BC entrepreneurs looking to rethink waste will once again have the chance to grow their businesses through the Project Zero incubator program. The incubator specifically focuses on entrepreneurs pursuing the circular economy with the goal of reusing, refurbishing or reducing waste as a central component of their businesses.

17 ventures will graduate from the free, eight-month circular economy program, making it the largest and first provincewide cohort since its inception in 2019. Businesses that graduated from the program are expected to create over 40 new green jobs by the end of 2023.

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The Project Zero Incubator Program is expanding this year to include startups from across B.C. Developed three years ago to nurture Victoria and Vancouver Island-based entrepreneurs and grow the circular economy, Project Zero has seen 29 ventures complete the program so far, which are projected to create over 80 new green jobs between 2020 and 2022.

Scale Collaborative, the Synergy Foundation, and Community Micro Lending are three examples of leadership in driving thriving, sustainable, connected, and financially resilient social impact sectors and communities.

How the circular economy fights to keep products out of the landfill — and may just be the best way to grow business on Vancouver Island. By encouraging people to see waste as a resource with massive potential for growth, Project Zero Incubator supports the creation of local jobs and innovation in the sustainability sector.

Victoria is incorporating a low-waste lens into its 20-year economic strategy for climate, waste, and business goals. The city plans to capitalize on the economic benefit of the growing circular economy. Project Zero's incubator is supporting innovators to create this shift - cutting emissions while creating jobs.

Every year, 100 billion tonnes of material enter the global economy, but over 91% of goods end up in the landfill at end-of-life. The Project Zero Incubator Program, an initiative of the Synergy Foundation that supports new British Columbia-based ventures operating within the circular economy, is hoping to change that.

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Our study set out to find diverse circular economy solutions that are viable and scalable, that drive systemic circularity, and that have exceptionally positive environmental and social impacts.

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Director of Operations at Synergy Foundation, Georgia Lavender, talks about how circular economies  both build economic growth, and help save our planet. Project Zero is working to increase circularity to reduce our dependency on and  consumption rates of new materials.​

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Created in 2019, the Project Zero incubator program is an impactful initiative focused on introducing and implementing circular economy concepts in British Columbia, Canada. Since its inception, the program has produced 29 successful ventures and created over 85 local, green jobs.

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Victoria is host to a growing ecosystem of business-support networks that include incubators, accelerators, venture capitalists, micro-lenders, skill-based courses, recovery programs and then some. This includes Project Zero, which nurtures entrepreneurs with business ideas or early startups operating in the circular economy.

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Project Zero provides educational content and workshop material, as well as organizing an incubator for businesses that consists of roundtable discussions with policymakers and industry leaders to identify circular opportunities.