Month: February 2025

Australian industrial innovator, Products for Industry (PFi), recently developed what is believed to be a world-first, pure titanium, cross-flow membrane solution for wastewater treatment. This solution has uptime, environmental, and yield benefits compared with traditional wastewater treatment methods.

PFi turned to Rockwell to help with automation hardware – using Rockwell Automation’s CompactLogix™ control system and PanelView Plus™ graphic terminal – to make the solution streamlined, repeatable, and easy to integrate for its industrial manufacturing customers.

PFi conducted extensive pilot tests at a wastewater treatment plant in New Zealand finding that the titanium solution allowed very high flow and flux rates; an easier and faster clean-in-place (CIP) process; and no fouling or long-term issues with fats, oils, and greases. The pilot tests also showed that running costs and energy use would be reduced over the system’s lifetime.

“With traditional membranes made of ceramic or plastic, back-pulsing and cleaning often creates problems, so the overall lifetime of the equipment is reduced,” said Gavin Dunwoodie, managing director, PFi. “Titanium provides a true closed-loop solution as the only 100% recyclable membrane, even after 20 or more years in service, which is an outstanding benefit to customers’ ESG goals.”

Titanium is the ninth most known metal in the earth’s crust and possesses the highest strength-to-weight ratio. It is as strong as steel, but weighs 45% less, and is non-magnetic, non-corrosive, and does not conduct electricity.

After more than 10 years in development, this fully evolved and tested product is now entering service in Australia with a leading beverages company, which will use the new technology to separate solids from liquid streams in various stages of the waste stream process.

“This forward-thinking beverages company wanted an advanced solution that would continue to increase their throughput, while lowering their environmental footprint,” said Dunwoodie.

After successful testing, pilots, and now service with the beverages company, PFi is looking to scale up operations.

“Rockwell’s standard design will help with our solution’s market acceptance when we enter the export market,” said Dunwoodie. “There is particularly strong potential in the spirit industry, where it can replace paper membranes to deliver better outcomes with reduced waste.”

Syreeta McAuley | Principal Conversational Designer

Did you know, HBCUs, while representing less than 3% of colleges in the country, produce 46% of Black women engineers. We’re thrilled to kick off the second year of our partnership with HBCU Heroes as part of our ongoing celebration of #BlackHistoryMonth.

The organization works to empower students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to compete in corporate America, including the tech sector. Our partnership gives Gen team members the chance to mentor HBCU students directly, helping equip them with the professional skills they need to excel in their internships and careers after graduation.

In 2024, we provided $20,000 and 105 employee volunteer hours to mentor and support 65 HBCU students. “This program gave me valuable insight that was personal and relatable,” said Meaghan Lewis, a biology student at Tennessee State University, who completed our inaugural year of the mentorship program in 2024. “I loved the one-on-one discussion with my mentor, who was very attentive to my needs and questions, and the program overall made me feel more secure and confident in my capabilities.”

Gen mentors will lead four sessions in 2025 that each focus on specific professional skills, including a resume building workshop, mock interviews and an in-depth discussion about career journeys. Mentors are encouraged to share their experiences about career paths, transitions, navigating corporate culture and more.

We can’t wait to meet this year’s cohort at our first virtual session on March 19th. For more information on our work with HBCU Heroes check out this blog post.

At the recent GreenBiz25 conference, I had the privilege to lead a break-out session on nature case studies and join a panel to discuss integrating nature into corporate strategy. I was able to share how Chemours is actively working to enhance nature and ecosystem resilience across our sites while engaging our communities.

At Chemours, we take our commitment to protect the environment and our communities seriously. That’s why we partnered with Tandem Global (formerly Wildlife Habitat Council) to complete nature and biodiversity assessments in 2024, including using the Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) guidance to identify and understand the nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities within Chemours operations and our value chain, ensuring we are well-positioned to report on and address these critical issues.

This collaboration helped us build a framework aligned with our corporate vision and enables our sites to enhance their conservation efforts. As part of this work, we launched the “Power of ChemisTREE” program, which exemplifies our commitment to renewing habitats and fostering conservation across our operational sites and in the communities where we work. The Power of ChemisTREE focuses on multiple fronts, including tree planting, invasive species removal, and the creation of pollinator gardens, all of which play crucial roles in enhancing environmental resilience.

By integrating nature into our strategy and engaging beyond corporate teams to meet our employees where they are, we are driving real, tangible actions that contribute to our long-term sustainability goals and support our work to strengthen Chemours for the long term. Our journey is ongoing, and we are committed to doing our part to ensure ecosystem resilience and nature stewardship.