B.C. companies embrace 'circular' construction with $1M federal backing

Construction goes 'circular'

Photo: Photo courtesy of Ecowaste/Montrose Properties.

Ecowaste is a private landfill in east Richmond that is receiving expert assistance through a new accelerator program to divert construction and demolition waste.

More than 17 B.C. companies have joined an accelerator program dedicated to improving sustainability in the building materials and construction sectors.

The cohort has joined the circular construction accelerator (CCA) program administered by Light House and backed by a $1-million investment from PacifiCan, said a Dec. 2 press release.

Light House is a Vancouver-based organization that promotes sustainable built environments, while PacifiCan refers to Pacific Economic Development Canada, a federal agency dedicated to helping grow B.C. businesses.

The CCA program will provide the 17 companies with “tailored one-on-one advisory support and strategic access to investors, visibility platforms and industry partners” to help them “strengthen and scale their circular solutions,” said the release.

Specialized advice could support a company’s business plan, export development or product development, or could identify market opportunities, grants and other funding sources they can pursue.

“We’re just connected into the ecosphere of those types of opportunities,” said Gil Yaron, Light House’s managing director of circular innovation.

The $1 million from PacifiCan will be disbursed over three years to Light House, which will match it with another million using other grants and in-kind partners to run the program, he said.

The roster includes Bowen Island-based Kiwi Innovation CPM Inc., which makes prefabricated modular panels out of salvaged dimensional lumber from deconstruction projects. Vancouver-based Seacork Studio Inc., which is developing an acoustic panel made from seaweed, is another participant.

Through the CCA, Light House is also supporting older, more established companies such as New Westminster-based New West Gypsum Recycling Ltd., which recycles drywall, and Richmond-based Ecowaste Industries Ltd., the largest private landfill in B.C.

Ecowaste, for example, is getting help to establish a circular construction campus to house companies working “synergistically” to divert building materials from the landfill and “upcycle” them into new products, Yaron said.

“The central principle underlying all of this is that these companies are not just diverting waste, but they’re actually treating waste as a resource and generating economic value out of materials that our society has traditionally devalued,” he said.

“We actually as a society pay to manage those materials through our landfills and our taxpayer dollars. So we’re actually harnessing the value in these and preserving the value of these materials and recirculating them back in the economy.”

Yaron said the CCA started in fall 2024 with six companies. The second cohort of 17 companies was announced Tuesday, but intake has already started for the third cohort next spring, which could bring the program’s expected total to about 50 participants.

Applications are still open and will be reviewed on a rolling basis, said the press release.