Canada: a student plans to reuse cannabis industry waste to renovate native habitat

The Canadian cannabis industry produces an astronomical amount of waste, and has yet to develop alternatives for reusing it. Tons of organic matter are burned or taken to landfill when they could be used. This non-ecological waste management has a significant impact on the environment as the industry grows.

Zaffia Laplante, a young indigenous entrepreneur and student, is looking to recycle this waste into building materials, enabling indigenous communities to renovate their homes. These communities live in insalubrious conditions that are hazardous to their health. Zaffia Laplante's innovative project has both an ecological and a social perspective.

Waste management in the Canadian cannabis industry

The housing crisis in indigenous communities and the Zaffia Laplante project

Canada's indigenous communities are currently experiencing an unprecedented housing crisis. A large proportion of their population lives in unhealthy conditions that encourage the development of bacterial diseases and lung infections. Communities lack the funds to renovate their homes, which are invaded by mold. This is not a new problem, but this year it has prompted some communities, including the well-known First Nation to declare a state of health emergency.

Ottawa has taken up the issue. The government has convened a task force to assess the extent of the problem and propose solutions. Funds are to be allocated to a long-term plan for the renovation of indigenous housing. In the meantime, indigenous communities continue to live in mold and extreme temperatures. It was to find a sustainable solution to this problem that Zaffia Laplante set up her company Hempenergy and plans to reuse waste from the cannabis industry in the manufacture of insulating materials.

Zaffia Laplante is a student at Wilfred Laurier University in Ontario and a member of the indigenous community. Metis Nation. As a result of her project, she was accepted into the Royal Bank of Canada and to receive 450 000$CA . She is currently competing for the Hult Prize in Melbourne; a prize that rewards students who develop ideas to solve contemporary challenges.