ESG Leaders Recognized At 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards

20 Dec ESG Leaders Recognized At 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards

Posted at 01:00h in Uncategorized by Matt Harney

December 21, 2021 – SEAL Awards today announced the winners of the 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards, honoring their leadership, innovation, and commitment to sustainable business practices.

2021 SEAL Sustainability Award honorees ranged from global brands (like Disneyland, General Motors, Salesforce, Samsung, and Skullcandy) to high-growth start-ups and scale-ups (like Convoy, Mapistry, and Polestar).

“Increased corporate prioritization of ESG initiatives has been a welcome and needed change as our climate crisis further accelerates. This increased investment in sustainable business practices has raised the bar for ESG excellence, making this our most competitive award event ever with a record number of submissions,” commented Matt Harney, SEAL Awards’ Founder. “Our mission at SEAL is to rigorously assess and then celebrate extraordinary sustainability leadership. We’re honored to present these 2021 Sustainability Award winners.”

2023 SEAL BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS

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Judged by a panel of ten sustainability and ESG experts, the event featured four distinct sustainability award categories:

SEAL Environmental Initiative Award

This award honors specific environmental and sustainability initiatives.

The Environmental Initiative winners were:

A2A S.p.A.
Anuvia Plant Nutrients
ArcTrade
Arkema
Atlas Renewable Energy
Biogen
Clean Earth
DBS Bank
Deloitte
Denis Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Ayam Brand)
Disneyland Resort
doTERRA
Edifecs
Equinix
Event Network
Fresh Del Monte Produce
General Motors
Gotham Greens
Green Standards Ltd.
Hiddenfjord
Kadant Inc.
Lonely Whale
Majid Al Futtaim
Manulife / John Hancock
Medline Industries, LP
Niagara
NRG Energy
PATH
PepsiCo Beverages North America
Polestar
Samsung Austin Semiconductor, LLC
Scotiabank
Skullcandy
Smithfield Foods
Stericycle Inc.
VELUX A/S
Vertical Bridge
Yealands Wine Group

SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award

This award recognizes innovations that represent game-changing ideas that bring us to a more sustainable future.

The Sustainable Innovation Award winners were:

BanQu + Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
Better Packaging Co
Biotalys
Dow
Evodrop AG
Generate
HHS (Hospital Housekeeping Systems)
HRS
Krungthai Bank PCL
AROMASE
Niagara
PATH
PepsiCo
SM Supermalls
Smarter Sorting
The Red Sea Development Company
Twelve

SEAL Sustainable Product Award

The SEAL Sustainable Product Award honors innovative and impactful products that are literally “purpose-built” for a sustainable future

The Sustainable Product Award winners were:

Pollastic by Better Packaging Co
Vuse – First global, carbon-neutral vape brand by BAT
Dentaqua by Dentaqua Ltd.
Dow METEOR™ EO-RETRO 2000 Catalyst by Dow
EVOprime; nanotechnology water filter by Evodrop AG
Gold&Green® Pulled Oats® by Gold&Green Foods
TegraSurf Industrial Surfactant by Integrity Biochem
IBM z15™ by IBM
KPS Global Gel Pack Freezer System by KPS Global
The Lattice Nexus Platform by Lattice Semiconductor
The Lockengelöt Nightstand: Hand made from oil barrels by Lockengelöt
EHS Software by Mapistry
Sabre™ with Stealth Technology Product Line by Niagara
PATH: The Bottled Water Brand that Doesn’t Want to Sell You More Bottled Water
Innovative, 3-D-printed, plant-based eyewear by ROLF Spectacles Corp.
Net Zero Cloud by Salesforce
Ultracast Viva Release Paper by Sappi North America
Teadit® Style 2848 by Teadit
UBQ Materials Ltd
Deterra® Drug Deactivation System by Verde Environmental Technologies Inc.
Enablon Vision Platform by Wolters Kluwer
Sustainable Aviation Fuel by World Energy

SEAL Sustainable Service Award

The SEAL Sustainable Service Award recognizes innovative services that set a new standard for sustainability.

