CPIA 2016 Plastics Industry Leadership Award Winners Announced

VANCOUVER (Scrap Monster): The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) has announced the winners of the 2016 Plastics Industry Leadership Awards. The awards were presented during the CPIA’s Plastics Industry Leadership Awards Celebration held on Sept 14, 2016 at Universal Eventspace in Vaughan, Ontario. The awards were segmented into various categories- Leader of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Plastics Innovator, Plastics Sustainability, CanPlast Award. A new category, Plastics Industry Young Leader Award, was introduced for the first time this year.

The winner of this year’s ‘Leader of the Year’ Award was Amir Karim, Chief Operating Officer of Polykar. The award is presented to individuals in recognition of their key contributions to their businesses, to their communities and to the Canadian plastics industry. The individual must be a CPIA member and must currently own or operate innovative business in the plastics sector. The contribution of time and effort to society-building initiatives and the role played in improving the environmental performance of the industry are also considered to decide the winner in this category.

Aamir Khan has been leading the corporate strategic development and sustainability arm of Polykar Industries for the last sixteen years. He is passionately involved in several initiatives to increase awareness of positive plastic messages for the general public. He is also an advocate of environmental sustainability in plastics recycling. Outside of plastics, Amir gives a large portion of his time to voluntarily engage with several civil society institutions which promote higher education, international development and philanthropy.

The five winners of CPIA’s Lifetime Achievement Award were Tom Rose, Robert Torokvei, Mirek Planeta, Sajjad Ebrahim and Grantland M. Cameron. The honourees are selected based on their outstanding achievements and contribution of enduring legacies the Industry and to the community at large. Tom Rose of Edmonton, Alberta-based Layfield Plastics has built a company with over 14 locations and employing more than 350 people after working in the plastics industry for over 40 years. Robert Torokvei, after serving Scepter Corporation for over 42 years, became its President and grew the company into greater heights. Mirek Planeta founded Macro Engineering Co. Ltd. in 1978 and served as its President until 2016. Grantland M. Cameron has been involved with design, operation and policy at more than 75 Alberta landfills, transfer stations and recycling depots. Over 36 years of his career, Sajjad Ebrahim played key role in building Par Pak into a firm with over $200 million in revenue and employing 900 people.

The additional award categories and winners are as follows:-

Plastics Innovator Award- Polytainers and Prof. Chul B.Park of University of Toronto.

Plastics Sustainability Award- Lafarge Canada Inc. and Urban Polymers.

CanPlast Award- Marc Robitaille of Omniplast.

Plastic Industry Young Leader Award- Geoff B. Woolley, president of EcoSafe Zero Waste of BC, Krista Friesen, Vice President Sustainability of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA), Domenic Di Mondo of GreenMantra Technologies and Solenne Brouard Gaillot, CEO and founder of Polystyvert Inc.

The Canadian Plastics Industry Association is the national voice of the plastics industry in Canada, representing the interests of processors, material suppliers, equipment manufacturers and brand owners across Canada since 1943.