For Immediate Release
May 1, 2024
econext and TD are recognizing the achievements of Newfoundland and Labrador’s cleantech and environmental services Industry Awards winners.
“In the fight against climate change, businesses and individuals are doing some exciting things right here in Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Kieran Hanley, econext‘s CEO. “As a small province we are punching well above our weight in this regard and our industry awards help celebrate that success.”
The following awards were presented at econext‘s Annual General Meeting and Industry Awards Event on April 26, 2024:
Information on the awards and all of the winners is found in the backgrounder below.
“Congratulations to our deserving award winners, each of whom is helping to drive clean growth in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
econext is an association of businesses that accelerates clean growth in Newfoundland and Labrador and works on behalf of over 200 members to foster environmentally sustainable economic development. More information can be found at https://econext.ca.
econext’s Cleantech Innovation Award recognizes innovation at any stage of development in business and academia – from research and development, to commercialization, to refinement – of products, services, or processes that can mitigate effects to, protect, or enhance the environment. The award is judged according to the uniqueness of the innovation, the potential for positive environmental impact, and the potential for commercial application.
The winner of this year’s Cleantech Innovation Award is BioLabMate.
BioLabMate is an award winning start up focused on reshaping the future of plastic in our province. Started in 2021 with the recognition that there is a significant amount of waste generated from single use plastic items in scientific laboratories, BioLabMate is pioneering a technology that will result in a transition from petro-plastic to bio-plastic. Even when recycled, plastic still generates microplastic pollution in our oceans. As the history of Newfoundland and Labrador is deeply tied to the sea, having a safe and sustainably derived product is crucial for the future health of our marine way of life. The implications for bioplastic are beyond the university setting and can be implemented by the Health Services as well as private and industrial research labs.
The product developed by BioLabMate is truly circular. Utilizing their expertise in biochemistry and process engineering BioLabMate has invented a material derived from seaweed. They have engaged with rural communities to investigate economic development in seaweed farming in the province. This is currently an untapped potential market and provides and opportunity for growth. There will be the need for local processing facilities that have the potential to scale as adoption occurs. Additionally, the choice of seaweed as a material has far reaching climate implications. Seaweed is a powerful carbon sink, absorbing more CO2 than trees. Through its cultivation, this will allow Newfoundland and Labrador to work towards our Net Zero 2050 targets.
Through their work BioLabMate have also demonstrated that community engagement brings the best ideas forward. BioLabMate has worked with many mentors, businesses, and communities as they have grown as a company. As new Canadians with graduate degrees from MUN, they show the value that new talent and outside the petri dish thinking can bring to the province. Additionally, they have worked with students both at MUN and CNA to mentor the future scientists who can build upon their achievements. As they have progressed their fantastic vision from concept to pilot, they have been awarded the winner of Ocean Communities Climate Challenge (Ocean Startup) as well as IRAP funding.
econext is very pleased to award the Cleantech Innovation Award to BioLabMate.
econext‘s Business Excellence Award recognizes a significant initiative or achievement of a business engaged in Newfoundland and Labrador’s green economy. This could include the completion of specific projects, business growth milestones, or a contribution to the community from a sustainability or corporate social responsibility perspective. The award is judged according to the initiative or achievement’s impact as it relates to economic growth and development, positive environmental effects, and public awareness of green economy and environmental challenges or opportunities.
This year’s winner of the Business Excellence Award has demonstrated a commitment to ecological stewardship and operational excellence – ASL Energy.
In 2023 ASL Energy worked with many different partners including Equinor, North Atlantic Refining, ARUP, SLB, Springdale Forestry Resources the Provincial film and TV Industry, and even entertainment venues as diverse as Rogers Centre in Toronto, and Gilette Stadium in Foxborough Massachusetts.
Their most notable achievement in 2023 comes from their work with the aquaculture industry. Answering a mission based challenge to address the mounting aquaculture plastic waste, ASL Energy developed a recycling process for granular high-density polyethylene (or HDPE) plastics. They established partnerships with key producers to give their discarded plastic a second life. Through purchasing a shredder and designing a system where it can be deployed to the specific locations of the waste, ASL Energy can efficiently and effectively convert a landfill nuisance into a manufacturing feedstock. A notable product that ASL develops with the recycled plastic are mats which allow for environmentally safe practices in the offshore as well as in rural and remote communities.
Tackling the issue of plastic waste in the aquaculture sector reflects a proactive approach to environmental responsibility, setting a positive example and contributing to a culture of corporate responsibility and environmental stewardship.
