Clean50’s Clean Tech Nominees for 2024 – Part 1 of 8
This week featuring Aruna Revolution Health, Bosk Bioproducts, BrewNature, Calmura Natural Walls, Carbon Cap, and Edison Motors.
Each year the Clean50 Awards attract more worthy nominees than we can possibly include on our list when we release it each fall (this year September 28th), and that’s an incredible shame – because this year we have 60 incredible nominees in the Cleantech and R&D categories alone. It’s great to know that clean tech innovation is alive and well in this country!
But innovation is not enough: Organizations and individual Canadians need to make the conscious choice to support made-in-Canada innovation – and buy Canadian where ever and whenever they can. Because here’s the thing: The incredible sums of money Joe Biden has invested in US based clean tech, and the tax advantages he has conferred on clean tech investors in the USA means that US based clean tech companies are rich with cash – and they can afford to buy up Canadian competitors. And when that happens, the intellectual property – and the jobs – and the revenues – all of it – move to the USA.
So we’re trying to do our part and show you 60 companies doing amazing stuff – and we hope you’ll do yours – BUY some of it!
As we go through this process, we’ve been amazed at where some of our clean tech / climate impact innovation is coming from: It’s not just start ups and university labs. We’re featuring lots of those, for sure – but also a coffee company who have invented a filter that erases the need for paper filters, and a company capturing kelp from the seabed – turning it into compostable plastic, and another recycling abandoned plastic fishing nets into brand new plastic, and a start up that aims to eliminate tampons that … well you’ll find out if you keep reading!
We promise – each of the 8 articles in this series over the next few weeks will open your mind to some seriously cool possibilities! Congratulations to all of our nominees!
Aruna Revolution Health
Clean50 Nominee: Rashmi Prakash, CEO
Halifax NS
What does the product do? Aruna will revolutionize the way we manage our menstrual health with compostable menstrual pads that are better for the body and the planet. Currently, 20 Billion menstrual products and their packaging end up in the landfill every single year just in Canada & the US alone, with each taking over 500 years to degrade into microplastics. Current pads also contain chemicals such as PFAs and dioxins, known to be carcinogenic. Aruna’s novel process of fiber extraction allows them to upcycle waste plant materials and put them through a process that makes pads that are free of harmful chemicals, and can be composted and returned to the earth
Who should buy it? Aruna’s novel pads are designed by women for everyone who menstruates, and are better for the body and the planet.
Learn more – or get on the wait list!
Bosk Bioproducts
Paul Boudreault, President
Quebec, QC
What does the product do? In the face of an unprecedented global plastic pollution crisis and growing negative public sentiment regarding its impact on the planet, the traditional plastics industry is under immense pressure to find new solutions that don’t contribute to this problem. In particular, plastic packaging is seen as a significant contributor to this environmental catastrophe. Bosk Bioproducts has developed a new type of plastic called REGENTM which eliminates many of the environmental issues that traditional plastics cause. At its end of life, REGENTM can be composted within 6 months and it won’t produce harmful gases or micro-plastics.
Who should buy it? REGENTM is a direct replacement bio-plastic that is made of 100% biosourced ingredients. What this means is that a current maker of plastic packaging can simply replace the traditional petrol-based plastic pellets it uses with REGENTM, without having to replace the expensive machinery it currently uses to manufacture these products.
BrewNature Inc.
Clean50 Nominee: Babak Roshani, CEO & Co-Founder
Saskatoon, SK
What does the product do? Our Patent-pending technology is designed to help reduce the amount of organic waste that ends up in landfills, which is a major contributor to GHG emissions worldwide. The technology is useful in cities where there are limited composting facilities and composting during the winter months is not feasible. We are accelerating the natural process of composting, which usually takes 3-5 months to complete, down to just 5 days. The process involves breaking down organic waste using microbial aid. The modular system allows each vessel to handle 10 tonnes of organic waste, providing an efficient and sustainable solution.
Who should buy it? Municipalities, Food Processing, Fish Farms, Mining and Metals, Agriculture Farms, Provincial and Federal Parks, University camps and Resorts
Calmura Natural Walls Inc.
Clean50 Nominee: Monty Chong-Walden, CEO & Co-Founder
Vancouver, BC
What does the product do? Calmura Natural Walls has developed a natural, carbon-negative biocomposite panel and wall system that valorizes half a million tons of forestry and agricultural residuals annually per regional factory. Their biocomposite panel has comprehensive performance and a platform of uses for decarbonizing buildings, with their beachhead product being a dry floor topper for commercial mass timber buildings. Their panel provides a high IIC-rating at competitive pricing while providing time savings, fire protection, thermal and humidity regulation, all while achieving the highest building rating standards in the market.
Who should buy it? Mass timber architects and engineers; lumber mills and agricultural fiber processors with surplus bioaggregate.
Carbon Cap Inc.
Clean50 Nominee: Raphael Kolenko, Managing Director
Hamilton, ON
What does the product do? Carbon Cap Inc., a Canadian clean technology company, addresses sustainability challenges in multi-residential buildings by tackling their significant contribution to global emissions. They developed a cost-effective, retrofitted system to capture and reuse wasted flue gas from hot water heating boilers, reducing natural gas consumption and carbon emissions. Carbon Cap aims to support global emission reduction efforts and accelerate business growth through its competitive and easily implemented FGR system.
Who should buy it? Their target customers are building operators with high natural gas consumption.
Edison Motors
Chace Barber, CEO
Merritt, BC
What does the product do? Edison Motors builds electric semi trucks for the logging and heavy duty trucking industry. Edison Builds new trucks and retrofits existing diesel trucks over to hybrid-electric drive power. The electric-hybrid drive reduces fuel consumption and emissions and increases torque to heavy duty semi trucks.
Who should buy it? Trucking Companies who want to reduce emissions and save fuel.
