Reusing packaging is a growing priority for startups
Region of Waterloo — Kitchener-based Circulr is one of an increasing number of firms aiming to lessen the carbon emissions that are contributing to climate change. Circulr focuses on collecting, cleaning, and recycling glass jars from supermarkets.
The startup’s accomplishments since its beginning around 18 months ago are shown on its website: 18 brands signed up, 20,000 jars were reused, and 22,430 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions were averted.
Tyler De Sousa and Charles Binks-Collier, co-founders, met at Wilfrid Laurier University while they were business administration students.
Binks-Collier minored in computer science, while De Sousa chose environmental studies.During the eight-month programme at Toronto’s startup incubator Next 36, they improved their Circulr ideas.
They began hiring clients in January 2021, including Binks-Collier in Toronto and De Sousa in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph.
We have collection bins in nearby grocery stores where people can drop off those jars since we work with a lot of different brands that package a lot of different things, essentially all in glass jars, said De Sousa.
“We collect, clean, and ship them back to the brands, and they refill them,” De Sousa added.
The process of producing glass has the largest negative influence on the environment. Manufacturing produces emissions of nitrogen oxide, a fundamental component of smog, and carbon dioxide, one of the primary contributors to climate change.
Numerous detrimental environmental effects of sand mining for the crystalline silica required for glass production include increased carbon emissions, water pollution, and devastation of fish habitats.
As soon as she learned about Circulr, the manager of Stone Store Natural Foods on Commercial Street in Guelph registered with it. Both employees and customers are constantly seeking for methods to reduce waste, according to Erin Copeland, and Circulr makes that simple.
Copeland wrote in an email, “We had been interested in offering a returnable/reusable jar programme for some time, but it had never been an option without the dishwashing equipment required in-store. “Circulr provides us with the necessary infrastructure to wash and reuse jars in-store,” Copeland continued.
Among the shops and businesses that utilise Circulr are Vincenzo’s in Waterloo, Legacy Greens, and Aura-La Pastries & Provisions in Kitchener.
Customers who download the app are paid for returning empty jars to shop collection bins, saving brands and retailers money on jar purchases.
Glass jars are kept out of our waste stream and are kept functional for a longer period of time, according to De Sousa.
The jars are removed from the bins and delivered to a cleaning facility in Kitchener, located on Hurst Avenue. Toronto also has a second cleaning facility. At the moment, Circulr cleans and sells roughly 2,000 jars every month. According to De Sousa, “We repackage them, ship them back to the brands for resale, and run them through an industrial dishwasher.” In essence, we function as another packaging supplier.
Circulr reduces waste, encourages reuse, and prevents carbon emissions in the same ways as Friendlier does in restaurants and cafeterias for glass jars and grocery shops.
It is not surprising that the two firms are based in this area because, according to Startup Genome’s study on cleantech ecosystems, the Toronto Waterloo Corridor has the sixth-most cleantech startups in North America and the most in Canada.
The Global Startup Ecosystem Report: Cleantech Edition ranks the cleantech ecosystem in the Corridor as the 12th best in the world.
