Network researchers take part in CERIEC’s circular economy living labs, which enable them to experiment with new solutions for implementing the transition.
What is ELEC
CERIEC’s Ecosystem of Circular Economy Living labs (ELEC) aims to increase the circularity of key sectors and industries in the Québec economy. These living labs adopt an approach based on co-creation and field experimentation. They are based at ÉTS and made possible thanks to a partnership with Desjardins Group.
To date, CERIEC has applied the approach to two sectors and one value chain, selected for their circularization potential and prioritized by Québec government authorities: the construction and food systems sectors, and the textiles value chain.
Mission
The mission of the labs is to develop, test, document and transfer structuring circular solutions that reflect the real issues and needs of a given industry or sector, and that are at the cutting edge of knowledge and science.
Vision
To accelerate the transition of industries and sectors towards a circular economy that respects planetary limits, we need to: consider all industries and sectors, as well as all their value chains and constituent components; and foster unprecedented collaboration between the stakeholders in these value chains. A systemic approach is the most effective way of supporting the circularization of a sector or value chain.
This is why the Labs system mobilizes the various key stakeholders in the value chain of a given industry or sector – from the extraction of resources to the end of the product cycle – and drawn from the private sector, the public sector, civil society and research to :
- Co-imagine a vision of the industry or circular sector in 20-25 years’ time.
- Co-identify the obstacles to resource circularity.
- Co-create solutions to overcome the obstacles identified.
- Co-develop experimental projects to test structuring solutions in the field.
Values
To ensure a coherent approach, the essential ingredients that guide all the activities of each lab over its lifecycle are :
- Circularity: reducing the use of virgin materials, reducing and optimizing the use of resources, intensifying the use and extending the lifespan of products, and giving new life to resources at the end of the product cycle, for all resources and components in the value chain of a given industry or sector.
- Co-creation: co-creating with and for stakeholders, circular solutions that reflect their real issues and needs and are at the cutting edge of knowledge and science.
- Research and innovation: developing and testing new circular knowledge and practices.
- Field experimentation: testing circular solutions in the field so that they are practical and applicable in the real-life context.
- Shared benefits: documenting and making easily accessible the results and new practices and knowledge of experimentation projects, so that they can be transferred, replicated and scaled up to benefit the circularity of the entire industry or sector and the community.
Discover the different living labs
Construction Lab
The Construction Lab, funded by Desjardins and the French Ministry of the Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE), rolled out its activities over three years, between 2021 and 2024. It mobilized over 300 stakeholders from 120 organizations, and conducted 19 experimentation projects along the entire construction value chain.
Researchers involved
Erik Poirier
Fanny Tremblay-Racicot
Félix Veillette
Gabriel Jobidon
Gauthier Bouchenoire
Hassana Elzein
Ivanka Iordanova
Jean-Claude Carret
Joëlle Tétreault
Laurent Gagné
Marc Journeault
Marc-André Bérubé
Marianne Tollemer
Marie-Luc Arpin
Martine Dubé
Mathias Glaus
Mathieu Courchesne
Meisam Jaberi
Michel Vaillancourt
Mustapha Ouhimmou
Narimene Midoune
Pierre Blanchet
Rim Khlifa
Saman Davari
Sébastien Lamothe
Tasseda Boukherroub
Thomas Jonard
Zahra Hosseini
Experimental projects
Of the 19 Lab Construction field experimentation projects, 15 are led or supported by RRECQ members (in French).
