Recycling Plastics | People Planet Profit

Neil Koenig ideaXme board advisor and former BBC Producer interviews Christina Keller, CEO Cascade Engineering.

Neil comments: As worries about the health of our environment continue to grow, a big concern is the harm caused by plastic waste. Whilst intense efforts to find suitable alternatives continue, the need to recycle existing plastics is becoming ever more urgent. One business that makes extensive use of recycled materials is Cascade Engineering, a family-owned plastics manufacturer based in Michigan, which makes products for a wide range of sectors, including the automotive and furniture-making industries. Cascade’s CEO, Christina Keller, says that the company is keen to play a role in the so-called “circular economy”, in which materials can be recycled almost indefinitely. Cascade Engineering was founded in 1973 by Christina Keller’s father Fred. The enterprise is one of a growing number of businesses that are pursuing a “triple bottom line” approach: putting people and planet first, as well as profits. Ms Keller explains that, aiming for a “triple bottom line” can mean a number of different things in practice: for example, in addition to its push to increase its recycling efforts, the business also takes steps to foster an inclusive and supportive workplace, and to offer employment opportunities to as wide a range of people as possible. I met Christina Keller at this year’s Symposium, a vast annual event organised by the students of the university of St Gallen in Switzerland. In this interview with me for ideaXme, Christina Keller talks about how employing a more diverse workforce can not only benefit employers but society too, how businesses can play a vital part in the circular economy, and the challenges and rewards of running a “triple bottom line” company. 

LINKS: Cascade Engineering: https://www.cascadeng.com/

IMAGE CREDITS: Courtesy of Cascade Engineering 

MUSIC: Music: Space Heroes by MaxKoMusic https://maxkomusic.com/

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses

Further Video credits: Video footage from Canva.

Voice over for ideaXme introduction: Neil Koenig former Senior BBC @BBC producer and journalist and current ideaXme board advisor and guest interviewer.

Music for ideaXme introduction: Music: Space Heroes by MaxKoMusic | https://maxkomusic.com/

Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

.css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}