Grab your magnifying glass—there’s a mystery to solve!
Our 2026 conference invites participants to uncover the clues behind a thriving circular economy. Spend two days exploring real-world solutions through tours, workshops, and diverse sessions led by practitioners and innovators. With dedicated time for networking and shared discussion, you’ll leave with new insights, new connections, and a clearer picture of how the pieces fit together.
Join us at Delta Hotels Saskatoon Downtown: Book your conference rate now for Waste ReForum 2026
Program:
Afternoon activities (choice of 3):
Tour 1: This trail of footprints is green — University of Saskatchewan Sustainability/Green Building Tour
Enjoy the university’s amazing campus while getting the low down on green building features and sustainability practices. Walk from the hotel (2.5 km) or bus to campus to begin.
Walk/Bus. Tour guides: Matt Wolsfeld, U of S Office of Sustainability & Angie Bugg, local energy conservation expert
Tour 2: Putting the Pieces Together — Cosmopolitan Industries and Village Green MCC Thrift
Go behind-the-scenes at Cosmo’s material recovery facility, which processes blue box materials from Saskatoon’s multi-unit recycling program, as well as touring Cosmo’s other projects.
Village Green works hard to keep textiles and household items out of landfills. Take a peek at how they handle all the donated items and check out their spacious thrift store.
Walking tour. Tour guides: TBA
Option 3: The Plot Thickens — Follow the Feeling: Eco-Anxiety through the Lens of Story
Eco-anxiety is on the rise, but we’re not in this alone. This workshop explores eco-emotions through the lens of story. As a Story Strategist with a passion for climate justice, facilitator Rachel Malena-Chan brings insights about how she befriended her own eco-anxiety, and how she helps others use their personal and public climate stories to foster change.
Investigate Eco-Anxiety workshop details
Agenda (2.5 hours):
- Introductions
- 5 things I’ve learned befriending my eco-anxiety
- “Follow the feeling” group storytelling activity
- Break
- 5 tips for connecting to and through our eco-emotions
- “Letters to the future” writing and sharing activity
- Q&A
This workshop explores questions like: “How do we make space for our feelings about living in unsustainable systems?”; “How do we build capacity for self-care, community care, and planetary care?”; “What role does storytelling play in our ability to imagine a more sustainable future?”
Through facilitated activities and prompts, Rachel will walk through practices for sitting with, sharing, and moving through our eco-emotions. Leave this workshop better-equipped to find your place in a bigger, brighter climate story.
About the facilitator: Rachel Malena-Chan (she/her) is the Creator of Eco-Anxious Stories, where she brings together her passion for storytelling and her commitment to social and ecological justice. Rachel has been offering professional Story Strategy services for a decade, using narrative frameworks to help people reflect and communicate meaningfully. Her background is in Population Health, and she often finds herself at the intersection of communications, climate change, and community engagement. She resides with her partner, Wing, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Treaty 6 and the Homelands of the Métis.
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
The Game’s Afoot — Reception with a Side of Mystery
Begin the conference proper with an interactive reception in the trade show area, where participants will follow clues, crack small mysteries, and reconnect with colleagues old & new.
8:00 – 8:30 a.m.
Breakfast
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Welcome & Opening Prayer
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Always follow the money — Keynote Speaker
Discovering the Hidden Treasures of Genuine Happiness and Well-Being through Circular Economies
Investigate the Speaker: Mark Anielski
Mark Anielski is an internationally recognized economist specializing in measuring wellbeing and happiness, using his genuine wealth accounting model. Mark has adviser governments are around the world, including China, Singapore, and Tahiti on the development economies of well-being. Mark has become a trusted economic advisor to many First Nations across Canada grounding their seven grandfather teachings within a new economy of well-being. He’s currently focussed on developing the first Wellbeing Bank and financial investment trusts for First Nations.
Mark is the author of the award-winning book The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth (2007) and The Economics of Well-being: Common Sense Tools for Building Genuine Wealth and Happiness (2018).
Mark lives in Edmonton with his wife Jennifer.
