Brief description of the organization
The Working Centre is an integral part of the social fabric of K-W. Operating for 44 years, our projects create access to tools for those without work, those without housing and the most vulnerable – a web of community building. We build hospitable, welcoming places where people find belonging, practical supports and ways to contribute. Our 30 projects are organized under 4 main Pillars - Work and Livelihood; St. John’s Kitchen and Outreach; Housing and Shelter, and Community Tools and Enterprise operating out of 16 commercial buildings and multiplex houses.
Problem area
The Working Centre operates various recycling collection projects that include: furniture and housewares, bikes, clothing, electronic goods. In each of these projects there are varying levels of waste generated. We are seeking new ideas to expand reusing, refurbishing, regenerating, recirculating. We are particularly interested in new ideas for recirculating furniture, clothing and electronic goods. This may mean thinking of a process of dismantling the product and recreating it in another form. For example, with the level of surplus clothing, exploring new engineering means of breaking down clothing into fibres seems like an excellent recirculation study.
We have another project in development that will look at sourcing surplus food from farms, stores and the Ontario food terminal with the goal of preserving either freezing or dry freezing and then either distributing to food banks or selling them to cover costs. This may be called a regeneration project.
Main objectives
- To research the waste stream of Working Centre recycling projects
- To determine the best product areas to focus on
- To research these product areas to determine the most promising idea whether it is a reusing initiative, a new form of recycling, a regeneration project or an idea to recirculate the item by breaking it down into its original components.
- To determine the most promising idea and develop a pre-business plan for the next steps
Scope of work
- To analyze the waste stream of Working Centre recycling projects that are in operation.
- To focus on three products that the team can analyze further - such as one of: fabrics, food, electronics, furniture, housewares.
- Research new ideas for recycling, reusing or regenerating for these three product areas.
- Determine the most promising idea and develop a pre-business plan for the next steps.
- If the idea is solid, it is possible to develop a full business plan.
Deliverables
- Report
- Presentation
- Resources
- New protocols/processes
Team meeting frequency
Bi-weekly
Skills and training required
Research and analytical tools, marketing skills, primary materials knowledge, insight into how products are manufactured, understanding of how a charitable, non profit social enterprise operates, strong knowledge of reuse, recycling and recirculating as a model, presentation skills, good social skills to communicate the idea and to learn from work that others are doing in other recycling projects, and business knowledge.
Resources required
- Computer and research resources
- Transportation to get around to do on-the-ground research.
NDA or a commercialization agreement for this project?
Yes