The Sustainable Service Award winners were:

Blancco
Convoy
InstallNET

The 2021 award entry fees were contributed to help fund SEAL’s ongoing #UpTheCup Impact Campaign, which calls on Starbucks to adopt truly recyclable cups. The #UpTheCup petition has attracted over 70,000 supporters on Change.org to date.

Selected Sustainability Award Winner Perspectives:

Green Standards: “Green Standards has spent the last decade developing rigorous practices and global networks to deliver optimal value from office decommissioning. We’re thrilled to be recognized again by SEAL, and to be in such good company,” said Trevor Langdon, president of Green Standards. “We see it as more proof that our ability to measure and maximize ESG performance while virtually eliminating landfill is the future of workplace change.”

Yealands Wine Group: “We are delighted to be recognised alongside global leaders in sustainable business practices. As a member of the International Wineries for Climate Action group we remain focussed on achieving a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050.”

Event Network: “As retail partners to prestigious zoos, aquariums, historic sites, museums, science centers, botanical gardens, and cultural attractions across the United States, Event Network understands that these destinations have the potential to influence attitudes and behaviors of every visitor. Through our sustainable approach to retail store environments, we hope to educate and inspire guests to become responsible stewards of the planet. We are proud to create shopping experiences that uphold the conservation and sustainability values of these special venues, and to represent their missions not only in the product that is offered, but through the use of eco-friendly materials used throughout the store environment and during the store design, construction or remodel process.” – Larry Gilbert, President and CEO, Event Network

Blancco: “We are humbled to be recognized by the SEAL Awards organization for Blancco’s efforts in mitigating the e-waste challenge worldwide,” said Adam Moloney, CFO at Blancco. “The UN has set a target to increase e-waste recycling to 30% by 2023 – a vital goal as toxic substances such as mercury and BFR are found in many types of electronics and pose severe risk to human health. Unfortunately, enterprises contribute to this problem, as many old devices are physically destroyed to prevent sensitive data from being recovered and used for malicious purposes. In FY21, Blancco’s software solutions empowered global enterprises to securely sanitize 54.5 million devices, classifying 150 million lbs of electronics ‘safe’ to reuse or recycle in compliance with data security standards. We look forward to driving change and doing our part to support the circular economy in 2022.”

Arkema: Our global team at Arkema is proud and honored to win this award. Sustainability is at the core of everything we do, so the recognition really means a lot. We’ve been making advanced bio-based polymers for almost 75 years now and with the introduction of our Virtucycle® recycling program, our commitment to sustainable castor farming in India, and our continued product innovation, our Advanced Bio-Circular material portfolio has really become a design engineer’s dream. – Kevin HANRAHAN, CMO, Arkema High Performance Polymers

Clean Earth: “Clean Earth, a division of Harsco Corporation, is honored to receive a SEAL Business Sustainability Award for our Fullcircle ™ Advanced Waste Lifecycle Program,” said David Stanton, President of Clean Earth. “We are committed to reducing, reusing and repurposing waste streams for all our customers. Fullcircle helps us achieve this by strategically analyzing waste at each source of generation within a customer’s organization before developing a solution for reduction, recycling and beneficial use of those materials. This program goes beyond being environmentally responsible and sustainable, as it helps to pinpoint where waste can be reduced from the beginning. With Fullcircle, we are helping our customers work towards zero waste and are helping keep items out of landfills.”

Twelve: “We’re honored to accept the SEAL Business Sustainability Award for our work implementing carbon transformation technology with some of the world’s biggest brands and organizations,” said Twelve CEO and co-founder Nicholas Flanders. “By creating chemical feedstocks from CO2 instead of petrochemicals, Twelve enables companies to eliminate fossil fuels from their supply chain and reduce emissions. At scale, Twelve’s technology can address 10% of global CO2 emissions and transform them into products that today make up a $300 billion petrochemicals sector.”

