Recyclability and the Impact on Packaging

Jonathan Ménard has been a leading figure in the waste and recycling management industry since 2008. With extensive expertise in optimizing MRF design and a deep understanding of cutting-edge technologies, he is a recognized authority both in North America and internationally. Jonathan is also a respected public speaker, having presented across various industries on market trends and innovations.

Jonathan joined Machinex in 2008 as Project Director in the Sales Department, where he designed advanced technical solutions using Machinex’s state-of-the-art separation technologies. His work primarily focused on the European and international markets, with particular expertise in residential, commercial MRFs, waste-to-energy, and mixed waste treatment.

In 2016, Jonathan was appointed Executive Vice-President of Sales and Strategic Positioning. In this role, he has driven Machinex’s expansion across international markets and led strategic diversification efforts in emerging sectors such as e-commerce warehouses and deposit return schemes. He also supports the Sales Engineering Team with his deep expertise when needed, continuing to ensure Machinex delivers turnkey solutions to its clients.

Patrick is the Founder, President and CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GFL Environmental Inc, a Canadian multi‐sector environmental services company headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario.
In 2007, Patrick had a vision to create a company that is a “one-stop shop” provider of environmental solutions. Since then, drawing on the discipline he learned in his earlier hockey career, Patrick has driven GFL to become the fourth largest environmental services company in North America. Patrick has instilled an entrepreneurial culture in GFL’s leadership team with a focus on operational excellence, sustainability and safety as core values.
In 2017, Patrick was recognized by Waste360 with a Top 40 Under 40 Award, and in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year TM Ontario Awards, as Entrepreneur of the Year in the Power & Utilities Sector.
Patrick is also driven by a passion to give back to charities in our host communities. In addition to being a regular supporter of charities supporting local family and health initiatives, in 2019 he contributed $5 million to help create the Dovigi Family Sports Medicine Clinic, a first of its kind sports medicine research and care facility providing support to individuals with sports-related injuries.
Patrick is a devoted father of 5 children and currently serves on the board of directors of the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation.

Michael is a leading sustainable business expert, with over 20 years’ experience across North America, Europe and Asia. His work has most recently been focused on public and private sector ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), climate action and circular economy projects, cross-sectoral initiatives and government relations advocacy as Vice President of Sustainability at Retail Council of Canada, Director of Sustainability at GFL, Director of Climate Change & Sustainability Services at Ernst & Young and as Vice President of Business Development & Strategy at Bee’ah, a leading UAE based integrated waste and recycling management company. 

In Michael’s current role at Retail Council of Canada, he leads the sustainability practice, supporting retailers and quick service restaurants nationally with government relations, the development of knowledge sharing platforms and pre-competitive initiatives on key issues such as ESG and climate action, extended producer responsibility (EPR) and plastic waste reduction. 

As Vice-President, Recycling – North America, Stephen’s leadership guides the success of GFL in advancing resource recovery across North America. He plays a leading role in developing strategic partnerships and driving key initiatives across the business. His expertise in these areas combines an understanding of operating successful facilities under different regulatory frameworks and creating solutions that address the needs of GFL’s customers.

Leveraging his decades of experience, Stephen is part of a leadership team that successfully navigated the implementation of EPR programs across Canada. He uses his in-depth knowledge of market dynamics, commodity sales, contract strategy and innovative MRF design and operations to drive performance in the recovery and recycling industry. Under his direction and oversight, the company was awarded new contracts, expanded recyclables processing and sales operations to new territories, designed and built award-winning MRFs that embraced the increased demands of end markets, and advanced recovery rates through cutting-edge technology and training.

Anthony is currently the VP- Product Development & Innovation in the Consumer Brands Division.  There he fuses his engineering background with the worlds of consumer research, strategic marketing and product/service design. 

After receiving his B.A.Sc. from the University of Toronto in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Anthony continued his studies completing a Masters in Engineering Design.   Anthony then spent almost a decade in the automotive industry at Ford, Magna, and Martinrea in various positions involving project management, product design and testing, R&D and engineering management.  In 2007 he joined Canadian Tire’s Innovation Management Group building new competency in the organization around product development and innovation for Canadian Tire’s Private Label Brand portfolio.  Anthony has spent the last few years building out the Owned Brands strategy and org structure to support Canadian Tire’s purpose of Making life in Canada better. Anthony is strong supporter of academic/industry collaboration and has run initiatives with UofT engineering, Schulich School of Business, and the Rotman School of Business – Design Works Studio.   

Anthony has a passion for user-centered design and is an advocate of both design thinking and doing.  He has built Canada’s largest consumer product design and development team; focused on the innovation that results when business strategy, user-understanding, and design methods merge.