As part of plans to achieve zero waste by 2030, the Canadian government has granted four innovative companies CA$150,000 ($119,000) in a bid to fast-track their solutions offering promise in the fight against plastics.

Two of the recipients, CacithInc and Met-Tech Inc, leverage systems that will focus primarily on plastic textile waste, such as that from polyester- and nylon-based clothing.

By providing finances through the Canadian Plastics Innovation Challenge, authorities will support the four companies in the development of their technologies and systems.

Cacith is a Montreal-based organisation with a network of recyclers that work to quantify and find new markets for material waste. Met-Tech on the other hand, headquartered in Ontario, claims to have developed a low-cost process of recycling textile waste.

Data suggests that Canada’s recycling infrastructure is weak at present. With limited collection points and recyclers, it’s estimated that upwards of 93 per cent of polyester and other plastic-based textiles end up in landfill.

Magemi Mining and Singular Solutions are the other two companies to have been granted funding. They offer an alternative to plastic packaging and a ‘bio-sustainable’ additive that hastens the biodegradability of plastics, respectively.