FEATURING INTERVIEWS WITH: CERIEC • Canada Plastics Pact • CSA Group • Debrand • Fondaction • Fashion Takes Action / Canadian Circular Textiles Consortium • L’Oréal Canada • Reverse Logistics Group (RLG) and Reconomy • Twenifor • Ville de Montréal SPECIAL EDITORIALS FROM GUEST AUTHORS PAUL SHORTHOUSE AND JO ANNE ST. GODARD The Canadian Circular Economy Summit is making waves toward change Explore what’s possible for the circular economy in Canada with these 10 inspiring stories of impact. From Linear to Circular Veuillez retrouver des articles en français dans ce numéro. From Make The World Better Magazine Circular Economy Magazine April 2025, Issue 01THE FUTURE ISN’T LINEAR.IT’S CIRCULAR. Ready to accelerate the adoption of the circular economy? As experts in marketing and communications, we’ll bring your circular economy vision to life with strategic solutions, from SEO to visual branding. Contact us for a free consultation: sparxpg.com28 44 38 50 54 18 34 24 4 CIRCULAR ECONOMY MAGAZINE CONTENTS14 SEVEN MEGATRENDS DRIVING THE GLOBAL CIRCULAR ECONOMY By: Paul Shorthouse and Jo-Anne St. Godard 44 L’ORÉAL CANADA Making circularity the centre of the beauty industry ecosystem 18 CERIEC | FR Tester des solutions concrètes pour l’économie circulaire au Québec et au- delà 50 DEBRAND Empowering brands to unlock the potential in their untapped products 24 TWENIFOR | FR Réduire les déchets de construction grâce à une plateforme de marché innovante 54 FASHION TAKES ACTION / CANADIAN CIRCULAR TEXTILES CONSORTIUM Driving systemic change in Canada’s textile industry 28 VILLE DE MONTRÉAL | FR Lancer les bases pour propulser Montréal vers un modèle économique circulaire 60 CANADA PLASTICS PACT Working together to eliminate plastic waste and pollution in Canada 34 FONDACTION | FR Déployer des capitaux pour générer des retombées positives et mesurables 64 CSA GROUP Removing barriers to adoption through universal circular economy standards 38 REVERSE LOGISTICS GROUP (RLG) AND RECONOMY Progressing the circular economy through the power of data 68 PRIORITIZING CRITICAL ENABLERS TO ACCELERATE CANADA’S CIRCULAR ECONOMY By: Paul Shorthouse and Jo-Anne St. Godard 8 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 74 CIRCULAR ECONOMY RESOURCES FOR PURPOSE-DRIVEN ORGANIZATIONS Learn more about the possibilities of Canada’s circular economy 26 CHALLENGE #1: CLIMATE 42 CHALLENGE #2: AFFORDABILITY 58 CHALLENGE #3: PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION, & COMPETITIVENESS 72 CHALLENGE #4: EQUITY & INCLUSION SOLVING CANADA'S CHALLENGES WITH THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY FEATURES APRIL 2025 • ISSUE 01 5 ISSUE 1Circular Economy Magazine April 2025, Issue 1 PUBLISHER Sparx Publishing Group Inc. sparxpg.com For information about advertising rates and placements, contact us at mtwb@sparxpg.com. All photo credits to the organizations. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Hamish Khamisa EDITORS Libby Shabada Meghan O'Neil ART DIRECTOR Elisabeth Choi PROJECT MANAGER Alexandra Nikitina PROJECT COORDINATOR Ken Yeung PHOTO EDITOR Sonia Lau As a member of the purpose-driven community, we're proud of our certifications, recognitions, and partnerships. CONTRIBUTORS LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Paul Shorthouse, Managing Director of Circular Economy Leadership Canada Kiana Klassen, Program & Communications Coordinator at Circular Economy Leadership Canada Jo-Anne St. Godard, Executive Director of Circular Innovation Council Andrew Telfer, Director of Circular Innovation Council CERIEC Daniel Normandin, Directeur du CERIEC et Directeur exécutif du RRECQ et Émilie Chiasson, Conseillère en communication en économie circulaire au CERIEC (coauteur) CANADA PLASTICS PACT Cher Mereweather, Managing Director CSA GROUP Michael Leering, Director, Environment & Business Excellence DEBRAND Amelia Eleiter, CEO & Co-Founder FONDACTION Mathieu Sasseville, Directeur, Investissements durables et d’impact FASHION TAKES ACTION / CANADIAN CIRCULAR TEXTILES CONSORTIUM Kelly Drennan, Founding Executive Director, Fashion Takes Action L’ORÉAL CANADA Maya Colombani, Chief Sustainability & Human Rights Officer, in collaboration with Patricia Miotto, Communications & Engagement Manager, Sustainability & Human Rights REVERSE LOGISTICS GROUP (RLG) AND RECONOMY Brad Wright, Executive Vice President of RLG Americas TWENIFOR Vincent Croteau, Directeur du développement des affaires VILLE DE MONTRÉAL Marie-Andrée Mauger, Membre du comité exécutif, responsable de la transition écologique et de l'environnement This issue helps advance progress on the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Sparx would like to acknowledge that we reside and work on traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl ̓ ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy ̓ əm (Musqueam) Nations. CELC and CIC would like to acknowledge that we work and reside on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral territories of the ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯ (Anishinaabe) and Omàmìwininìwak (Algonquin) Nations, the Coast Salish Peoples and the Songhees Nation, and the Attiwonderonk and the Ho-de-no-sau-nee-ga (Haudenosaunee) peoples, and the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. The organizers of CCES 2025 would also like to acknowledge that this event is taking place on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral territories of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee- ga (Haudenosaunee) and the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) peoples. We recognize the unique and enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories worldwide. 