As governments move cleantech and climate change crisis to centre stage, Baffinland Iron Mines teams with Cypher in Pond Inlet and is looking for partners around the world.

The global cleantech market is expected to surpass $2.5 trillion by 2022, and into this landscape the Government of Canada has committed more than $3.3 billion to support Canadian cleantech firms as they start up and scale to reach global markets.

Enter Todd Burns, who as a kid started out experimenting in his father’s basement, driven by his love of nature and a need to always do what’s right. Burns catapulted to the status of one of Canada’s cleantech entrepreneurial leadership models when he was hand-picked by Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade to sit on her new Global Cleantech Advisory Group last spring.

Burns found himself on the group – temporarily suspended during the Cabinet shuffle —  alongside such worthies as Sheldon Levy, former president of Ryerson University, and Jennifer Wagner, president of CarbonCure Technologies. Wagner was named a Climate Trailblazer as part of the San Francisco Global Climate Action Summit in 2018.

The committee’s mandate includes helping Canadian cleantech champions to scale up and enter international markets.

“I hope I can help others learn from some of my early mistakes,” Burns says with characteristic humility.

Since 2010 Burns, CEO of Winnipeg-based Cypher Environmental Ltd., has parlayed his clean and safe road dust suppression products onto the world stage, where they are now used in over 50 countries.

Burns now has a focus on giving back to communities around the world, in particular to helping them thrive while minimizing their environmental impact. As a result, he spearheaded the Cypher Green Roads program, which sees the company engaging in CSR projects alongside their client partners worldwide.

“I am shocked by the sight of people profiting from the destruction of the earth,” says Burns.

In Manitoba, he’s teamed with the Baffinland Iron Mines site at Mary Lake in the northern part of Baffin Island on a Green Roads project to donate Cypher’s zero environmental impact dust suppression product to tiny Pond Inlet, where road dust has been a historical nightmare for residents. Dust from unpaved roads has known health impacts on human cardiovascular and respiratory health.

Brian Penny, president of Baffinland, the Canadian high-grade iron ore mining company and Cypher dust suppression customer at its mining site, credits Burns’ “give back” philosophy with forwarding his company’s own mission of environmentally responsible mining.

“Baffinland is pleased to partner with companies that have a desire to give back to our local communities,” says Penny. “Our contracting services have enabled a donation of the same product we use at our operation to the Hamlet of Pond Inlet, to help them tackle the same issues we face – dusty roads. Working with Cypher Environmental … aligns with our values and extends the benefits of the Mary River Mine in an environmentally responsible manner.”

Government reliance on the experience of people like Burns makes factual sense. Cleantech companies like Cypher Environmental currently employ more than 195,000 Canadians, and that the portion of GDP generated by cleantech products increased by 3.5 per cent from 2018 to 2019 – twice the rate in real terms compared with other sectors.

About Cypher Environmental

Canadian owned, Cypher Environmental proudly boasts the tagline, “Always do what’s right” and is leading the way to help industry and mining move away from the use of chemical products. Cypher’s innovative solutions are the only high-performance dust control and soil stabilization with zero environmental impact.

What is Cypher Green Roads

Learn More: cypherenvironmental.com,  LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation
Jointly owned by Nunavut Iron Ore and ArcelorMittal, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation operates a high-grade iron ore mine located on Baffin Island, Nunavut. Our mine produces the highest grade of direct shipping iron ore in the world. Baffinland is committed to operating the Mary River Mine in an environmentally and socially responsible manner that benefits all stakeholders. Learn more at baffinland.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.