Cascades CEO receives Clean50 and Clean16 awards for sustainability

October 4, 2018 – Cascades has announced that its president and CEO, Mario Plourde, received the 2019 Clean50 and Clean16 awards from Delta Management Group.

Each year, the Clean50 awards program honours 50 individuals who have made outstanding contributions to sustainable development and clean capitalism in Canada over the prior two years, in 16 different categories. In addition to being one of 50 award recipients selected for their achievements, innovations and ability to inspire other Canadians, Plourde also distinguished himself in the “Manufacturing and Transportation” category, earning the Clean16 award.

“Mario Plourde was chosen following a rigorous search and selection process undertaken by Delta Management in consultation with internal and external advisors, and he is among the honourees selected from an initial pool of approximately 600 qualified nominees,” says Gavin Pitchford, CEO of the Delta Management Group.

“In continuing to build Cascades’ environmental legacy, Mario has instituted initiatives such as the $2,000 electric vehicle incentive for employees and the development of innovative products with added environmental value,” says Pitchford.

“Mario actively supports Cascades’ sustainable procurement program, which evaluates suppliers and rewards environmentally responsible ones with five to 10 per cent advantage. Cascades’ 20 energy efficiency engineers have helped the company to reduce its GHG emission intensity by 50 per cent since 1990, and Mario has committed to a further seven per cent reduction by 2020. Last year, Cascades recovered 76 per cent of its manufacturing residue for reuse, and 42 per cent of the company’s energy consumption comes from renewable sources,” Pitchford says.

Plourde thanked his staff for helping to reduce the company’s enviornmental footprint, adding that “Long before sustainable development became a trend, Cascades was already practicing it instinctively.”

“The Lemaire brothers were recovery pioneers, and they left us a legacy that we intend to honour and develop even further for the benefit of the planet, of communities and of our customers,” Plourde says.