International geosynthetics manufacturer Solmax has been undergoing a change in its identity from that of a commodity producer to a provider of value-added solutions. It hasn’t lost its focus on the environment, though. That old focus has intensified, as exemplified by the recap video the company has shared of its day doing volunteer cleanup of an illegal dump.
The project, conducted in collaboration with the nonprofit organization PurNat and the city of Varennes, netted more than 150 tons of metal and other wastes.
Solmax’s international headquarters are located in Varennes. PurNat is a group that focuses on illegal dump identification and cleanup and improving the health of forest lands.
PurNat captured the day on video.
CLEANING AN ILLEGAL DUMP
“This year Solmax has changed its corporate mission,” says Solmax Marketing Manager Andreea Sasu in the video. “Our new mission is to protect, create, and optimize.”
In a statement, the company explained this mission:
PROTECT: Our purpose: To reduce the environmental impact of human activity and protect natural resources…
CREATE: …by developing innovative products, systems or methods linked either directly or indirectly to plastics processing…
OPTIMIZE: …with the highest degree of effectiveness and at the lowest cost in order to make them as widely available as possible to improve the quality of life of individuals.
While providing geosynthetic containment solutions to highly engineered containment facilities is a hallmark of the company’s work, the Varennes cleanup project gave employees an up-close look at the environmental damage that occurs all around them when people skirt the system.
“For me it’s an eye-opening experience,” says Adam Sami a project coordinator for Solmax. “The amount of scrap metal, of trash, of garbage around here is staggering…. A lot of people do not know that these illegal dumps exist.”
The on-site crew was between 40 and 50 people. The cleanup work also involved contributions from PurNat partner We Grab It, which uses a phone app and registered network to share the availability of scrap or reusable goods to keep things in circulation rather than risk having them disposed of illegally.
For more information on Solmax’s geosynthetics, markets of activity, environmental mission, and more, visit www.solmax.com.
