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January 12, 2021 — UBQ Materials, an Israeli-based cleantech startup, converts household waste into a novel climate-positive thermoplastic material. While the team is familiarly met with an initial response of “it’s too good to be true”, this skepticism is largely diminished in the context of doing business with other Certified B-Corporations.
A growing community of more than 3,500 companies from 70 countries and over 130 industries, B Corps are working together to use business as a force for good. Each certified company must meet rigorous standards in social and environmental performance, transparency and legal accountability, reassessing itself every two years to maintain its B-Corp status.
In 2017, Cascade Engineering became one of UBQ’s earliest adopters. Cascade is a global manufacturer specializing in large-part plastic injection molding and is one of the largest B Corps in the world. Certified since 2010, Cascade is paving a new way for the industry to see itself; manufacturing and social good don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
While plastics and manufacturing are not top of mind when considering the good of the planet, these are precisely the large-scale, established industries that have the greatest potential for change and positive impact.
One of the first to trial UBQ™ as a substitute to traditional oil-based resins, Cascade partnered with UBQ Materials in an R&D relationship in mid-2018. Among the many developments, Cascade has engaged sister company, Noble Polymers, to compound UBQ™ inside their formulations. Today, the duo is in advanced stages of road-testing auto parts made with UBQ™. Once finalized, multiple OEMs will have the opportunity to incorporate the novel, sustainable parts in their series production. The first Cascade product to be commercially produced with UBQ is set to be ready for market as early as Q1 2021.
Car parts with reduced carbon footprint are the tip of the iceberg of possible implementations between UBQ Materials and Cascade. Cascade is a large-scale manufacturer of automotive parts, office furniture, containers, pallets, and roll to curb carts.
The partnership between Cascade and UBQ Materials is timely in that consumers today have increased demand for carbon transparency and industries actively seek sustainable solutions to answer to ever-more demanding environmental regulations. By diverting landfill-destined waste, UBQ™ prevents the emission of methane, ground water leakage and other environmental harms. Every ton of UBQ™ produced prevents 11.7 tons of CO2-eq, making it a powerful sustainability additive to reduce the carbon footprint of final products manufactured.
“The extensive certification process of B Corporations provides critical third-party validation and a platform for like-minded mission-driven companies to skip over initial stages of skepticism and create space for early adoption of novel sustainable technologies” Christina Keller, President and CEO, Cascade Engineering.
About UBQ Materials:
UBQ Materials has developed an advanced conversion technology that transforms household waste into the greenest thermoplastic material on the market. The patented biobased material can substitute oil-based plastics in the production of thousands of everyday products. UBQ™ enables manufacturers to finally create products that positively impact our world without compromising profitability. Emptying landfills, one product at a time.
To learn more about UBQ Materials, visit https://www.ubqmaterials.com/, and follow UBQ Materials on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/UBQMaterials/) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/ubq-materials).
About Cascade Engineering:
Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Cascade Engineering is comprised of nine strategic business units serving a wide variety of markets including automotive, commercial truck and bus, solid waste and recycling, furniture and material handling. With core competency in large-scale plastic injection molding, Cascade Engineering is a global company with over 1,600 employees and 13 North American facilities, with additional European operations in Budapest, Hungary. Our facilities represent over 1 million square feet. As one of the largest certified B Corps in the world, we are widely recognized for business practices that emphasize how business can build financial, social and environmental capital. To learn more, visit http://www.cascadeng.com