Through this initiative, the award winner is mitigating plastic pollution, promoting resource efficiency, and supporting a more sustainable approach to aquaculture production. Proudly female Indigenous-owned, our recipient of the Business Excellence award values diversity, inclusion, and strong ties with Indigenous partners and local communities, fostering economic growth and supporting local economies.
econext‘s International Business Award recognizes a significant initiative or achievement of a Newfoundland and Labrador organization engaged in international business activities relating to cleantech or environmental services. Initiatives or achievements could include export success, diversification into new sectors or markets, collaborative research and development, or the establishment of international partners. The award is judged according to the relative impact of the internationalization activity for the individual business and/or the industry at-large.
The winner of this year’s International Business Award is Academy Canada.
Academy Canada is proud to be the largest independent career college in NL and one of the most diverse in the entire country. The college has helped more than 35,000 students build their careers by delivering hands-on and relevant diploma programs in the top 35 employment fields since it was established in 1985.
Less than five years ago, Academy Canada set its sights on qualifying and pursuing opportunities for growth and collaboration in the Caribbean market. During this short time, the organization has prioritized a handful of individual markets within the region on which to focus its business development efforts and throughout this period, the institution has remained focused and committed to establishing and nurturing meaningful strategic partnerships.
Despite the difficulties brought on by the COVID 19 pandemic which thwarted travel into the region, Academy Canada maintained and strengthened relationships in the market throughout the pandemic. And as travel to the region resumed, the institution’s success has been marked in the form of official partnership agreements signed in three distinct markets: Barbados, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Academy Canada’s success in the Caribbean can in large part be attributed to its commitment and sustained focus on relationship building – an essential success factor for doing business in the region. But the institution’s approach to business development has also been discernibly unique.
Recognizing the need to develop trust, to demonstrate its value to prospective clients and partners and to differentiate itself from competitors, Academy Canada has been actively building the capacity of in-market partners and stakeholders by sharing Academy Canada’s own experiences and best practices through workshops and information sessions on topics such as supporting students with disabilities.
Academy Canada’s collaborative approach to international business development is also manifesting itself in the form of local partnerships here at home. One example is a tripartite collaboration between Academy Canada, the Marine Institute and the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in Saint Lucia. The collaborative initiative is aimed at creating diverse experiential learning opportunities for Canadian youth in areas of study that include coastal resource management, marine conservation, marine engineering, and welding. Academy Canada has not only established itself as a valuable training partner and provider to organizations across the Caribbean, but in doing so, it is also raised the profile of Newfoundland and Labrador in the Caribbean region, and all it has to offer.
Congratulations to Academy Canada on being recognized with econext’s International Business Award.
econext’s prestigious Industry Champion Award recognizes the contribution of an individual to the growth of Newfoundland and Labrador’s clean technology and environmental services sector.
Reducing our contribution to climate change really comes down to two fundamental acts: making existing aspects of our economy less greenhouse gas intensive, and introducing the new technologies, processes, and industries that will be the foundation of our economy in the long term.
This sums up what people mean when they use the term ‘energy transition’. The individual that we are recognizing this afternoon has played a prominent role on both sides of the energy transition coin – from oil and gas to hydrogen.
The Net Zero Project was initiated in 2021 with the objective to define what actions were necessary to ensure success for Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore oil and gas industry within the context of the world’s pursuit of net zero by the year 2050. As the Policy Lead for this important project, our award winner helped identify key actions that needed to be explored for our industry to reach this objective. From the development of offshore wind farms to electrify offshore assets, to the adoption of carbon capture and storage technologies, to the creation of negative emissions carbon offset projects – our Industry Champion was vital in helping us understand what crucial steps needed to be taken from a policy and regulatory perspective to allow our province to realize and adopt these opportunities.
Having helped to address these matters, our award winner next set his sights on helping to build an entirely new clean energy industry. As the Environment and Sustainability Manager of World Energy GH2 our Industry Champion helped industry navigate the environmental assessment for a project which had no precedent on a global scale. To put this achievement into context, Newfoundland and Labrador had a moratorium on wind energy up until 2 years ago. Our award winner led the advancement of an EA in a dynamic environment where processes, guidelines, and regulations were being constructed in real time. The recent release of World Energy GH2’s project from environmental assessment is a testament to the effectiveness of his work.
In both of these cases – whether it be outlining net zero pathways for our province’s key industry, or being the trailblazer in establishing the norms for a brand new one – econext’s Industry Champion has had a significant and lasting effect on clean growth and the green economy in Newfoundland and Labrador.
econext is privileged to present the Industry Champion Award to Dave Pinsent.
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