BAT: “We are honoured to receive this SEAL Sustainable Product Award for our Vuse vapour brand. At BAT, we are creating the brands of the future with sustainability at their core. In 2021, Vuse was certified as the first global carbon neutral vape brand. This is part of Vuse’s broader sustainability programme, which aims to eliminate single-use plastics and have all packaging recyclable by 2025. We are proud that Vuse has set the sustainability standard within the vaping category. As a brand leader, this is the right thing to do. It demonstrates how we are building a portfolio of global brands with purpose, on the pathway to achieving A Better Tomorrow.” -Kingsley Wheaton – Chief Marketing Officer, BAT

Better Packaging Co.: “At Better Packaging Co. we design revolutionary packaging solutions for the new ‘eco’nomy – a circular economy in which generating waste is not an option and where packaging can be a force for good to combat pollution, climate change and social inequity”, says Rebecca Percasky, co-founder of Better Packaging Co. “We are extremely honoured to receive the 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Award in the Sustainable Product Award Category for POLLAST!C – the world’s first mailers made from 100% recycled Ocean Bound Plastic pollution. Our POLLAST!C range is packed with impact. The environmental impact is obvious; we rescue plastic pollution from beaches and waterways throughout coastal communities in South East Asia and recycle it into film-based packaging preventing our ocean plastic crisis from worsening. What’s perhaps less obvious is our social impact. By working with collectors from these communities in a sustainable, ethical way we help break the cycle of poverty and pollution, raising living standards and improving their quality of life. It’s a social solution to plastic pollution.”

KPS Global: “We are honored that the Arctic Express Pack freezer system has been recognized by the SEAL Sustainability Awards,” said Mike Eakins, CEO of KPS Global. “As the leading manufacturer of insulated panels, KPS Global is dedicated to driving positive change in the cold storage industry, and the Arctic Express Pack freezer system does just that. Its design and method of operations offers a completely new and environmentally sensitive way to manufacture gel packs.”

doTERRA: “When doTERRA looks for sourcing partnerships around the world, we deliberately choose locations where we can produce the highest quality essential oils while elevating the individual, social, economic, and environmental well-being of the community,” said Greg Hendrickson, General Manager of doTERRA’s Sourcing Initiatives in Hawai’i. “doTERRA has recognized that producing ‘Iliahi (Hawaiian Sandalwood) first requires a commitment to restore the natural habitat that previously existed on this land and to do so in a way that reverences the remarkable host culture of the Hawaiian Islands. We, along with our partners, have embarked on the largest reforestation effort in the State of Hawai’i, which will help ‘Iliahi and other native Hawaiian species thrive here once more.”

Biotalys: “Biotalys is committed to supporting a more sustainable food ecosystem for all, and earning a SEAL Business Sustainability Award is an incredible recognition of the momentum our team has gained this year to achieve our goals,” said Patrice Sellès, CEO of Biotalys. “Our biocontrols are being developed to offer a new way for the food and ag community to better manage pathogen resistance while ensuring efficiency, flexibility and safety for growers, consumers and the environment. In the years ahead, we hope that our protein-based biocontrols reduce the dependency on chemical pesticides, as well as corresponding residues in harvested produce.”

Fresh Del Monte: “Fresh Del Monte is honored to receive the SEAL award in the Environment Initiatives category for our approach to farming while conserving biodiversity,” said Hans Sauter, Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP of Research & Development at Fresh Del Monte. “We’ve made great strides in our efforts and commitment to environmental protection this year and look forward to continuing to strive for a more sustainable food system.”

IBM: “We are honored to receive the SEAL Sustainable Product Award recognizing IBM’s commitment to sustainable product development,” said Tina Tarquinio, Director, Product Management for IBM Z. “IBM has a long heritage of environmental leadership from our culture to the products we design. IBM z15 and LinuxONE III are great examples of our commitment to sustainability, from the chip up. With IBM z15 and LinuxONE III, clients can optimize power consumption, density and performance, helping to contribute to goals around reducing carbon footprint: an issue that is no longer a nice to have, it’s an imperative.”

