Yves Laflamme, President and CEO of Resolute Forest Products, has been named to Canada’s 2020 Clean50 and Clean16 lists for his activities in sustainability and clean capitalism. The awards, organized by Delta Management Group, were revealed October 3 at the Clean50 Summit 9.0 in Toronto.

The Clean50 Awards annually recognize 50 individuals or teams from 16 different categories for their accomplishments over the prior two years. As the leader in the Primary Resources category, Laflamme was also named to Canada’s 2020 Clean16.

Laflamme, who took the helm at Resolute in February 2018, was lauded for his work in advancing carbon reduction and plastic pollution initiatives. Laflamme undertook a $29-million project at the Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill, allocating $14.7 million to reduce the mill’s annual GHG emissions by over 20%. He also led a $61-million strategic investment plan at the Saint-Félicien (Quebec) pulp mill, including $21.5 million to reduce GHG emissions by 20%.

He facilitated the modernization of the cogeneration turbine at Resolute’s Coosa Pines (Alabama) pulp mill’s cogeneration turbine, for a 65% reduction in scope two emissions. These initiatives reduced Resolute’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by nearly 180,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents per year, contributing to a 15% reduction in overall absolute GHG emissions compared to 2017. The company has also banned plastic drinking bottles across all its operations, which it says removes 1.7 million bottles from the waste stream.

Resolute had already achieved a 76% reduction in its GHG emissions since the year 2000 when Laflamme joined as CEO. “These awards recognize the hard work and commitment to sustainability of each and every Resolute employee,” he said.

(Source: Canadian Forest Industries)