A data-enabled circular economy solution for Canadian Agri-food producers

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For decades, a linear (take-make-dispose) economy has been the norm. Society and businesses now recognize that such a system is unsustainable, both economically nor environmentally. A new concept, the "circular economy", offers a new and innovative approach - one that reimagines how we utilize our resources, thinking about by-products and wastes as valuable resources and an economic opportunity instead of a cost.Waste volumes from the agri-food sector are immense. Canada is already one of the World's largest growers and exporters of pulses such as peas, lentils, chickpeas, and beans, with over 12 million acres devoted to such crops, but 30% of the pulse crops that enter manufacturing facilities end up as food loss. As demand for plant-based protein increases from consumers interested in seeking meat alternatives, including in Canada and elsewhere, Canadian agri-food producers will need to urgently find uses for the starch streams for which they currently do not have applications.Working together with the complete business value chain of agri-food producers, biotechnology companies, and biofuel producers, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) researchers and students will combine the expertise of biochemistry, analytical chemistry, microbiology, culinary arts, data visualization, and data analytics to address this challenge head on.The team will determine which type of waste is best suited to developing higher value chemicals, food ingredients, or biofuel products for the company partners. Data analytics and life cycle analyses will also allow the companies to make informed business decisions on the commercialization path that would be most effective. By turning what are presently materials landfilled at cost into products, the project will support diversification of company revenue streams and provide a means by which they can improve their environmental sustainability.The implementation of this solution in the agri-food sector is designed to establish a new feedstock supply chain to relieve environmental burden and deliver multi-generational economic and environmental benefits to Canadians. Re-imagining industrial agricultural wastes as the starting point for value-added product development will put Canada's economy back onto a path of long-term sustainability.