CPIA announces 2019 Plastics Industry Leadership Award winners

On Oct. 2, 2019, the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) recognized twenty outstanding individuals and businesses for their commitments and dedication to the growth and sustainability of the Canadian plastics industry at its annual Plastics Industry Leadership Awards Dinner in Vaughan, Ont.

The premier award, the Leader of the Year, was given to Bill Dickson, president of Cambridge, Ont.-based material supplier Canuck Compounders. “Bill Dickson has been driving his company towards the utilization of recycled materials into a diverse line of finished products for the last four decades,” CPIA said in a statement. “He began his career in a plastics compounding business at the age of 18 working part-time on the plant floor while going to school. Bill worked his way up through the ranks to full-time, then onto supervisor and management. He left his management position and went on to establish Canuck Compounders in 1979, and in 1986 he consolidated the company and became the sole owner of Canuck Compounders. Bill’s goal of continually creating recycled formulated resins to go into higher end application is and always will be his goal. At the present time most of the finished product produced at Canuck is destined for the automotive market, with much of it ending up in-mold in colour class A visual parts.”

Bill Dickson

In addition to the Leader award, CPIA presented awards to winners in the following categories:

Five Young Leader Awards recognized up-and-coming leaders of the plastics industry:

• Ian Ferguson is currently the chief operating officer at Toronto’s Chantler Packages Inc. Since 2003 he has been involved in the flexible packaging industry in sales and management roles.
• Crystal Howe is the head of sustainability for the Ice River family of companies. With a background in organic farming and a passion for business with a purpose, Crystal drives sustainability best practices within the organization, the community, and with supplier and customer partners.
• Jonathan Quinn is the market development manager for Calgary-based Nova Chemicals Corp.’s polyethylene business. In his role he has conducted consumer perception-of-plastics research as well as extensive research on the e-commerce sector, including food e-commerce.
• Joel Rudolph is the vice president, strategy and business development at Farnell Packaging Ltd. in Halifax, N.S. Rudolph’s role focuses on strategic growth and marketing for Farnell, helping clients develop sustainable solutions that stand out on retail shelves.
• Tammy Schwass is the executive director of the Alberta Plastics Recycling Association, where she facilitates partnerships to support and connect member organizations.

In the area of Sustainability, CPIA honoured three recipients for their environmental, economic and social contributions:

• Jon Pyper, previously the associate director of sustainability for CPIA Dow’s N.A. Packaging & Specialty Plastics business, now heads Jon Pyper Consulting Services. Pyper worked at Dow for over 34 years and held various senior management positions in sales, marketing, product management, financial services, purchasing, e-Business, government affairs, and sustainability across several Dow businesses.
• TC Transcontinental Packaging, headquartered in Mississauga, Ont., was recognized for making strides towards a circular economy for plastics. In January 2019, the company broke the recycling barrier by launching in North America one of the first-in-market, 100 per cent recyclable, multilayer barrier stand-up pouches.
• Canuck Compounders sustainability efforts began 40 years ago, CPIA said, and  have been in the context of utilizing recycled products to formulate specific specifications for the higher end markets in the injection molding industry.

Two winners were honoured In the Innovator category, recognizing those who have contributed to the advancement of the plastics industry:

• GreenMantra Technologies, headquartered in Brantford, Ont.,was recognized for utilizing a patented and proprietary catalytic depolymerization process to create polymer additives and synthetic waxes from recycled plastic feedstocks, including four of the seven streams of plastic.
• StoneStraw Ltd. is North America’s largest independent dedicated straw manufacturer. Headquartered in Brantford, StoneStraw innovated and produced “Back to Earth”, the first Canadian made, industrially/municipally compostable straw which are certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute and meet ASTM D6400 and/or ASTM D6868 standards to compost within 180 days or less.

Three recipients of CPIA’s Canplast Award were recognized for individuals who contribute their time, energy and expertise to improving the competitive and environmental performance of the Canadian plastics industry:

• Sarah Marshall is the Nova Chemicals’ director of sustainability, and  is responsible for leading cross-functional efforts to achieve the company’s long-term vision for sustainability. She is a strong advocate for a plastics circular economy, working with supply chain partners, customers, government officials, industry associations and others to help create innovative solutions for plastics recycling and recovery.
• Dave Schwass, also with Nova Chemicals and the president of Alberta Plastics Recycling Association, was recognized for providing environmental leadership, support and representation across Nova Chemicals and to the industry associations representing chemical and plastics manufacturing and research in North America.
• Joe Hruska is the CPIA’s vice president of sustainability, where he leads the development and execution of CPIA’s sustainability, advocacy, and partnership programs to promote solutions that increase the recycling and recovery of plastics at their end-of-life and reduce marine litter.

Finally, six recipients of CPIA’s Lifetime Achievement Award were recognized for making outstanding achievements and contributing enduring legacies to the Canadian plastics industry and to the community at large:

• Dan Falla is the senior technical service specialist in films at Shell Polymers. Falla has spent more than 30 years in the polymer industry, and was most recently with Nova Chemicals in product development and food packaging.
• Blair Fraser has spent more than 39 years in the polyethylene industry and presently is the vice president of manufacturing for Toronto-based plastic bag maker Hymopack Ltd., managing day-to-day activity, overseeing expansions and supporting diversification into new markets.
• John Lefas founded Toronto-based material supplier Ingenia Polymers in 1986 after working for the polymers department of Imperial Oil’s chemicals division.
• Philip Latchman is the president of Toronto-based additive supplier CCC Plastics and has been an active member of the plastics industry for over 20 years, serving five years on the executive board of CPIA’s Plastics Film Manufacturers Association of Canada.
• Manfred Lupke established Concord, Ont.-based plastic pipe maker Corma Inc. He is the driving force of the company and is still developing new technologies. Under his leadership, Corma has become an industry leader in its field of corrugated plastic pipe machinery.
• Edward Wilanowski has spent more than 40 years in the industry. He joined the Concord-based flexible packaging supplier Layfield Group in 2006 and spent the remainder of his career with them, working on the engineering and operations side of their businesses.