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Break
3:00 – 12:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions I (choice of 2)
Session 1: Elementary, My Dear — Plastics
Plastics are everywhere—and so are the challenges of managing them. This session dives into the role of plastics in a circular economy; including highlighting recycling realities, promising innovations, and the policy and behaviour shifts needed to close the loop.
Session 2: It’s a Disguise — Textiles
From overproduction to disposal, textiles are one of the fastest-growing waste streams. This session takes an honest look at the barriers to a circular textiles economy and what’s needed—across policy, design, and consumer behaviour—to slow the flow to landfill.
12:00 – 12:45 p.m.
A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, Wrapped in an Engima — Lunch
12:45 – 1:30 p.m.
SWRC AGM
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions II (choice of 2)
Session 1: Leave No Stone Unturned — Construction/Demolition
C&D waste is complex, with mixed materials, contamination, and limited end markets. This session takes an honest look at the barriers and opportunities for circular practices, while showcasing creative projects and construction techniques that reduce waste and extend material lifecycles.
Session 2: The Second-Chance Solution — Reuse
Reuse is a key part of the circular economy—but it comes with challenges. This discussion-based session looks at how products, materials, and components can be reused effectively, highlighting innovative projects, program successes, and opportunities for broader adoption.
3:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Break
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions III (choice of 2)
Session 1: Always a Step Ahead — What’s next for the Ministry and EPR Programs
Looking ahead in Saskatchewan’s recycling landscape, this session shares the Ministry of Environment’s and provincial programs’ future plans. Attendees will learn about new initiatives, emerging strategies, and opportunities to support a more circular, waste-conscious province.
Session 2: Connecting the Dots — Community Roundtables
Take part in a facilitated roundtable discussion designed to connect participants and spark collaborative solutions. Share experiences, exchange ideas, and explore innovative approaches to community-based waste reduction and circular economy initiatives.
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
The Case of the Missing Martini — Reception
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Miss Scarlett, in the Dining Room, with the Candlestick — Banquet
7:45 p.m.
Minister of Environment Address
8:00 p.m.
SK Waste Reduction Awards Ceremony
Step into the world of intrigue! We invite you to dress as any aspect of a mystery – be it a daring detective, a cunning villain, a classic mystery novelist, a dramatic victim, a compelling clue, or anything else you can imagine. Enjoy an evening of food, fun, and conversation, surrounded by colleagues in character, and immerse yourself in the playful spirit of solving the circular economy’s greatest mysteries.
8:15 – 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Getting Clued In — Keynote Speaker
Coproducing circularity: Making sense of chaotic change
Investigate the Speaker: Mark Anielski
Saurabh Biswas is a researcher, educator, and collaborator with a focus on crafting meaningful change in society facing multidimensional challenges. He specializes in demystifying the social, economic, environmental, and technological complexities of sustainability challenges, and formulating transformative solutions. Just energy transitions, pollution mitigation and waste disposal, inclusive public transportation, and sustainable development in Indigenous communities are some of his interest areas.
Saurabh works with a range of partners including remote and Indigenous communities, non-profits and local government entities in Northern Canada, United States, Southeast Asia, Africa and South America. He is the co-founder of the Let Communities Lead initiative and a board member of the International Sustainable Development Society.
Saurabh holds a PhD in Sustainability from Arizona State University, and a Masters in Energy Systems Engineering. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Energy and Climate Change at Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. He is also an affiliated researcher with the Community Appropriate Sustainable Energy Security (CASES) initiative at University of Saskatchewan and was previously a staff scientist at US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Saurabh is an avid traveler and takes a keen interest in exploring traditional arts and crafts of the places he travels to.
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Break
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Exhibit A: Where We Went Wrong — Lightning Talks / ‘Oops’ Stories
Everyone makes mistakes—but some are more memorable than others! In this fast-paced session, participants share brief stories of projects, experiments, or initiatives that didn’t go as planned. Through these “oops moments,” we’ll laugh, learn, and discover valuable lessons about what not to do—and sometimes, what unexpected successes can come from failure.