Chidiebere Kelvin Udeorji
Tier one Research Chair, Dr. Kelvin T. W. Ng from the University of Regina, Canada
Abstract Title:
Beyond Recycling Rates: Assessing Canada's Sustainable Plastic Development Pathway Using a Novel Footprint FrameworkBiography:
Chidiebere Kelvin Udeorji is a PhD researcher in the Environmental Systems Engineering; under the supervision of the Canada tier one Research Chair, Dr. Kelvin T. W. Ng from the University of Regina. He specializes in environmental sustainability, GIS, waste management, and decision-support systems. His work focuses on healthcare waste management systems, agricultural plastic waste, landfill and repository siting, spatial analysis, and multi-criteria modeling. He applies advanced analytical tools to address complex environmental challenges and support evidence-based planning and policy development.
Research Interests:
The increasing environmental burden of plastic packaging requires more effective tools to assess progress toward circular economy and sustainability goals. This study introduces the Sustainable Plastic Development Footprint (SPDF), a new indicator that integrates plastic waste generation, recycling performance, population rate and human development into a single assessment framework. The SPDF is defined as the ratio of plastic packaging waste generation rate to the product of the Human Development Index (HDI) and plastic recycling rate, providing a measure of the plastic burden associated with development pathways. The framework was applied using plastic packaging flow data from British Columbia (2019–2025) and Manitoba (2022–2025), obtained from provincial stewardship reports. A national assessment was also conducted using Canadian plastic packaging data from the Canada Plastics Pact and HDI values from the United Nations Development Programme. Results show that Canada’s SPDF declined from 448 kg/capita/year in 2019 to 331 kg/capita/year in 2022, representing a 26% reduction. Provincial analyses yielded average SPDF values of 28.35 kg/capita/year for British Columbia and 36.13 kg/capita/year for Manitoba. Flexible plastic packaging consistently exhibited higher footprint values than rigid plastics, averaging 9% higher in British Columbia and nearly three times higher in Manitoba due to lower recovery rates. By linking waste generation, recycling efficiency, and development outcomes, the SPDF provides a practical and complementary metric for evaluating recycling system performance and tracking progress toward circular economy and sustainable development objectives.