Medline Industries, LP: “We are honored to receive the SEAL Award for our Sustainable Packaging Lab, an environmental initiative that reimagines the way Medline packages its products,” said Francesca Olivier, Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Medline Industries, LP. “The sustainable packaging concepts that have been generated through the Lab are minimizing the company’s impact on the environment while innovating the customer experience – further cementing sustainability as a business imperative.”

Integrity BioChem: “Integrity BioChem is committed to changing sustainable chemistry. We believe that the most sustainable products should be affordable and efficient. We are honored to receive the SEAL Sustainable Product award for TegraSurf, our flagship bio-based surfactant. Using TegraSurf technology, we can increase the renewable carbon index of various surfactant formulations in industrial and personal care markets. Our goal at IBC is to assist the industry in gaining net-zero carbon emissions, by helping other companies improve their formulations with our innovative technology.”- Laura Benavides, Director of Sustainability

Dow, Circulate Capital and Lucro: “We are thrilled to receive the SEAL Award for our work with Circulate Capital and Lucro to develop disruptive PCR-based polyethylene film solutions to limit waste and drive a circular economy in India,” said Han Zhang, APAC Sustainability Director, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. “This collaboration to loop hard-to-recycle plastics back into the economy – expected to divert 6,000 tons of waste from the environment while fostering new economic opportunities – is central to addressing the plastic waste crisis not only in India but on the global scale as well.”

Convoy: “To be recognized as a winner of the 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards is a tremendous honor for Convoy as we continue to focus on driving new efficiencies and reducing waste in the U.S. trucking industry,” said Convoy’s Head of Sustainability Jennifer Wong. “Today, 35% of the trucks you see on the road are driving empty, generating more than 87 million metric tons of waste; if the industry as a whole were to adopt Convoy’s technology, CO2 emissions would be reduced by 47 million metric tons – the equivalent of taking 10.2 million passenger vehicles off the road for a year. Convoy is pioneering the movement in efficient freight and this award inspires us to continue innovating new sustainable opportunities for truck drivers and shippers.”

Deloitte: “Climate change is not a choice, it’s billions of them and this generational challenge requires everyone to do their part,” says Michele Parmelee, Deloitte Global Deputy CEO and People & Purpose Officer. “This was the catalyst behind the `Empower Individuals’ pillar of our WorldClimate strategy to inform our 345,000 people about climate change and empower them to take action through responsible climate choices at home and at work. We are honored by this recognition and I am proud of the thousands of Deloitte professionals who are now taking individual actions to lead more sustainable lives and inspire those around them to do the same.”

Vertical Bridge: “We are honored to receive the SEAL Business Sustainability Award in recognition of our successful efforts to become the first telecommunications infrastructure company to achieve 100% carbon neutrality,” said Bernard Borghei, EVP of Operators and Cofounder at Vertical Bridge. “With a portfolio of more than 316,000 sites, including over 9,000 owned and master-leased towers across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, we are the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure in the United States, but fully committed to a broad ESG program which includes maintaining carbon neutrality and supporting projects across the U.S. which reduce and remove greenhouse gases. It’s critical to mitigate environmental impact as the telecommunications industry deploys 5G and other emerging technologies, and we are proud to be leading the way.”

Hiddenfjord: “We are proud and humbled to receive a SEAL Environmental Initiative Award for our decision to replace all distribution of our salmon by air freight with sea freight, says Atli Gregersen, owner and CEO at Hiddenfjord. This single initiative resulted in a reduction of our carbon footprint for overseas transport by 94%. It was not without risk, but we achieved dramatic and measurable progress that will contribute to the future viability of our planet. We owe it to future generations to do more than talk about sustainability. We are the current stewards of the planet, and the best way to effect change is to deliver it.”

