We are pleased to announce that BioStripe® has been nominated for a Katerva Award—the “Nobel Prize of Sustainability”—for its innovative soybean-based traffic marking paint that utilizes renewable resources to deliver premium performance. Founded in 2010, Katerva seeks out disruptive sustainability innovations with the potential for immediate, scalable impact in the next 10 years. Nominees are chosen from 10 categories including Transportation, Ecosystem Conservation, Urban Design, and Energy & Power, among others. BioStripe® has been nominated in this year’s Transportation category. The Katerva Award process identifies and evaluates these innovations through a series of evaluation panels comprised of experts from each of the award categories.
Here’s a quick glance at their process:
(Photo Credit: Katerva)
Past winners and nominees for the Katerva Award include:
- Bioneedle Technologies Group, a Dutch manufacturer of Bioneedle, a painless thermos-stabilized vaccine painlessly placed under the skin, with the potential to boost vaccinations by 25 million children per year
- Salt Farm Texel, a developer of salt-tolerant crops
- Qualcomm Halo, a company developing a wireless approach to charging electric vehicles
BioStripe®’s ability to overcome traditional pitfalls and criticisms of sustainable products is what makes it a viable Katerva nominee. Some sustainable products sacrifice performance to reach their ambitious environmental objectives, making it difficult to demonstrate the potential for immediate scalable impact Katerva seeks out. BioStripe®, however, performs as well or better than incumbent traffic and zone marking products in a low odor, low VOC, soybean-based package, making it a great fit for maintenance plans looking to go green.
Do you have experience with Katerva? Can you think of any products—past or present—that would make a great fit? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!