Month: August 2023

Originally published in Owens Corning’s 2022 Sustainability Report

Even at a young age, Ismo Kuokkanen was interested in sustainability issues. Now, as a sustainability program lead in Europe, Ismo is able to put his mechanical engineering background to work helping Owens Corning reduce our environmental impacts, especially those related to waste. In 2019, “ Ismo began running a program called Closing the Loop, which is working to identify waste streams and eliminate waste to landfill by 2030. Through his work, Ismo has come to understand the many benefits of maintaining a focus on sustainability, and he shares those insights here.

On what drives Owens Corning to focus on waste management

Firstly, of course, we want to be a good citizen. Secondly, our shareholders want to see that we are a sustainable company, and there is a growing market demand for increased recycled content in our products. There are, for instance, some building companies in Scandinavia that demand that we have, say, 15% of recycled content in our products. There are other aspects to consider as well — productivity gains and gross margin gains not being the smallest ones. When we started stepping up our sustainability journey more than ten years ago, we thought we have to do this, but it’s going to cost a lot. And quite soon after I started this project, I realized that we had the potential to also achieve savings. It’s a win-win — we can reduce waste remarkably, and we can gain some productivity savings and gross margin benefits.

On the Closing the Loop program in Europe

In the program we focus on increasing waste recycling at our factories. We define the needs and the technological solutions. We identify first what waste streams we have at the factories, and we focus firstly on the bigger ones. Secondly, we work with the different factories to identify additional waste streams. I’m currently working with our stone wool factories in Finland, Poland, and Sweden to create technical solutions that will further increase our waste recycling and then put them into place. This is very high on Owens Corning’s agenda, and I feel I get all the support I need.

On the steps needed to effectively manage waste

Recycling is very important. Within our stone wool business in the EU, we have challenged ourselves to ensure that no production waste leaves our plants by 2030. Beyond that, we also focus on a step- by-step expansion of our opportunities to receive customer waste, as well as waste materials from other industries. Since stone wool can be remelted repeatedly, we are also thinking about how to close the loop and recycle our products at the end of their life. I feel privileged that I can work on this kind of an engineering issue. This is very close to my heart.

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Originally published on GoDaddy Life

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to join GoDaddy.

I’m Sadbhavana and I work as a Software Engineer on the UIP team. I originally applied for GoDaddy through social media, as I knew that it was a well-established and globally recognised company in web hosting. I went through three rounds of interviews and really liked my interaction with the interviewers. They provided information about the culture and the kind of work the company was doing.

What makes GoDaddy different from any other company in India?

The tech work stack at GoDaddy is really good. As part of the UIP team, we work on the latest technology and tools, which allows us to pick up new skills. The Tech leads are highly talented, and working with them gives broad exposure to different technologies and systems. Our manager is very encouraging and provides us plenty of time to deliver tasks to the best of our abilities.

What does work-life balance mean for you?

To me, work-life balance means that I have flexible working hours that support my mental health, all while allowing time for my loved ones.
Being an individual in the early phase of my career, I want to work for an organisation that helps me learn and grow in my career, while still allowing time to spend on personal activities. GoDaddy gives just that! On my team, we have a hybrid work model that allows for flexible working hours. Other teams are fully remote. Our managers are very understanding and co-operative of work-life balance.

What’s your motto or personal mantra?

My personal mantra is — “Nobody can defeat you until you defeat yourself.”
Another one that I always keep in mind — “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react.”

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work, I love watching anime and k-drama!

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By Kiesha King

Originally published by the Solutions Studio team on edsurge.com

The pandemic highlighted the disparities in internet access among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds and the urgent need to address these inequalities. It also sparked a broader conversation about the importance of digital equity and the need for universal access to technology and the internet. These two realities increased momentum and focus on initiatives to bridge the digital divide — initiatives like Project 10Million.

In 2020, T-Mobile launched Project 10Million, a $10.7 billion commitment to bridge the digital divide by providing free internet and Wi-Fi hotspots for five years to disadvantaged K-12 students.

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