The plastic problem. Source: Pyrowave
Along with the high household consumption rates, at least since the last 15 years, Canada continues to hold the record of per capita waste production . With only 8% of the plastic waste being recycled, and parallel anecdotal efforts to reduce its consumption, such as banning single-use plastic shopping bags, a new startup has developed a unique technology to process plastic waste. Pyrowave, one of the 20 most innovative companies in Canada, is looking to increase significantly the percentage of plastic being recycled, by using a patented microwave technology.
This technology allows the waste to be ingested in a sorting facility, expelling a dark liquid that can be turned into a wide variety of higher value end products. This process has the potential to enhance the recycling rate and enable a larger range of recyclable materials, while reducing waste landfilling, waste incineration and logistics costs. Showing a significant positive benefit environmentally and economically, Pyrowave has become the first benefactor of the new Cleantech Co-Investment Program (CCIP).
Export Development Canada, the largest financier of clean tech in Canada, has committed to investing $30 million in clean tech companies by the end of 2020 through its new CCIP program. CCIP is intended to fill the funding gap for companies such as Pyrowave that, in spite of their negative-cash flow, are getting market traction and have a great potential to create clean technology solutions at home and abroad. The idea is to help them become big enough to access the global market, assisting them by increasing the demand of private sector investors interested in clean tech companies.