Through a landscape analysis, structured interviews with Canadian experts across six industry sectors, and validation through five case studies, this project proposed a practical methodology for evaluating the circularity performance of organizations and products.

This study examines how Canada can establish a standardized approach to measuring CE and quantifying its impact at national, provincial, and municipal levels.

At Davos 2026, Elon Musk floated the idea of solar-powered AI data centers in space, where sunlight is constant and cooling is efficient...

In North America, food loss and waste remains a massive inefficiency in our food system, with ~168 million tonnes of food lost or wasted annually across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico...

Another product category joins the list of take-back programs. This time, it's perfume bottles...

When designing compostable materials, the diversity of conditions under which they can degrade might seem like a marketing advantage...

5REDO is pleased to be part of this research initiative led by Prof. Myriam Ertz at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. The project will examine what drives organizations to commit to circular economy strategies.

Not all EPDs contain the information they should. This article explores what is commonly missing from published declarations and why completeness matters for practitioners interpreting environmental data.

EPDs promise comparability, but achieving it in practice is not straightforward. This article explores the key challenges and offers practical guidance for construction professionals working with environmental product data.

Meet us in the Entrepreneur Support Zone on October 21, 2025 at Living Arts Centre, Mississauga.

In the 2025 Advanced Recycling Summit happening this August in Cleveland, 5REDO CEO will give a presentation on Life Cycle Assessment and Circularity Metrics for Advanced Recycling Technologies.

As part of the Battery Manufacturing Conference during ADM Toronto 2025, 5REDO CEO will have a presentation on Measuring Circularity Performance in Battery Value Chains: Applying ISO 59020 Framework to Critical Material Flows and Production Systems.

To validate a circularity measurement and assessment methodology, we are seeking real-world case studies from organizations actively engaged in circular economy initiatives. 

At Canadian Circular Economy Summit 2025, 5REDO CTO Fabien Hammerer was a speaker at Leveraging Data for Circular Economy Decision-Making Workshop.

5REDO CEO, Mahdi Takaffoli, delivered a presentation on "life cycle assessment in waste management: navigating complexity for decision making" at the 14th annual Canadian Waste to Resource Conference.

Presenters
▪ Erica Lee Garcia, PEng | Founder, Onward Business Mechanics
▪ Mahdi Takaffoli, PEng | CEO, 5REDO

As part of the workshop on Leveraging Data for Circular Economy Decision-Making, our CTO, Dr. Fabien Hammerer, will discuss the relevance of life cycle assessment (LCA) to circular economy measurement.

Our paper entitled "overview of factors influencing consumer engagement with plastic recycling", a collaborative work with researchers at Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi, was among the top 10 most-cited papers published by WIREs Energy and Environment in 2023.

Published by Elsevier & Woodhead Publishing, Biocomposites and the Circular Economy provides up-to-date research results and insights from a multidisciplinary group of researchers across the globe, featuring detailed research reports, case studies, and comprehensive literature reviews.

In this webinar, organized by HealthPro Canada as part of their Sustainability Rounds Pathway Series, 5REDO's CTO, Dr. Fabien Hammerer, will present about circular economy and its expected impact on healthcare.

Biodegradable plastics are often seen as a step forward in tackling plastic pollution. But recent research from Yale University shows that their environmental impact depends heavily on how we manage them at the end of their life cycle.

The growing environmental crisis is changing the landscape of risk assessment. Typically, risk assessments compare new projects against a “status quo” scenario, assuming stable conditions. But climate change is already destabilizing this business-as-usual model.

There’s a common misconception that LCA is too costly to perform before production begins. While it’s true that conducting an LCA on an established production line can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, waiting until this stage can be risky.

5REDO joins CELC to collaborate on advancing circular economy solutions and fostering sustainable innovation in Canada.

5REDO joins PAC Global to collaborate on sustainable packaging solutions and advance circular economy practices.

Concepts, principles and transition: a dive in the brand-new ISO 59000 standards family and how it helps SMEs embrace circularity

The recently published ISO 59000 series standards provide deeply needed clarity and establish a robust framework for businesses ready to embrace circularity.

In this pan-Canadian online survey, we explored the effects of perceived situational factors (cost, time, and effort) related to plastic packaging waste recycling behavior.

Our CTO, Fabien, presented a lecture on "Life Cycle Thinking and the Physical Basis of a Sustainable Economy" at the Leading Change Forum 2024 in Vancouver.

