From the industrial waterways of textile mills to the contaminated runoff of mining operations, three British Columbia startups have stepped forward with technologies that reframe waste as resource and pollution as opportunity. Selected through BC Tech's Dragons' Den Pitch Night, Lite-1 Bio, Tersa Critical Minerals, and Viridis will now carry their visions to the 2026 Technology Impact Awards Gala, where the Company of the Year – Startup Award awaits. Their emergence reflects a broader human reckoning with the environmental costs embedded in the materials and processes that sustain modern life