Public-Private Partnership Delivers Green Solutions

Start-up: Switchable Solutions Inc., Mississauga, Ontario
Founded: 2011
# of employees: 6

Ontario’s Minister of Government Services and MPP for Mississauga-Erindale, Harinder Takhar (second from left) recently toured the Fielding Chemical property that will house Switchable Solutions’ new plastics recycling area.

Photo credit: Rob Beintema, Mississauga News

The Opportunity: A Queen’s University researcher discovered a breakthrough eco-solvent technology that takes aim at some of the world’s most pervasive environmental challenges. The green business opportunities are significant: recycling polystyrene foam packaging and food containers and polyethylene oil bottles, separating oils in soybeans and other sources to make biofuels, and extracting bitumen from oil sands.

The Challenge: Translating this technology into a company with a viable commercial product.

How a CECR helped: GreenCentre Canada extensively developed and tested the technology over the past two years, reducing the risk for future investors. GreenCentre then teamed with Stewardship Ontario and two of its industry sponsors (Fielding Chemical Technologies, Mississauga and NexCycle Plastics Canada, Brampton) to create Switchable Solutions to commercialize the technology. The company is initially targeting three market sectors: plastics recycling, oil sands processing and seed oil extraction. Its first plastics recycling plant, currently under construction in Mississauga, will divert about two million kilograms per year of foam cushion packaging, soiled food containers and other used plastic from Ontario landfills. Four other plants are planned for Ontario and the United States.

Start-up Entrepreneur: Mark Badger, President and CEO, Switchable Solutions
“Having GreenCentre Canada’s industry sponsors as our founders provides us with a solid foundation of expertise and resources to quickly deliver significant economic and environmental benefits. We’re currently in discussions with other potential strategic partners to rapidly grow the company.”

The value of partnerships: GreenCentre’s 10,000 sq. ft. laboratory, funded by the Ontario government and private sector, is able to offer a suite of commercialization services as a result of its CECR funding. The Centre is actively commercializing 25 technologies, from a portfolio of 280 from 37 institutions. GreenCentre is also working with another CECR, the Bioindustrial Innovation Centre, to create a development pipeline that takes projects from the lab bench to pilot scale testing.