Reducing waste is a broad goal, something many organizations want to prioritize. To do so effectively, it’s important to have clear, accurate information about where to start, and that’s what a waste audit can provide.

With so many ways to call a product “eco-friendly”, limited regulation and growing consumer desire for responsible consumption, the risk of greenwashing with these kinds of labels runs high.

This study employs the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to evaluate the environmental impact of two alternative scenarios to the As-Is scenario for managing plastic waste in the province of British Columbia in Canada.

Les citoyens recyclent, mais l’industrie est défaillante et le modèle de consommation, jamais remis en question.

While reducing consumption and improving recycling systems is important, reuse deserves a closer look—from textiles to appliances, reusing everyday items can be a subtle but powerful choice for sustainability.

Amidst efforts to bring the circular economy into our everyday lives, food offers many options; with so many people hungry, there’s more reason than ever to make sure nothing goes to waste.

What can individuals do to lessen their environmental impact, and when should efforts be directed toward the larger forces at play? This question is challenging, as individual action can sometimes feel futile. But as the case of food waste shows, it can have an outsized impact—for better and worse.

Healthcare settings generate a significant amount of waste. A 2019 report on 110 Canadian hospitals found they generated nearly 87,000 tonnes of waste annually.

Globally, incineration has been debated recently after a group of UK-based advocates called for an end and eventual ban on incineration in their country. With nearly half of all waste incinerated there, they claim it’s harming air quality far beyond what industry states.

Millions of Canadians are now familiar with how to separate organic waste at home, and recent data show that composting organics is becoming more streamlined, efficient, and successful in Canada.

From advertising slogans to labels on garbage bins, its impacts are everywhere. This area of social science deals – as you might expect – with human behaviour: how it works, why, and what interventions can influence it.

Integrating sustainable, circular practices takes time, and can require major shifts away from entrenched practices. This is where environmental partnerships can be helpful, as businesses can share expertise and resources to meet sustainability goals.  

Consumers can’t be taken out of the equation when it comes to waste management. Even when industry and government partners take on more responsibility by providing resources, information, and management, waste generated at home will always be a factor.

Plastic use is often a target for change, since it’s so prevalent in our everyday lives. More recently, the conversation has included an even more problematic component to this pervasive material: microplastics.   

5REDO is participating in the virtual exhibition of 2022 Conference on Canadian Stewardship, September 20-21, 2022.

While the investment around electric vehicles seems like a natural step, could there be consequences to the demand? What resources will we need, and how can we ensure circularity as electric vehicle production ramps up? 

Visit us at Booth #555 on September 27 & 28, 2022 in the International Centre, Mississauga, ON.

At first, the two concepts may seem unrelated; we often think of the digital world as making our lives more interconnected and convenient, but not necessarily more sustainable. In truth, even the simple ability to access quality information – and quickly share it – can push sustainable innovation further than we think. 

From cellophane-wrapped vegetables, fruit in clamshell plastics, and styrofoam meat packaging, an average grocery order can feel like a never-ending strain of waste – and in fact, it comprises about one third of all household waste in Canada.  

When it comes to managing waste, keeping track for just one household can be challenging. What about when the waste consists of giant blocks of concrete, or endless square feet of wood flooring? This is the case in the construction industry.

Although you can – and should – repurpose clothing, the sheer volume of production means some of it will inevitably become waste.  

We are very excited to announce that 5REDO and Dr. Myriam Ertz, Professor at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, have been awarded a Partnership Engage Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada.

Many of us are used to seeing labels when we pick up a product, whether it’s nutrition facts, directions, or general information. Would your buying choices be influenced if you knew how much carbon was generated to make a product? Would it – or should it – influence our everyday shopping? 

This paper reports the results of a research on the development of a diazirine-grafted polyamine that can be used as a primer for ultra-high-molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers.

Discussion about the circular economy tends to focus on recycling metals, minerals and petroleum-based plastics, as well as innovations that boost sustainability for companies and consumers. While that part is no doubt important, there’s a lesser discussed – but still vital – aspect of the circular economy that deserves just as much attention: the bioeconomy. 

Lately, there's been more debate about a tough reality: many plastics are hard to recycle, and most end up in landfills or are incinerated. This awareness may force a shift in how we’ve thought about recycling for decades, by raising the question: do the words ‘plastic’ and ‘recycle’ belong together at all? 

