Canada's federal credit agency has a new business partner — a plastic-zapping microwave company born and raised in Montreal.
Pyrowave, which uses its unique microwave technology to process plastic waste, will receive a $1-million investment under Export Development Canada's (EDC) new Cleantech Co-Investment Program. The program aims to catalyze growth in smaller, early-stage Canadian clean tech companies with the potential to break into overseas markets.
The deal has been in the works for more than a year, said the company's co-founder and CEO Jocelyn Doucet, and includes contributions from the Montreal-based investor Ecofuel and a European investor as well.
"We're proud to be the first deal in this new program for sure," he told National Observer. "We want to position our technology as the main engine for a circular economy... we would like to see our core technology being integrated into other chemical recycling technologies."
Bringing plastic back to the basics
Pyrowave's patented product breaks down plastic items, like Styrofoam cups or food containers, back into their original compounds. They can then be sold back to companies that want to re-make those same plastic products, or other plastic products made of the same ingredients. It saves companies from having to source new ingredients for plastic from crude oil, and in the process, reduces landfill waste, waste hauling and waste incineration.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, less than 10 per cent of plastics generated today are recycled. Having Pyrowave's microwave-like modulars on site at recycling plants could change that percentage significantly, said Doucet, as they ingest waste and expel a dark liquid that can be turned into a wide variety of products.
For every tonne of crude oil left in the ground in that process, he added, about two tonnes of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions are spared.
"Our goal is to close the loop of plastic so we really can make it a reversible product and infinitely useable," he explained. "I want to see a world where we’re more resource efficient; that’s my end goal, my global vision. Pyrowave is certainly part of the solution to this."
The company has a pilot plant in Montreal, and plans to bring its products to Sarnia, Ont. — a global petrochemistry hotspot — where it can be used in a variety of the city's plants, and new international partnerships may emerge. Doucet said Pyrowave's technology has a broad range of applications beyond the plastic-zapping modular, but it would be premature to discuss them at this time.
"For us this is just the beginning of the story," he said. "The key element that we’ve invented here is the first microwave reactor in the world. That’s essentially what we’ve done at commercial scale."
Doucet declined to reveal specific sales numbers to avoid giving potential competitors an edge. But he said that sales are going well enough that he expects more business soon in Sarnia.

Expanding Canada's clean tech portfolio
Export Development Canada helps Canadian companies extend their international reach by providing insurance, financing and guarantees to banks. It operates at arm’s length from the federal government, but ultimately reports to Parliament through the minister of international trade.
Its new Cleantech Co-Investment Program stems from funds in its regular commercial account, said spokeswoman Shelley MacLean, and will help fill a void in funding for companies that may still have negative-cash flow, but great potential to create clean technology solutions at home and abroad. It does mean taking on a degree of additional risk, she explained, but the risks will be mitigated by the industry adoption rate, and spread out among private sector investors that are interested in clean tech companies.
"The CCIP program has been specifically built to address this market gap," she wrote in emailed comments. "CCIP will provide funds for companies that are getting market traction, but who lack the funds necessary to capitalize on them."
The federal credit agency has not yet determined whether the program will run in perpetuity, but hopes to co-invest with partners in about 10 companies before making that decision, based on program feedback. EDC is the largest financier of clean tech in Canada, and has committed to investing $30 million in clean tech companies by the end of 2020. As of May 31, it had invested approximately $10 million of that target.
MacLean said EDC consults its environmental team before partnering up with such companies, to determine if they're a good fit for the Crown corporation's clean tech portfolio goals.
"EDC does have a team that provides environmental assessments in alignment with EDC’s policies," she explained. "EDC has a Cleantech Team that works closely with the Investments Team to assess companies. We also work with partners such as MaRS and Écotech Québec and SDTC (Sustainable Development Technology Canada) who provide us with referrals."
Export Development Canada first partnered with Pyrowave in 2017 to provide a $500,000-line of credit that would help the company reach customers in the U.S.. The credit agency also has a successful Green Bond program, which offers fixed interest rate loans to companies that work in clean tech, climate change mitigation and readiness, renewable energy and environmental protection.
Last year, EDC provided $1.5 billion in financing and support to nearly 200 cleantech companies in Canada.
EDC can do more than just
EDC can do more than just subsidize clean tech start-ups - it could help to develope a market for private investors in these innovative technologies to help them grow. Opportunities for Canadians to invest in this sector are currently extremely limited. I for one would like to shift more of my (limited) investment capital into this market.
Today's must read
Convoy mixes with white nationalists and delivers toxic message to Ottawa
Sheila Watt-Cloutier urges bankers to take bold risks to fight climate change
Canada's top public servant fears 'someone is going to be shot' in next election campaign
Climate change plays major role in top 10 underreported humanitarian crises of 2018: report
Canada's health organizations demand action to prevent catastrophic climate change
Montreal man ticketed for doing exactly what every other Montrealer has done this winter
Alberta hikes minimum wage, adds food service jobs for the third straight year
Mike Schreiner aims to protect water in Ontario’s first-ever Green Party bill
Scattered relatives of seven Halifax children who died in fire speak of anguish
What would a 10-year ban on federal contracts actually mean for SNC-Lavalin?
B.C. provincial budget funds nearly $1 billion for climate action
Get to know the Green New Deal, by the numbers
Alberta says GHG reductions prove carbon pricing works
Tech giants called to testify in Ottawa in international probe of fake news
Climate change isn’t just frying the planet—it’s fraying our nerves
Doug Ford just urged Ontario students to wash their mouths out with soap
Water monitors are getting a new tool to tackle toxic algae in Lake Winnipeg
Canadian regulator won't consider climate impacts of Trans Mountain
Alberta expands oil-by-rail capacity by 120,000 barrels per day
Gerald Butts resigns from PMO
Tories are 'joyous' about departure of 'feared' Trudeau advisor
Five things you should know about Gerald Butts, following his resignation
Sidewalk Labs plans massive takeover of Toronto neighbourhood
'Making this up': Study says oilsands assessments marred by weak science
Former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell accused of sexual assault: British newspaper
Wilson-Raybould snubbed Senate committee on corporate corruption bill
Trump's national emergency: from shutdown frying pan to constitutional fire
'People will die if nothing is done'
Scientist who resisted censorship of climate report lost her job
What is the Green New Deal and how would it benefit society?
Urgency in climate change advocacy is backfiring, says Citizen Potawatomi Nation scientist
A lawsuit to save Ontario's basic income program has failed
'It’s like pulling teeth': Catherine McKenna accused of stalling on fossil fuel subsidies
Indigenous technologists using tech tools as path to self-determination
Public outrage growing over Doug Ford's 'crazy' comments
How Trudeau's climate promise fizzled
We asked Rod Phillips to explain how Ontario's latest proposal is different from a carbon tax
Oil and gas industry rewards fossil fuel growth at its peril, report warns
Why François Legault is wrong about Islamophobia in Quebec
Wilson-Raybould resignation spells trouble for Liberals
Trudeau 'surprised' by Wilson-Raybould's resignation
Doug Ford’s government just proposed a carbon tax on industry
Why a UN committee’s new Site C deadline shouldn’t be ignored
Parliamentary watchdog rejects Morneau's criticism of its Trans Mountain report
Comments