Cypher Environmental aims to lead the charge for cleantech companies in Canada while making a difference through their CSR (corporate social responsibility) program.
November 1, 2021 – With an eye on a brave new post-COVID world, Canadian politicians and industry leaders are issuing a clarion call for new clean technology leadership to provide enticing jobs while they save us from galloping climate horrors.
The global cleantech market is expected to surpass $2.5 trillion by 2022, and into this landscape the Government of Canada has committed more than $3.3 billion to support Canadian cleantech firms as they start up and scale to reach global markets.
Leading in cleantech
Enter Todd Burns, who as a kid started out experimenting in his father’s basement, driven by his love of nature and a need to always do what’s right. Burns catapulted to the status of one of Canada’s Cleantech entrepreneurial leadership models when he was hand-picked by Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade to sit on her new Global Cleantech Advisory Group last spring.
Burns found himself on the group – temporarily suspended pending a Cabinet shuffle next week – alongside such worthies as Sheldon Levy, former president of Ryerson University, and Jennifer Wagner, president of CarbonCure Technologies. Wagner was named a Climate Trailblazer as part of the San Francisco Global Climate Action Summit in 2018.
The committee’s mandate includes helping Canadian cleantech champions to scale up and enter international markets.
“I hope I can help others learn from some of my early mistakes,” Burns says with characteristic humility.
Since 2010 Burns, CEO of Winnipeg-based Cypher Environmental Ltd., has parlayed his clean and safe road dust suppression products onto the world stage, where they are now used in over 50 countries. Most recently. Cypher was named as a contributor to Winnipeg’s winning 2021 bid for Most Intelligent Community – an accolade awarded by the Intelligent Community Forum to cities who are making significant advancements in economic growth through innovation and technology.
Giving back through Cypher Green Roads
Todd now has a focus on giving back to communities around the world, in particular to help them thrive while minimizing their environmental impact. As a result, he spearheaded the Cypher Green Roads program, which sees the company engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects alongside their client partners worldwide. “I am shocked by the sight of people profiting from the destruction of the earth,” says Burns.
He’s teamed with the Baffinland Iron Mines site at Mary Lake in the northern part of Baffin Island on a Green Roads project to donate Cypher’s zero environmental impact dust suppression product to tiny community of Pond Inlet, where road dust has been a historical challenge for residents. The joint donation now allows Pond Inlet to benefit from the same proprietary technology on their roads as is used on Baffinland’s to minimize the environmental impact of dust.
Cypher also donated the time of an expert technician to train local road crews in the product’s application. This created valuable skill sets in the community that will be used perpetually moving forward to help create jobs and continued positive impact in the community.
Partnering for progress
Brian Penny, president of Baffinland, the Canadian high-grade iron ore mining company and Cypher dust suppression customer at its mining site, credits Burns’ “give back” philosophy, with forwarding his company’s own mission of environmentally responsible mining.
“Baffinland is pleased to partner with companies that have a desire to give back to our local communities. Our contracting services have enabled a donation of the same product we use at our operation to the Hamlet of Pond Inlet, to help them tackle the same issues we face – dusty roads. Working with Cypher Environmental … aligns with our values and extends the benefits of the Mary River Mine in an environmentally responsible manner.”
Government reliance on the experience of people like Burns makes factual sense. Cleantech companies like Cypher Environmental currently employ more than 195,000 Canadians, and that the portion of GDP generated by cleantech products increased by 3.5 per cent from 2018 to 2019 – twice the rate in real terms compared with other sectors. For more information on the Cypher Green Roads program, please visit https://cypherenvironmental.com/green-roads/.
Cypher Environmental is a leading global environmental solution provider for dust control and road stabilization. With ESG (Environmental Social Governance) and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) principles at the core of every decision we make, we proudly boast the tag line, “Always do what’s right.”
If you’re interested in building better roads please contact us here or reach us at: (877) 776-1585 // sales@cypherenvironmental.com // cypherenvironmental.com