Students at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business are using their sustainability-in-business acumen to help the City of Vancouver and other B.C. jurisdictions reach their zero-waste goals.
Every year, SFU's MBA students undertake real-world sustainability projects for clients across Canada. This year, they're working with the Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC) and the city in a project that is also being supported by the packaging division of Walmart Canada.
Both RCBC and the city have mandated zero-waste goals, at a time when the province is moving toward "extended producer responsibility" — which puts the onus of waste disposal on product manufacturers and retailers.
Students in the MBA sustainability class and the undergraduate course Managing for Sustainability are designing companies or processes that close existing gaps in the consumer recycling landscape – from discarded computers and electronics to take-out food packaging.
Stephanie Bertels, a Beedie School assistant professor, said, "We are trying to break the linear take-makes-waste model that is predominant in terms of how goods are handled.
"These initiatives will create tighter cycles that use less energy and resources in order to increase the efficiency of how materials are handled in our economy."
Students will tackle 13 different materials that pose recycling challenges, including styrofoam meat trays, small quantities of household toxic waste (like paint thinner), take-out food containers and foil bags (such as chip bags and coffee bags).
"The challenge for students is to find a way to close the loop on these materials so that they don't end up in the waste stream, or to replace them with products or services that can be readily reused or recycled yet serve the same fundamental core-user need," Bertels said.
Both classes have partnered with City Studio and its zero-waste division, which, along with RCBC, will make classroom visits.
Previous SFU projects put before City Studio have gone on to be piloted by the City of Vancouver.