BanQu and Islamic Development Bank: “This incredible SEAL Sustainability award validates the implementation of Islamic Development Bank and BanQu’s mission & vision to create a more sustainable and transparent world, a world that benefits the poorest and most vulnerable among us. Because, without transparency there is no sustainability. We are absolutely honored to accept this award on behalf of millions of our brothers and sisters across 33 countries that make the world a better place using the Global Coordination Platform every day.” Ashish Gadnis, CEO – BanQu, Inc.

HHS: “We are honored to receive the SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award for our linen utilization management (LUM) program, which has helped eliminate over 68 million pounds of linen waste for our hospital partners,” said David Kraeger, President of Healthcare Diversifications at HHS. “We are committed to identifying where there is overuse and misuse of linen within healthcare facilities and developing best practices and tracking metrics to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve water, and save energy. Together, with support from hospital frontline caregivers, laundry processing partners, and the commitment of forward-thinking healthcare leaders, our goal is to double our conservation outcomes within the next five years.”

The Red Sea Development Company: “We’re delighted to have won the highly prestigious SEAL Award for Sustainable Innovation. I want to thank everybody in the team who is working so hard to transform this breath-taking part of Saudi Arabia as we look ahead to welcoming our first guests by the end of 2022. We are thankful to the leadership of the Kingdom for their wise guidance and direction as we develop the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism destination along the Red Sea coast.”

Dentaqua: “Dentaqua is honored to receive the SEAL Award and to be recognised for our contribution to sustainable dentistry”, said Kevin Keane, Chief Operating Officer, Dentaqua. “Our goal is to help dental practices become more sustainable. The average dental practice disposes of 20,000 single-use wipes annually – that’s two billion wipes disposed of every year by the industry. Dentaqua eliminates the use of single-use wipes and disinfectant packaging. Furthermore, by eliminating all harmful chemicals, the practice is a safer place for staff and patients.”

InstallNET: “InstallNET is honored to be recognized for the 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards for our EcoServ Program – empowering sustainable decommission choices for surplus furniture, fixtures, and equipment. The EcoServ Program transparently employs a circular economy strategy helping companies and individuals reduce their carbon footprint and reach their Net-Zero goals and metrics. We are committed to assuring that decommissioned workplaces create zero waste, supporting local communities through charitable donations while caring for the environment.” Dale Ewing, Founder and CEO InstallNET

Lattice: “At Lattice, we’re committed to enabling our customers to innovate and achieve their design goals with our differentiated, low power solutions,” said Jim Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer at Lattice. “We are honored to receive this recognition for our sustainability contributions with the Lattice Nexus platform and our continued commitment to sustainability across all parts of our business.”

Equinix: “At Equinix, our Future First sustainability strategy rallies our people and partners to envision a better future, then do what it takes to make it happen. We are honored to accept the 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Award for our Environmental Initiatives. As the world’s digital infrastructure company, we have the responsibility to harness the power of technology to innovate and contribute to a more accessible, climate neutral and sustainable future.” – Katrina Rymill, VP Investor Relations and Sustainability

Salesforce: “It is an honor to receive the SEAL Awards in the Sustainable Product category for our innovation and sustainability efforts, especially at a time when the planet needs urgent solutions to fight the climate emergency,” said Ari Alexander, VP & GM of Net Zero Cloud at Salesforce. “We’re committed to investing in Net Zero Cloud to continue to drive impact and help companies big and small and across all industries to reach Net Zero, faster.”

Manulife: “As a global financial services company and one of the world’s largest timber and agriculture investment managers, we have an important role to play in the transition to a world where net zero carbon emissions are a reality,” said Sarah Chapman, Global Chief Sustainability Officer, Manulife. “We are honored to be recognized with a SEAL Business Sustainability Award for our leadership in the fight against climate change. Building on Manulife’s mission to make decisions easier and lives better, we have committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions 35% by 2035 and steering our own investment portfolio to net zero by 2050.”

