Food waste solutions: Winners of Novel Technologies Stream announced

As part of Canadian Innovation Week 2024, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lawrence MacAulay, announced the two grand prize winners of the Novel Technologies Streams for the Food Reduction Challenge: Clean Works Inc., and Genecis Bioindustries Inc.

The challenge, launched in November 2020 in partnership with Impact Canada, supports high-impact solutions to food waste in Canada. The Novel Technologies Streams focus on developing technological solutions to food waste. These solutions serve to extend the life of perishable food or transform food waste into new products or value-added productsion.

Clean Works Inc., a St. Catharines-based company, developed a solution that uses hydrogen peroxide, ozone, and UV to control mildew and micro-organism growth in pre-harvest fruit and vegetables. This innovative solution allows the shelf life of produce to be increased by up to 20 per cent, which Clean Works estimates will prevent nearly 50 tonnes of food waste annually for grapes and spinach alone in Canada.

Genecis Bioindustries, a Toronto-based company, developed a specialized bacteria that transforms food waste into compostable bioplastics. Over the last three years, the company has diverted over 2.1 tonnes of food waste from the landfill, allowing them to produce around 5,000 tonnes of environmentally-friendly bioplastic at their Toronto facility each year.

Both Clean Works and Genecis Bioindustries will each receive a grand prize of up to $1 million to help accelerate the advancement of their proprietary solutions and support their prospective deployment in the Canadian market. By encouraging more solutions to food waste, we can increase food availability, save Canadians and businesses money, and strengthen our food systems while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the Government of Canada, they will continue to support innovation in this area, ensuring that more of the high-quality products produced by producers and food processors reach Canadians.