FEED Engineering Inc.

Published purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated an increased consumption of disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) by healthcare workers and by the general public. As of June 29, 2020, based on federal government projections for PPE demand over the next year, it is estimated that approximately 63,000 tonnes of COVID-19 related PPE will end up as waste, being ultimately landfilled. This includes an estimated 4 billion pairs of medical gloves with an estimated weight of 16 tonnes. To reduce the environmental footprint of PPE in Canada, the Government of Canada is supporting the development of solutions to manufacture more sustainable PPE and to better manage their end of life. Strategies include re-usability, alternative materials and novel recycling technologies, as well as compostability. This challenge is in support of the alternative materials and compostability elements of that strategy. For this reason, the Government of Canada is seeking solutions for Made-in-Canada sustainable elastomeric materials that are compostable to be used in the manufacture of an equivalent alternative to disposable medical gloves, as an eco-friendly and safe replacement.