing, supply-chain logistics and economics. BMC also conducts a considerable level of knowledge transfer, ensuring that producers and industry are fully informed regarding research outcomes.

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Jay Robinson

Director of Agri-Food Technology at Ag-West Bio

Starting an agri-value or bioscience company comes with unique challenges. Along with the usual issues faced by start-ups, these companies often need highly specialized equipment and staff, have high upfront costs and face a long road to market entry and revenue generation.

There’s help! A new business incubator is opening its doors in Saskatchewan.

The Global Agri-Food Advancement Partnership (GAAP) grew from a collaboration between Ag-West Bio, the Global Institute for Food Security, the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, Innovation Place, and private sector partners.

GAAP combines the benefits of significant investment capital with long-term incubation in a world-class facility (with laboratories, greenhouses, and office space), and guidance and training from sector-specific experts. GAAP is for:

1) Early-stage technology companies working on promising, disruptive technologies in the early stages of development (post proof of concept) with application in agriculture, food, or food processing.

2) Rapid growth stage companies that have demonstrated large scale commercial applications for their technology. Often, they have been successful in securing a considerable amount of investment and may already be generating revenue. In most instances these companies are located and operating outside of Canada or North America (but not exclusively) and have traction and or success in overseas markets. GAAP allows them to access the North American marketplace with lower entry costs, reduced capital expenditure, tailored concierge services, and an expedited path to market.

GAAP can increase the success rate of start-ups, strengthen the ecosystem, and build a foundation of success, even when venture capital investment may be lacking within the sector. We offer a novel platform designed to address the unique challenges of agri-value companies and technology developers during the start-up/expansion phase.

GAAP not only provides a landing for companies looking to expand into Canada, but also fantastic programs for Canadian companies looking to expand into overseas markets.

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