- Bâtiments adaptables et démontables : principes de conception et feuille de route pour l‘industrie de la construction au Québec avec Ivanka Iordanova, Saba Baienat, Narimene Midoune, Bechara Helal et Sylvain Gagnon
- Vers l‘incorporation de granulats bitumineux récupérés (GBR) dans les travaux routiers municipaux au Québec avec Éric Lachance-Tremblay, Diego Ramirez-Cardona et Michel Vaillancourt
- Analyse des bénéfices économiques et environnementaux associés à la mise en place d‘une économie de fonctionnalité en lien avec la consommation énergétique d‘un bâtiment avec Marc Journeault, Rim Khlifa, Annie Levasseur et Danielle Monfet
- Analyse de l‘impact des initiatives d‘encadrement du tri à la source des résidus de CRD sur différents chantiers de la ville de Bromont avec Emmanuel Raufflet, Marie-Dominique Côté, Mathias Glaus et Anne Joncas
- Outils pour aider les donneurs d‘ouvrage à introduire la circularité en amont des projets de construction avec Aure Adell, Sarah Lafrance, Catherine Choquette, Thomas Jonard et Nicolas Kada
- Projet de métabolisme urbain : secteur de la construction de l‘agglomération de Montréal avec Claudiane Ouellet-Plamondon, Marie Vigier, Annie Levasseur et Thomas Elliot
- Analyse du processus de revalorisation des matériaux dans le cadre de la rénovation du siège social d‘Hydro-Québec et recommandations d‘optimisation avec Emmanuel Raufflet, Augustin Fanier, Mathias Glaus, Karine Brisson et Lucie Talliana
- Faciliter la traçabilité des matériaux et des produits de construction via le développement et l‘implantation du fil numérique dans le secteur québécois de l‘environnement bâti avec Erik Poirier, Adam Yousfi, Saman Davari et Meisam Jaberi
- Mise en place d‘une plateforme de démantèlement des portes et fenêtre issues des étapes de déconstruction en vue de leur valorisation avec Mathias Glaus, Maël Lahmar, Domitille Belz, Anne Samson et Florence Houle
- Optimisation de la logistique du réemploi des matériaux issus de la déconstruction avec Tasseda Boukherroub, Audrey Nganmi Tchakoutio, Félix Veillette et Nathalie Drapeau
- Valorisation du bardeau d‘asphalte postconsommation pour les chaussées non revêtues avec Jean -Claude Carret, Alan Carter, Michel Vaillancourt, Alexandre Landry et Bechara Helal
- Appliquer la circularité dans l‘analyse du cycle de vie des bâtiments avec Ly-Anne Sayegh, Annie Levasseur, Claudiane Ouellet-Plamondon, Leopold Wambersie et Mathieu Bendouma
- Analyse des stratégies d‘économie circulaires à l‘échelle du secteur LaSalle / Ville Saint-Pierre / Lachine Est avec Claudiane Ouellet-Plamondon, Daniel Pearl, Cécile Bulle et Camille Chabas
- Optimisation de la logistique interne pour la commercialisation des matériaux de construction usagés dans un centre de réemploi à Montréal avec Caroline Thomasset-Laperrière, Amin Chaabane, Mustapha Ouhimmou, Armin Jabbazadeh et Louis Garban
Food Systems Lab
The Food Systems Lab, co-directed by CERIEC and La Transformerie, started in May 2023 and runs until 2026. The Lab mobilizes 314 people from 174 organizations from all links of the food systems. 7 experimental projects are currently underway, and others will be launched during 2025. The Food Systems Lab is funded by the Government of Canada through the Investment Readiness Program (IREP) run by the Chantier de l’économie sociale; the Ministère de l’agriculture, des pêcheries et de l’alimentation (MAPAQ); the Ministère de l’agriculture, des pêcheries et de l’alimentation (MAPAQ); le Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP); and benefits from a financial partnership for research with the Pôle bioalimentaire, powered by the Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF) and financed by the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ, 357357).
Researchers involved
Alain Doyon
Aliyeh Rasooli
Amélie Parenteau
Angèle Poirier
Anne-Andrée Denault
Annie Levasseur
Armelle Lorcy
Berenice Foncoux
Carolyne Dubreuil
Catherine Houssard
Cathy Baptista
Cécile Fonrouge
Chedrak Chembessi
Christine Gingras
Christine Vigneault-Gingras
Claude Maheux-Picard
Claudine Passo
Danielle Monfet
David Dewez
Denise Proulx
Éliane Brisebois
Eline Laurent
Elizabeth Adam Trindade
Eloïse Lemaire
Eloïse St-Pierre
Eric Tamigneaux
Esteban Figueroa
Estelle Pedneault
Félix Fortin Mongeau
Flora Salvo
Froylan Espinoza
Grant Vandenbert
Guillaume Boisvert
Hugo Melgar Quinonez
Jean-David Martel
Juste Rajaonson
Katherine Tanaka
Laura Wyper
Laurence Guillaumie
Laurent Bazinet
Laurent Girault
Louise Hénault-Éthier
Louise Tremblay
Lucie Beaulieu
Manon Niquette
Marie Filteau
Marie-Claude Desjardins
Marie-Ève Bernier
Marie-Hélène Deschamps
Marie-Hélène Pâquet