Verde Environmental Technologies, Inc.:” “We are honored to be named a SEAL Sustainable Product Award winner for the Deterra Drug Deactivation and Disposal System,” said Jason Sundby, Chairman and CEO of Verde Environmental Technologies, Inc. “Sustainability is a key pillar of Verde’s mission, and we’re continually looking for new ways to make Deterra as eco-friendly as possible throughout our product’s life cycle. We hope to inspire health care organizations, government, businesses and communities across the country to adopt more sustainable medication disposal practices to keep our landfills and waterways safe from harmful chemicals.”

Edifecs: “We are honored to receive SEAL Business Sustainability Awards for our commitment to green practices and sustainability. At Edifecs our work is more than just a job, our purpose is to improve our healthcare systems and ultimately improve outcomes. Our drive to help doesn’t end with healthcare – it extends to the world we all share. We are dedicated to the health of our planet and committed to leaving the world a better place than we found it.”

NRG: “As one of the largest competitive retail power providers in the country, NRG understands that while decisions made today have a near-term impact, the effects of these actions will have a lasting legacy on our world,” said Jeanne-Mey Sun, Vice President of Sustainability at NRG. We are honored to receive a SEAL Business Award recognizing our large-scale business transformation to move closer to the customer, achieve net-zero by 2050, and ultimately advance a more sustainable, clean energy future.”

VELUX: “We are honored to receive the SEAL Award for Lifetime Carbon Neutral, our commitment to reduce emissions from our operations to zero, halve value chain emissions and capture our historical carbon footprint from operations through nature-based solutions together with WWF. Receiving the SEAL Award is a huge recognition of all the work that has been put behind the development of our Lifetime Carbon Neutral commitment and its anchoring across the entire business. The world is in need of urgent climate action, hopefully, we can help to accelerate it,” said Ingrid Reumert, VP of External Relations and Sustainability, The VELUX Group. “We have already reduced our carbon emissions from operations significantly, since 2007 in fact by 59%. Now we are taking the next big step to transform our entire business and bring more sustainable solutions into people’s homes to benefit both people and planet.”

Samsung Austin Semiconductor: “Samsung Austin Semiconductor is honored to receive a SEAL Business Sustainability award recognizing our commitment to sustainable business practices,” said Dr. Sang Sup Jeong, president of Samsung Austin Semiconductor. “We consider it our critical responsibility to develop and lead best-in-class environmental, health and safety initiatives that engage and activate our workforce, protect the environment and enhance our everyday operations. Our efforts in pollution prevention include excellence in wastewater pretreatment, implementation of Fourier Transform Infrared monitoring as well as copper ion exchange in wastewater, and certification for zero waste to landfill. Samsung is continuously focused on minimizing our environmental footprint to be a responsible and positive contributor to preserving the environment and community we call home.”

Generate: “We are honored to earn recognition from the SEAL Business Sustainability Awards for our commitment to advancing circular solutions for food waste, renewable energy and methane abatement,” said Bill Caesar, President of Generate’s Waste-to-Value unit. “With our growing network of digesters, we are among the largest processors of organic waste in North America, turning over 275,000 tons of food waste each year into renewable natural gas, electricity, and fertilizer. Capturing and destroying methane which would have otherwise gone straight into the atmosphere from organic waste, and displacing fossil fuels in the process is an exciting way to scale up climate solutions and help us and our customers reach our collective net zero goals.”

Denis Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Ayam Brand): The efforts of our team to win this award is noteworthy. On a large range of subjects, from Energy Savings to Awareness, we have achieved tremendous improvements to protect our planet. We are honoured to receive the SEAL Environmental Initiatives Award and we will continue to work towards a more sustainable world.” Pablo Merino, EHS Manager, Denis Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

ABOUT THE SEAL AWARDS

SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement & Leadership) Awards is an environmental advocacy organization that honors leadership through our business sustainability awards & environmental journalism awards while funding research and pursuing our own environmental impact campaigns.

The SEAL Awards core pillars are: