Author: sHq_LoGiNz

Las Vegas Sands

During Women’s History Month 2025, Sands is featuring women who help drive the company’s success and exemplify its culture of advancement. Penny Lo joined Marina Bay Sands in 2010 as associate general counsel and now serves as vice president and deputy general counsel, data protection officer.

Over the years, she has held different roles on the legal team including interim chief compliance officer and interim general counsel. Her current scope of work covers all non-gaming contracts and projects, business unit legal, HR issues, development contracts related to Marina Bay Sands’ expansion and certain gaming regulatory matters. She also serves as data protection officer for the resort and works closely with the cybersecurity and IT teams in this area.

What is your background at Marina Bay Sands?

“I had worked in Shanghai from 2004 to 2009 in an Asia Pacific attorney role and was traveling regionally for my job. When my second child was about to arrive, I felt it would be easier to raise my two children with the support of my extended family in Singapore. My then-boss Faris Alsagoff had joined Marina Bay Sands in 2010 and asked me if I was interested in an opening at the resort. It was a great opportunity to join an exciting new industry in Singapore and with less travel involved so I could be home more for my kids.

“In the early years I worked mostly on gaming-related legal and compliance work. I would not have been able to survive if not for the generosity of much more experienced people in casino management who spent many hours explaining the inner workings of a casino to me.

“After Faris left the company, I took on two portfolios – running the legal department and the surveillance department. It was the toughest part of my career because I was thrust into the deep end. On top of that, I decided to have my third child.

“Eventually, Faris came back to Marina Bay Sands. Running the legal department with him for the last 14 years has been a fulfilling experience, especially when it’s a department where people are happy and stay for many years.”

What resources and experiences helped you build a successful career?

“I think ‘success at work’ is a combination of a multitude of factors, not all of which are under one’s control and some of which are really because people helped and gave me opportunities. So much of it is also by chance. For example, who would have thought I would have the opportunity to help build the legal department from scratch in 2010 to what it is today and to do it for a company like Marina Bay Sands? It only happened because I was there at the right time, and Faris and former managing director George Tanasijevich gave me an opportunity.

“From a training standpoint, I would not be where I am today without the eight years I spent working at Drew & Napier training under two amazing partners in the corporate department. They had extremely high standards of work and they taught me so much about how to analyze problems. In those years, legal associates worked 12-hour days, which also taught me the value of hard work.

“Another turning point was when I decided to pursue a master’s degree in business administration in France at INSEAD. The year in France really opened up the world to me and made me much more intellectually curious. After INSEAD, I joined a London marketing/brand strategy consultancy and worked for their Shanghai office where I helped write a book on Chinese brands in the early 2000s when China was just opening up. I was not in comfortable territory, but I did these things because I was exploring. I would tell myself, ‘There’s no magic to it, even the most experienced person has to start from ground zero’.

“When I went to Shanghai to work in a regional legal role for a U.S. multinational corporation, I spent a lot of time doing mergers and acquisitions work – divesting large global business divisions and handling environmental issues in China and India. Again, this was not something I had any experience in, but I learned a lot. I think that when you have diverse experiences like these, you are constantly learning. Later on, these experiences give you insights that can be applied to solving other problems.

“My takeaway is that it’s important to not be too linear in one’s approach to life and career. As long as you are growing and learning, you will be fine!”

What are your ideas for empowering women in their careers?

“It really is down to dealing with the individual. In the same way that my boss has given me opportunities, we also have to proactively give opportunities to women when we see the potential in them.

“As an older executive, I have the experience to see what a younger person is lacking, and I can see when I am in a position to help that younger person build what she lacks so that she gets even better. For example, I could have someone working for me who is technically very capable but lacking in public speaking skills. So what I might do is work with her on an important presentation; make her deliver it; then I give feedback, and we do it again at the next opportunity. When she eventually nails it, I tell her how great she was.

“You have to do this in many ways – including when you see that you can help them move on to another portfolio and that it would really boost their career even if it means they leave you. But it also takes two to tango; the younger person has to have enough trust in you to take on your advice and feedback. How do you build that trust? That’s the most difficult piece. It is built over the thousands of small interactions where you hope that she sees you have her best interests at heart.

“I also like to tell the women who work for me not to shy away from projects and new pieces of work. I try to tell them not to regard it as work but as another chance to learn something new and create something useful. It may even generate new options for them. Ultimately if nothing else, you become more skilled, more experienced. Everything you experience brings with it greater wisdom.”

What advice do you have for women or anyone who wants to advance in their careers?

“I have this little line: ‘My life is not my CV’. Because we spend so much time at work and work is so encompassing, it can take over your life. But your life is not your CV, and it shouldn’t be. It’s important to ensure you know who you are and that it is not just an identity that is associated with who you are at work. This makes everything much more balanced. It also allows you to manage your CV so that it fits the life you want to lead and not the other way around.

“As one of the founders of EmpowHER, I try to encourage the other women at Marina Bay Sands not to be afraid – if you don’t step up, no one will notice you, and you will not have an impact. If you do step up, unfortunately you do have to do more work – everything comes with a trade-off. It’s up to you – what do you want to do with your time at Marina Bay Sands?”

In the biotechnology sector, innovation extends beyond medical discoveries to include approaches for managing environmental impact. For example, non-hazardous supplies and containers, like the plastic boxes used to hold pipettes, are a common element in any lab space. But what happens to these supplies after they are used?

Traditionally, much of this material has ended up in landfills, contributing to broader waste management issues. But a recent partnership in Massachusetts aims to address the challenge of plastic waste management in laboratories. This blog examines this collaborative effort and its potential implications for sustainability in the biotech industry.

The Challenge: Managing Plastic Waste in Biotech

Biotechnology laboratories produce a considerable amount of plastic waste, including in the form of tip boxes and media bottles. According to research from the University of Exeter, UK, approximately 5.5 million tons of plastics are disposed of from biotechnology laboratories each year, and that number is only expected to grow.

Unfortunately, most recycling facilities don’t take lab plastics out of an abundance of caution. In many cases, even when lab plastics are sent to recycling facilities, the materials are immediately discarded due to contamination concerns. As industries face increasing pressure to reduce their environmental footprint though, finding alternative solutions for lab plastics has become an important consideration.

A Local Approach: Collaboration for Recycling

In Massachusetts, where biotech makes up 3.7% of the state’s entire workforce, a partnership between Veolia North America, biotech association MassBio and startup GreenLabs Recycling is piloting a new approach to this challenge. Their collaboration has resulted in a local solution for recycling lab plastics within a 60-mile radius of Boston.

The project involves several interconnected steps to create a circular approach to reusing lab plastics. First, lab plastics are collected and consolidated at Veolia’s medical waste processing center, which makes it easy for Veolia customers and helps streamline transportation. These plastics then undergo a recycling process where they are separated, granulated and prepared for manufacturing. The recycled plastic is used to create tips transfer bins, which can then be utilized in local laboratories, many of which provided the initial plastics.

Creating a localized recycling program for lab plastics in Massachusetts offers several advantages for participants, including:

• Transportation: By keeping the process of transporting these plastics from labs to a facility within 60 miles of Boston, there’s significant savings in cost and emissions compared to shipping the materials out of state.
• Circular Economy: Recycling these used plastics helps keep these materials out of landfills, and lowers our reliance on creating new plastics for lab supplies.
• Transparency: For lab employees, they can see the results of their participation in this program through the recycled products. This creates a sense of pride that they are making a small effort in their daily tasks to optimize resource use and reduce waste in landfills.
• Community Support: The local focus may support businesses and job creation within the community.

Considerations for Other Industries

While this partnership is specific to the biotech sector, some of its principles might be applicable to other industries facing similar waste management challenges. By looking for ways to repurpose waste within the industry, we create a more sustainable and circular system. For example, non-hazardous industrial waste like single use containers, plastics or cardboard boxes can be decontaminated and broken down into basic materials to be reused either in a similar fashion, or in some cases, as an alternative to fuel in cement production.

However, doing this in house isn’t always feasible, so partnering with an organization that drives innovation can help your industry be more sustainable. Finding ways to recycle non-hazardous materials you use in your daily work is an easy first step to reducing waste and supporting your environmental goals.

The GreenLabs project offers an example of how partnerships can lead to practical approaches to sustainability. As the initiative progresses, it will influence waste management practices in biotech laboratories and potentially inspire similar efforts in other industries.

Originally published on Essity Newsroom

The hygiene and health company Essity has been awarded a place on the global non-profit environmental organization CDP’s “A List” for its leadership in corporate transparency and performance on climate.

Over 22,000 companies from 130 countries, representing two-thirds of global market capitalization, participated in CDP’s 2024 questionnaire examining various criteria, including targets, governance, impact reduction initiatives, and value chain engagement. CDP rates from A to D and Essity is one of a small number of companies that made the prestigious “A list” for Climate. For CDP forest, Essity has been awarded an A-.

“The recognition from CDP shows Essity’s commitment to become net zero by 2050 and our engagement in the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) since 2017. Improving the lives of over a billion people who use our products and services every day can only happen with a strong focus on sustainability,” says Sahil Tesfu, Essity’s Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer.

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, and its global effects are far-reaching. Essity is committed to becoming net zero by 2050 through full value chain decarbonization, from raw material sourcing to product use and disposal.

Essity has implemented various technologies to reduce emissions including using solar, geothermal, biogas and industrial waste heat energy sources, continuously exploring further options. As a global buyer of fresh and recycled wood-based fiber materials, Essity is dependent on healthy and resilient forests. Our target is to ensure that all wood-fiber is certified and sourced through the third-party Chain of Custody systems FSC and PEFC.

CDP holds the largest environmental database in the world, and its annual environment-related data collection and assessment process is widely recognized as the leading benchmark when it comes to ensuring the transparency of companies’ environmental activities.

For additional information, please contact: 
Karl Stoltz, Public Relations Director, +46 (0) 70 942 63 38, karl.stoltz@essity.com

About Essity 

Essity is a global, leading hygiene and health company. Every day, our products, solutions and services are used by a billion people around the world. Our purpose is to break barriers to well-being for the benefit of consumers, patients, caregivers, customers and society. Sales are conducted in approximately 150 countries under the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and other strong brands such as Actimove, Cutimed, JOBST, Knix, Leukoplast, Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Modibodi, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, TOM Organic and Zewa. In 2024, Essity had net sales of approximately SEK 146bn (EUR 13bn) and employed 36,000 people. The company’s headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden and Essity is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. More information at essity.com.

Chemours Titanium Technologies President Damián Gumpel recently joined U.S. leaders in Washington, D.C., to discuss how the company can best support the nation’s goal of significantly increasing the domestic supply of critical minerals. The visit follows the recent creation of a strategic alliance between Chemours and Energy Fuels to enhance domestic rare earth and critical mineral supply chains, aiming to meet increasing demand. As part of the alliance, the companies will explore complementary opportunities that may increase the flow of critical minerals into the USA from allied nations, which will then enable increased production of critical materials in the U.S. needed for a variety of advanced and defense technologies, along with industrial applications, by both Chemours and Energy Fuels.

Chemours Titanium Technologies, regarded as a global leader in titanium dioxide (TiO2) production – a premium white pigment used in architectural and industrial coatings, plastics, and laminates – also has a strong history as a domestic leader in heavy mineral sands mining and mineral separation, spanning 75 years.

At its Florida and Georgia locations, Chemours utilizes advanced technologies and mining methods to extract concentrated deposits of minerals, including titanium, zircon, monazite, and staurolite, through surface mining with minimal environmental impact. These minerals are essential elements in the manufacture of consumer and industrial products, including those used in aerospace and defense applications.

Since the 1980s, China has dominated the global rare earth supply chain and now processes approximately 90% of the world’s rare earth minerals. Chemours is proud to support the U.S. goal of increasing our domestic supply of critical minerals, and the strategic alliance with Energy Fuels is a way to meaningfully shore up domestic critical mineral supply chains and increase domestic production.

“Chemours is proud to play a role in strengthening U.S. critical and rare earth mineral supply. This is a transformative time in our industry, and we are fortunate to have found a likeminded U.S. partner in Energy Fuels for this important work,” said Damián Gumpel, President of Chemours Titanium Technologies.

The strategic alliance with Energy Fuels will capitalize on the complementary geographic and operational synergies of both organizations, aiming to increase production and establish a domestic supply chain of critical minerals for the U.S. Additionally, it seeks to further the substantial infrastructure and projects that the companies control globally.

Energy Fuels, a leading U.S. producer of rare earth elements, is currently developing new heavy mineral sands projects in Madagascar, Brazil, and Australia, expected to produce world-scale quantities of rare earth, titanium ilmenite, and zircon minerals in the coming years.

“Energy Fuels and Chemours each have unique, complementary capabilities, which can be deployed to solve many of America’s critical mineral supply chain challenges in rare earth elements, titanium and zirconium. Energy Fuels and Chemours have collaborated successfully over the past four years, and we look forward to expanding our relationship in this key area,” said Mark Chalmers, President and CEO of Energy Fuels.