Marie-Pierre Létourneau-Montminy
Marilou Ethier
Marylin Donsbeck
Marylou Meyer
Mathieu Faure
Mathilde Vincent
Mélissa Zbacnik-D’Antonio
Mylène Arbour
Myriam Poirier
Nicoletta Foti
Patrick Faubert
Patrick Mundler
Philippe Cardou
Pierre-Olivier Fontaine
Pierre Paul Audate
Renata Pozelli Sabio
Renée Michaud
Riadh Ladhari
Rim Larbi
Ronaldo Tavares De Souza
Ronan Corcuff
Sabrina Rimouche
Said Elkoun
Samira Chbouki
Samuel Sponem
Seddik Khalloufi
Sergey Mikhaylin
Sonia Pomerleau
Sourabh Jain
Tarik Jabrane
Tarra Drevet
Tasseda Boukherroub
Valérie Lacombe
Valérie Orsat
Véronique Allard
Yixiang Wang
Experimental projects
The Food Systems Lab has launched 7 experimental projects (in French) :
- Développement d’une appellation réservée Aliment circulaire avec Marie-Claude Desjardins, Jonathan Rodrigue et Jérôme Perron
- Réduction et circularisation de la pellicule plastique en emballages tertiaires avec Saïd Elkoun, et Valérie Jodoin
- Portrait et évaluation des plateformes de valorisation et de mutualisation dans les systèmes alimentaires québécois avec Éline Laurent, Mathilde Vincent, Vincent Lusignan et Melody Tim Yen
- Outils techniques pour la mutualisation d’équipements et d’infrastructures de transformation alimentaire avec Catherine Cyr, Christine Vigneault-Gingras, Véronique Allard, Myriam Poirier et Armelle Lorcy
- Économie circulaire dans les secteurs des pêches et de l’aquaculture au Québec : état des lieux et opportunités avec Esteban Figueroa, Mylène Arbour, Estelle Pedneault et Éloïse Lemaire
- Déployer et pérenniser les productions alimentaires solidaires dans les stratégies d’économie circulaire régionale : étude de cas de la région du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean avec Pierre Paul Audate, Juste Rajaonson et Marion Toucas
- Démocratiser les modèles d’achat plus directs d’aliments locaux avec Catherine Vachon, Amélie Parenteau, Renata Pozelli Sabio et Hugo Melgar-Quinonez
The following projects are currently being defined:
Other projects are currently being defined. These projects will aim to implement the following project tracks:
B – Circular packaging
E – Evaluating circular biofood initiatives to raise awareness
H- Financing tools and tax levers to promote circularity
J – Circularity indicators
Textiles Lab
The Textiles Lab, funded to date by the MELCCFP and MEIE, began in April 2024 and runs until 2027. The first year of correlation mobilized 151 people from 119 organizations representing all links in the Quebec textile value chain. Over the next two years, some twenty projects will be explored.
Researchers involved
Andrée-Anne Hudon-Thibeault
Emmanuel Raufflet
Eric Desnoes
Félix-Antoine Simard
Jennyfer Exantus
Leyla Lardja
Lucas Hof
Maxime Saint-Denis
Noé Rubio de Teran
Philippe Terrier
Sophie Bernard
Sophie Richard
Vanessa Mardirossian
Experimental projects
The Textiles Lab is in the process of defining experimentation projects, and has identified the following areas for co-creation:
A – Developing tax and regulatory incentives
A.1 – Co-created EPR impact analysis
A.2 – Pilot project for tax-free resale and repair
A.3 – Evaluation of bonus-malus eco-fiscal measures
B – Design measurement and standardization tools
B.1 – Deployment of the data collection tool in the province’s thrift stores
B.2 – Pilot project to display circularity indexes for textile products
B.3 – Mapping textile flows in IC&I
C – Improving infrastructures to circularize textiles
C.1 – Pilot project for automation and robotization of material sorting and packaging
C.2 – Feasibility study for large-scale supply of recycled textile materials
C.3 – AI-assisted resale inventory management pilot project
C.4 – IC&I waste collection and sorting pilot project
C.5 – Pilot project for transforming agricultural residues into textile fibers
C.6 – Market study for products made from post-consumer textiles
D – Encouraging the implementation of new practices within companies
D.1 – Developing circularity criteria for uniform design
D.2 – Creation of an eco-design toolbox for fashion and apparel companies
D.3 – Functional economy support program specific to the textile industry
E- Deepening the knowledge and know-how of the next generation
E.1 – Pilot project to produce a teaching guide (primary and secondary schools) on textile circularity
E.2 – Pilot project to co-create circular economy learning modules (CEGEP and University)
E.3 – Development of an interdisciplinary textile-design-environment program (CEGEP and University)
F- Structuring Quebec’s textile ecosystem
F.1 – Pilot project to set up a regional collaboration and sharing network
F.2 – Issue table to define the role of the ecosystem coordinating body
