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As 2023 comes to an end, I can’t help but marvel at how much this Okeanos team has accomplished around the world in the last 12 months. This year I find it most appropriate to celebrate not the specific accomplishments, but one very important group at Okeanos without which it would not have been possible.
Our industries – material sciences and packaging are among the many that could be described as “male dominated sports”. For this reason, I find it particularly fitting that Okeanos, in seeking to change an industry, has also broken that mold. I believe Okeanos is thriving not in spite of, but because of its women majority.
Our women are engineers, chemists, lawyers, diplomats, doctors, programmers, social media experts and more. They are mothers, students, even grandmothers recruited back to active duty make this Okeanos team around the world what it is. Together, they are making breakthroughs in science and communications in ways traditional, homogeneous global organizations have failed to do.
We are grateful for the women that make what we do possible and we are proud to play a small role in advancing the gender equality cause as signatories of the United Nations’s Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP). We are incredibly proud to share with you our 2023 stats:
My cofounder Dr. Petrie and I embarked on this journey with the goal to reduce plastic and CO2 emissions to clean our oceans and we agreed that we would do it the right way (or fail trying). The right way applies to many aspects, but it certainly applies to being an organization that guarantees gender equality. I believe we have kept our promise.
Our big plans for 2024 include new products, new global brands, more countries, more innovations and dreams. Our next stop is Mumbai, then Philadelphia, Orlando, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Mexico City, and other cities, before ending our year in Baku for COP29. Look forward to shaking your hand along the way, and learning from all of you how we can be even better.
I thank, from the bottom of my heart, our customers, partners, government representatives and our team members around the world, for their support, faith and passion with our Made from Stone™ solution.
Finally, it shouldn’t surprise anybody that our Rockstar of the Year is also a woman. A remarkable individual that is both a colleague, a dear friend and intellectual sparring partner. Please read her story below.
Happy holidays and our best wishes for a healthier, safer and more peaceful 2024.
Florencio Cuétara
Chairman/ CEO
Earlier this month, 90,000 stakeholders from global governments to non-profit organizations and private sector businesses descended on Dubai for COP28, the world’s largest climate conference. Okeanos®’ Government Affairs Team was there in the action. Here’s what happened:
Noteworthy News From COP28:
Okeanos Highlights:
Watch co-founder Dr. Russ Petrie’s COP interview here!
This year we celebrated the launch of several amazing new applications Made From Stone including films used for snack food packaging and flower wraps, salad bowls, yogurt bottles, tubes for cosmetics and sunscreen and much much more!
Each of these products is made with less plastic and a much lower CO₂ footprint than its 100% virgin plastic predecessor – and that’s something to celebrate.
Your product could be next. Reduce your emissions and plastic use in 2024!
When climate legislators from around the globe get together, does anything get accomplished or is it all hot air?
On Episode 7 of Mastering Sustainability, we’re wading into the nuances of global climate meetings including COP28 with Mike Green, leader of the Climate & Energy Working group at the American Sustainable Business Network and Director of Carbon Markets at Native, A Public Benefit Corporation.
Together, we’re breaking these giant conferences and the topics they’ll tackle into bitesize pieces, including the forthcoming Global Plastics Treaty, the impact of the first Global Stocktake, and carbon offsets.
For the final Rockstar of the year, we’re celebrating the woman who keeps churning out incredible innovation after mind-blowing concept…our very own Mary Lehrter. This year, our team selected Mary as the company’s MVP in recognition of her unstoppable drive coupled with her brilliance in the field of material science.
Throughout a storied 35-year career at Procter & Gamble (P&G) as Senior Engineer of R&D, Mary was responsible for leading definition, development and commissioning new brand initiatives, resulting in over $1 Billion dollars in revenue! She holds several patents in the United States, Europe and China, and there’s a good chance you already regularly use some of her inventions, which range from high-speed embossing and adhesive printing process (Press n’ Seal food wrap), tissue paper with enhanced lotion transfer (Puffs facial tissue)!
In 2019, Mary brought her incredible talents to Okeanos, where she spearheads our Innovation team’s numerous cutting-edge projects. Mary is not only a role model to the many women of Okeanos, but she is also a shining example of what happens when passion meets perseverance. Her methodical, careful, yet bold approach to material science has allowed Okeanos to achieve astounding breakthroughs, challenge industry norms, and blaze her own trail. Mary inspires her fellow teammates, and we’re fortunate to have her leadership as we continue to break industry barriers in our quest to make the world a cleaner place for future generations.
Want to join our Okeanos team?
Check out our careers page at Okeanos Jobs.