6 CIRCULAR ECONOMY MAGAZINECANADA’S LARGEST BEVERAGE CONTAINER COLLECTION SYSTEM abcrc.com BUILDING A CIRCULAR FUTURE ONE CONTAINER AT A TIME For three decades, ABCRC has been a leader in advancing the circular economy by collecting, recycling and processing over 150,000 different types of regulated, non-refillable beverage containers sold in Alberta. As a proud sponsor of the 2025 Circular Economy Summit, ABCRC is dedicated to driving a future where every container contributes to a thriving circular system — one container at a time.I n 2007, late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs famously introduced the iPhone to the world with the phrase, “Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” Almost 18 years after the iPhone launch, more than 19 billion smartphones have been produced — a number that out- paces global population growth over that same period (1.4 billion people) by a factor of 13. While so much attention has been placed on the impact of smartphones on our daily lives, far less has been given to the systems driving the demand for and production and disposal of these devices. The story of smartphone overproduction is, sadly, not a unique one. From clothing to cars to computers to just about any category imaginable, humans are making more stuff than we can possibly need or use and are doing so in ways that are quite literally pushing our planet past its breaking point. To rewrite the “take-make-waste” story, we believe humankind’s next chapter should be shaped by solutions that design out waste, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. And, fortunately, we are not alone. This inaugural issue of Circular Economy Magazine is the result of an exciting collaboration between pur- pose-driven marketing agency, Sparx Publishing Group, and two leading champions for circularity in Canada, Circular Economy Leadership Canada (CELC) and the Circular Innovation Council (CIC). Collectively, we saw a tremendous opportunity to ad- vance awareness and adoption of the circular economy by co-creating a publication for sparking conversation about and amplifying the stories of exceptional organi- zations, governments, and businesses that are working in this space. The content, design, and timing of the launch of this mag- azine have centred heavily around the Canadian Circular Economy Summit — the largest gathering of circular economy leaders in Canada and an event co-produced by CELC and CIC. Most notably, we wanted to pay tribute to the host city of this year’s summit, Montréal, by ensuring that portions of this magazine appeared in French to enable an authentic voice for those working to advance the circular economy across Québec. Stepping into the first issue of a magazine takes a great deal of trust, collaboration, courage, and leadership by its contributors. Thank you to Paul Shorthouse, Managing Director of CELC, and Jo-Anne St. Godard, Executive Director of CIC, as well as to your respective teams for your guidance, for convening and curating an outstanding collection of stories, and for providing insightful perspectives on trends and drivers of the cir- cular economy, especially through the Canadian lens. I am also immensely grateful to the Sparx team for continuing to lean into producing exceptional content as a means of making the world a better, more hopeful place, something that seems especially relevant as the environmental, political, and economic polycrisis con- stantly confronts us in the news and across social media. On behalf of Sparx, CELC, and CIC, I want to extend a sincere thanks to the circular economy leaders featured in this issue: CERIEC, CSA Group, Debrand, Fondaction, Fashion Takes Action (FTA) and Canadian Circular Textiles Consortium (CCTC), Canada Plastics Pact, L’Oréal Canada, Reverse Logistics Group (RLG) and Reconomy, Twenifor, and Ville de Montréal. Whether as a means of being dramatically more efficient with scarce re- sources, creating new jobs or contributing to plane- tary stability, the stories they have shared offer an elegant vision for Canada — and indeed other nations around the world — to achieve security, prosperity, and sustainability for future generations by moving to a circular economy. Getting humanity to embrace circularity as the new standard of what counts as revolutionary is the change we seek to make. We invite readers of Circular Economy Magazine to spark discussions about the stories con- tained in this issue. Doing so will create the conditions to advance this new standard, offer a beacon of hope, and send a clear signal to changemakers to co-create a more circular and sustainable future. Hamish Khamisa Founder, Sparx Publishing Group Letter from the Editor Getting humanity to embrace circularity as the new standard of what counts as revolutionary is the change we seek to make. 8 CIRCULAR ECONOMY MAGAZINENext >