Two PA Consulting projects honored in Fast Company’s…

PA Consulting (PA), the consultancy that’s bringing ingenuity to life, is proud to announce that two client projects have been featured in Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards.

Green Boom, a start-up that has developed a patent-pending and sustainable way to help prevent, reduce, and clean up oil spills, was named a Finalist in the Nature category and received an honorable mention in the On the Rise category. Green Boom’s 100 percent biodegradable solution uses treated, tear-resistant fabric pillows and tubes of varying lengths and sizes filled with natural fiber biomass to repel water and rapidly absorb oil from spills. The product can also be cleaned and reused. PA utilized data analytics and business intelligence and commercialization expertise to elevate Green Boom’s go-to-market and growth strategy, creating a targeted sales strategy and path to success.

A collaboration to rethink plastic waste for the Cambridge University NHS Hospitals and Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust on behalf of the East of England Regional Sustainability Network was included as an honorable mention in the Health category. The NHS in England aspires to become the world’s first net zero national health service but needed more information about what types of waste were causing the most damage and where the waste was going. PA worked in partnership with NHS Cambridge University Hospitals, Axion, The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, and Renolit to develop a roadmap for the NHS to rethink product design, adopt innovative waste management technologies, and create a roadmap to put policies into practice. Along the way, it was calculated there was an opportunity to annually prevent 16,500 tons of plastic from being wasted, which extrapolated to a national scale, means 85,000 tons of material would be recycled, cutting CO2 emissions by up to 235,000 tons a year. And better still, through recovery programs, this could unlock an excess of £40 million a year of new sources of revenue, excluding the cost to realize them.

Seth Lively, US Digital Lead at PA Consulting, said: “Congratulations to the Green Boom team for such an amazing honor. We are so excited to have worked with this unique start-up to help get this world changing solution to the market and help ensure the company’s success. Tanker spills have resulted in 10,000 tons of oil contaminating the environment in 2021 alone. Hopefully if future oil spills occur, US and European leaders will use Green Boom’s innovation to limit damage and protect waterways and fragile ecosystems from harm.”

Mark Lancelott, Sustainability Expert at PA Consulting, said: “PA Consulting is extremely proud of our work with the Cambridge University NHS Hospitals and Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust and are honored to be on Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas list. This collaboration to rethink plastic waste and reduce carbon emissions is an essential first step in the path to net zero, and we are pleased that the program has received an honorable mention. More hospitals need to be taking steps to embrace the circular economy and start their journey to net zero, we look forward to helping them achieve their goals.”

David Lidsky, Interim Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company, said: “We are consistently inspired by the novelty and creativity that people are applying to solve some of our society’s most pressing problems, from shelter to the climate crisis. Fast Company relishes its role in amplifying important, innovative work to address big challenges. Our journalists have identified some of the most ingenious initiatives to launch since the start of 2021, which we hope will both have a meaningful impact and lead others to join in being part of the solution.”

Now in its sixth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 39 winners, 350 finalists, and more than 600 honorable mentions—with climate, social justice, and AI and data among the most popular categories. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,997 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, health, social justice, and more. In addition, several new categories have been added this year including climate, nature, water, and workplace. The 2022 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Switzerland to Hong Kong to Australia.

To see the complete list of World Changing Ideas, go to: https://www.fastcompany.com/world-changing-ideas/list