Research Axis 3 – Resources and products sustainability
Axis 3 is led by a co-chair and a co-lead.
Axis 3 of the RRECQ is structured around the work of its members, who focus on the challenges related to the territorial deployment of the circular economy, particularly in terms of stakeholder coordination, flow management, and adaptation to local realities. Through their engagement within the Network, the researchers involved in this axis actively contribute to a better understanding of territorial dynamics and the conditions required for the implementation of coherent and integrated circular strategies.
Their expertise not only helps identify and analyze material flows and associated constraints, but also strengthens stakeholders’ capacity to assess potential and adopt deployment models tailored to socio-economic and environmental contexts. In this way, their work supports the development of systemic approaches and appropriate tools, contributing to improved stakeholder coordination and facilitating the implementation of circular strategies at multiple territorial scales, while enhancing the impact and resilience of territories.
Axis 3 objectives
Objective 3.1: Explore, measure, and understand the potential and deployment models for circular material flows at the regional level
The transition toward a circular economy within our societies requires a thorough understanding of local potential, particularly in relation to available resources, as well as the development of deployment models adapted to socio-economic and environmental realities. Territories exhibit specific characteristics in terms of primary and secondary material stocks, value chains, and industrial dynamics, which calls for differentiated approaches to maximize the benefits of circularity.
This objective aims to explore, assess, and analyze these potentials by identifying strategic sectors, critical resources, secondary material stocks, and high value-added flows, as well as logistical models for collection, sorting, recovery, and valorization. By developing analytical tools for context-appropriate deployment models, this objective will contribute to the efficient use of available secondary resources and the preservation of natural resources, thereby strengthening the resilience of our societies.
Examples of Research Themes
- Strategic sectors and critical resources
- Mapping of primary and secondary material stocks, as well as high-potential flows
- Logistics models (e.g., collection, sorting, recovery, recycling/valorization)
- Recovery, sorting, recycling, and valorization technologies (e.g., advanced and bio-based materials)
- Development of new circular value chains
- Value chains, supply chains, and process optimization
- Industrial and territorial symbiosis: practices in Quebec, Canada, and internationally
- Assessment of environmental impacts (e.g., LCA, carbon/material footprint)
Objective 3.2: Design, test, and evaluate appropriate tools to support strategies for circularity in material flows at the regional level
The transition to a circular economy relies in part on the ability of territorial stakeholders to access tools that enable them to identify and assess circular strategies beyond their own organization and their “natural” partners. However, the tools currently available are often limited, fragmented, or poorly suited to identifying and evaluating circular strategies involving a diverse set of stakeholders. This situation hinders the efficient implementation of circular strategies, as well as the measurement of their performance and impacts.
This objective aims to design, test, and evaluate innovative and efficient tools capable of supporting the planning, monitoring, and optimization of material flow-oriented circular initiatives. These tools must meet several key requirements: flexibility to represent networks of diverse stakeholders engaged in circular strategies; the ability to integrate a wide range of indicators (particularly related to performance and impacts) to facilitate strategy assessment; and a user-centered design approach. By developing solutions validated through case studies, this objective will help strengthen the capacity of multi-actor systems to close material loops, preserve resources, and ultimately enhance the resilience of our societies.
Examples of Research Themes
- Diagnostic tools for material flows and life cycle analysis, as well as scenario development and modeling (e.g., digital twins, multi-scale modeling, digitized value chains)
- Traceability, interoperability, and methodological alignment with emerging standards
- Evaluation and decision-support tools dedicated to the circularity of resource and product flows (e.g., integration of environmental and social impacts, assessment of externalities)
- Data accessibility, security, and integrity
- Contributions of circularity to decarbonization and integration into carbon pathways
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Research Projects
Some examples of projects related to axis 3:
