Trash Talk: The Business of Wasting Nothing
Waste is not just an environmental problem, it is also a business opportunity, a design challenge, and a community question. At the same time, circular economy companies are building in a difficult and uncertain moment. Customers want sustainability, but markets are unpredictable, and policy support is uneven. Meanwhile, social enterprises and impact ventures are facing growing skepticism.
Trash Talk brings together circular economy founders and climate business ecosystem leaders to discuss the realities of building waste-to-value businesses. The panel explores how waste-to-value businesses are adapting, surviving, and finding opportunity to scale despite economic and political headwinds.
🎤 Speakers
Opening Talk: Aaron Veale, Founder & CEO, Planet Food
Aaron Veale is the founder and CEO of Planet Food, which is building the backbone of the food economy: one system combining software, AI, logistics, and infrastructure to help farmers, brands, distributors, restaurants, and communities move food more efficiently. Coming from a three-generation farming family, Aaron sees food as critical infrastructure. He previously co-founded the venture-backed startup Blossom, and before technology built a career as a film director and producer, creating campaigns for Samsung, Google, Red Bull, and the Vancouver Canucks.
Moderator: Keith Ippel, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Spring
Keith Ippel is Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Spring, built from a bold idea to change the world through innovation. Spring is one of Canada's leading impact organizations, having catalyzed $230M+ in capital across a community spanning 3,500+ founders and investors, 60+ cities and five continents. His 25 years of experience at the intersection of entrepreneurship, capital and systemic change. In 2023, he co-founded Spring Impact Capital, a VC fund backing Canadian founders in human and planetary health. A global keynote speaker and Ivey MBA, Keith believes impact-driven innovation holds extraordinary potential to shape a more equitable and resilient future.
Panel:
Ben Liegey, CEO and Founder, BetterTable
Ben Liegey is the founder and CEO of BetterTable, a Vancouver-based benefit company helping hotels and restaurants waste less and earn more. Over a decade working to cut the climate impact of the global food system, he has driven measurable results for brands like Delta Hotels and YVR. A Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 honoree and the product designer behind BonAppify, Ben built a platform that scales waste and carbon reduction through audits. He is also the producer of Food Synergy, the world's first documentary on innovation across the entire food value chain.
Hassan Murad, CEO and Co-Founder, Intuitive AI
Hassan Murad is the co-founder of Intuitive AI and creator of Oscar, the world's first AI-powered zero-waste platform. Oscar has been deployed across hundreds of high-traffic venues, including airports, stadiums, universities, and Fortune 500 campuses, improving recycling accuracy up to 96% while turning the bin into a consumer engagement channel. With a background in robotics spanning autonomous submarines, farm-mapping drones, and self-driving cars at Tesla, Hassan is a Forbes Top 5 Entrepreneur on the Rise in AI, a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, and a TEDx speaker. Maclean's named Intuitive AI one of Canada's potential billion-dollar breakout startups.
Sumreen Rattan, Co-Founder & COO, Moment Energy
Sumreen Rattan is co-founder and COO of Moment Energy, the North American market leader in repurposing EV batteries into battery energy storage systems (BESS). She leads battery supply chain and automaker partnerships, and Moment Energy is the first company in North America to earn UL 1974 certification for its safety and performance. The company recently closed a $40M financing round and opened its Surrey megafactory. Sumreen has been recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30 and celebrated as a Business Changemaker.
✏️ Agenda
5:00 – 5:20pm: Check-in & mingle
5:20 – 5:30pm: Opening Talk
5:30 – 6:30pm: Panel discussion
6:30 - 6:45 pm: Q&A
Until 8 pm: Networking
This event is hosted at Planet Food's warehouse in Mount Pleasant, a working food-distribution space built to move local food that would otherwise go to waste. Planet Food connects farmers, brands, restaurants, and communities to move quality food efficiently and keep it out of the landfill, which makes it a fitting home for a night about turning waste into value.
This session is free, and non-alcoholic beverages are provided.
📷 By attending, you consent to being photographed during the event.
We acknowledge that we physically and digitally work and live on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We also recognize the Katzie, Kwantlen, Kwikwetlem, Qayqayt, Semiahmoo, S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Stz'uminus, scəwaθenaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsawwassen), and all Coast Salish Peoples on whose land we are honored to be newcomers and guests. We further acknowledge that Indigenous Peoples in Canada are the original climate experts and stewards of the land. We acknowledge that PNW Climate Week is on a learning and unlearning journey in truth and reconciliation.