Circular Chronicle May 2026

CIC UPDATES

Construction is one of the most resource-intensive and wasteful sectors, presenting a lost opportunity. In Canada, approximately 3.4 million tonnes of construction waste are sent to landfill each year, containing an estimated 1.8 million tonnes of embodied CO₂e.

Advancing circular strategies such as improving material efficiency, prioritizing reuse, and keeping products and materials in circulation longer is essential for mitigating environmental and socio-economic issues across the built environment sector.

Yesterday, Circular Innovation Council (CIC) hosted an insightful conversation focused on turning circular economy ambition into concrete action across construction, renovation, and demolition (CRD) materials.

Led by CIC Director Andrew Telfer, the conversation brought together leading practitioners from Canada and abroad. The discussion highlighted consistent themes across jurisdictions, noting that while policy direction, pilot projects, funding opportunities, and circular economy roadmaps are growing, system-level risk, procurement barriers, and capacity gaps continue to slow the sector’s transition to circularity.

Member Open House Recap

Thank you to all of our members that attended our first ever Member Open House on May 12. We especially want to thank our members Wilfrid Laurier University, Post Plastics, and the City of Toronto for taking time to speak about your circular economy initiatives and how CIC helps achieve your circular ambitions. The Open House was a great opportunity to get our members together to discuss CIC’s upcoming priorities and welcome new members for 2026.

Each session will offer the opportunity to learn, network with other members, and connect with the CIC team. We plan to continue this get together quarterly, so keep an eye out for information on the next session later this summer!

New Webinar Series Coming Soon

As AI accelerates demand for digital infrastructure, are Canadian organizations prepared for the risks and rising costs behind the digital transformation?

How are organizations balancing exploding demand for cloud and compute power, with growing pressures around sustainability, affordability, sovereignty and security?

As chip shortages, critical mineral constraints, sovereign cloud capacity limits and Scope 3 emissions targets begin to collide, what are technology and procurement leaders doing right now to address these converging challenges?

This webinar series will be the start of a dialogue for technology, procurement, sustainability and finance leaders to better respond to the converging pressures reshaping digital transformation — and how circular procurement strategies can turn those pressures into opportunities for resilience, cost savings, and long-term value.

Stay tuned for webinar dates, speakers, and registration details.

This webinar series is supported in part by TCO Development as a Knowledge Partner. CIC is currently seeking additional partners to support learning and insightful dialogue on these important topics. If your organization is interested in getting involved, please contact Katie Motta, Director of Circular Procurement: Katie@CircularInnovation.ca

News

[EVENT] Cleaning our Air through Sustainable Material Management - A Presentation and Material Collection by Circular Partners

Join us for an insightful event that reveals the “invisible” connection between the things we throw away and the air we breathe. Most people know that cars and planes create emissions, but few realize that every material carries a “carbon debt” from the moment it’s manufactured. This is known as embodied carbon.

During this event, Circular Partners will walk you through their zero-landfill commitment and the impact of diverting over 21 million pounds of material, showing how keeping materials in circulation prevents the need for new production, and the future emissions and air pollution that come with it.

[REPORT] Read Definity's 2025 Sustainability Report

Our latest report highlights our tangible progress in reducing waste in 2025, specifically:

Repair-First Auto Claims: We achieved a 47% repair-to-replace ratio for eligible auto parts (surpassing the 44% industry average), reducing material consumption and associated emissions.
Property Restoration: We utilized innovative restoration techniques in 58% of eligible fire claims, restoring materials and structures that would otherwise be sent to a landfill.
Proactive Mitigation: Our partnership with Wildfire Defense Services provides proactive, pre-loss wildfire mitigation during periods of elevated risk. This resulted in no enrolled structures being damaged or destroyed, and supports a more sustainable, forward-looking claims model.

Member Updates

We want to say a big thank you to our new member that joined us in April 2026. Thank you for becoming a part of our fast growing membership here at Circular Innovation Council!

Food Mesh

FoodMesh is a Canadian-based food recovery solution provider and Certified B Corporation. They bring together a network of 2,500+ businesses, food recovery agencies, charitable organizations, farmers and other surplus solution providers to waste less, feed more and create shared value.