In our first article on net-zero, we took a closer look at its meaning, and the planned timeline to get there. As a circular economy innovation firm, the team at 5REDO keeps a close eye on the climate change and sustainability realms, including the concept of net-zero. So how does it fit into the movement towards a circular economy, particularly here in Canada? Here, we break down some of the key components. 

Much like the terms carbon-neutral, renewable energy, or sustainability, ‘net-zero’ has become a key word in current discourse about climate change and our environment. But is it just another popular phrase?

Back in 2019, the Canadian government announced its intention to ban some single-use plastics, part of its ambitious efforts to have ‘zero plastic waste’ by 2030. The plan targeted some of the most wasteful or hard to recycle plastics, such as single-use cutlery, grocery bags, and takeout containers.

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow officially came to an end this weekend. For the past couple of weeks, nations from across the globe have negotiated on some of the most pressing climate change issues of our time, from coal production to methane emissions.

A new research paper that includes the contribution of 5REDO's CEO got published in American Chemical Society's Applied Polymer Materials journal.

We are pleased to announce that effective September 11, 2021, 5R Enabler Designs and Operations Inc. has been issued a Permit to Practice and is now a Registrant Firm with Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia (EGBC).

From Linear to Circular (FLTC) is one of the flagship learning programmes offered by The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a leading organization in promoting the circular economy. Mahdi was selected into the programme out of 1300 applicants from 46 countries.

With increasing awareness on dire environmental repercussions of traditional production and consumption practices, there have been an upsurge in governmental regulations across the globe to reduce carbon emissions and change business as usual.

We are welcoming Mychael Ittah to our team this summer. Mychael is completing his third year of undergraduate studies in Bioresource Engineering at McGill University.

It is a great honour for 5REDO and its co-founder, Mahdi, to be accepted to participate in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's From Linear to Circular (FLTC) learning programme.

Mahdi's contribution to a collaborative research between University of British Columbia and University of Victoria led to a publication in the Journal of Chemical Science.

We are excited to have Ophela Zhang in our team as a co-op student with expertise in process engineering and life cycle assessment.

We are pleased to welcome Dylan Jubinville to 5REDO as a co-op student with expertise in polymer chemistry and processing.

In 2019-2020, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum held an exhibition called Nature—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial to showcase prototypes and consumer products that engage with nature in innovative ways, driven by concerns around climate change and ecological crises.

The electric vehicle market has grown rapidly in the past 10 years; sales were negligible before 2010 and have increased to over 2 million vehicles in 2019, bringing the total stock of electric cars to 7.2 million globally.

We are very excited and pleased to have a new member in our family. Blazey is a cute and lovely toy poodle from Calgary.

In October 2020,the British Standards Institute introduced PAS 9017, a new standard which specifies the requirements for the biodegradability of plastics in open-air land environments.

The Covid-19 pandemic has boosted e-commerce and online shopping to a great extent—a trend that will most likely continue in the future. This has led to a significant increase in the amount of carboard boxes that rest in the hands of consumers.

Mahdi and collaborators at the University of Waterloo published the results of their industry-based research project on thermoforming of polycarbonate in the Journal of Manufacturing Processes.

"Cat Reman restores parts at the end their lives to like-new condition, providing you with a cost-effective alternative solution to new Cat parts." This is how Caterpillar is attempting to convince its customers about the quality of the parts and components that get a second chance of life.

Canada will host the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) in September of 2021 in Toronto. The gathering was originally scheduled for 2020, but due to the pandemic, this year event moved online.

Despite the significant negative socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown of cities and enforcement of social distancing across the world have brought some relief to the environment, evidenced in better air and water quality as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The 2019 Wood Solutions Conference featured a presentation by the Norwegian company Voll Arkitekter about the design and construction of Mjøstårnet, the world's tallest timber building. This exemplifies the considerable efforts across the world to push the limit on utilizing wood.

During the 2018 G7 summit, the Canadian Government championed the Ocean Plastic Charter, which articulates a number of goals to alleviate the environmental impact of plastic use. Among those include a minimum of 50% recycled content in plastic products, where applicable, by 2030.

In February of 2020, another Globe Forum event, by Globe Series, took place in Vancouver. It brought together the stakeholders in the sustainable and clean economy from Canada and around the world to share knowledge and identify collaborative opportunities.

Let me start this article with a question. If you look around in your house, how many cell phones can you find that are not being used anymore? I myself traced four mobile phones, two of them sitting in a box from 10 years ago.