(don't) Waste Water! | Water Tech to Solve the World | S10E6 - The $500 Million Bio-based Bet: Kemira's Growth Accelerator Unveiled

Description

with 🎙️ Tuija Pohjolainen-Hiltunen - President Industry and Water Segment at Kemira

💧 Kemira markets safe and sustainable chemistries that are part of a good life, ensuring hygiene, safe water, food safety, and more.

What we covered:

🌍 How Kemira is revolutionizing water treatment with a purpose-driven approach to chemistry.

🤝 Why the power of partnerships is non-negotiable for Kemira's success.

💡 What sets Kemira apart: a relentless focus on innovation to solve real-world challenges.

♻️ Why Kemira is a game-changer in the circular economy, turning waste into valuable resources.

🔗 How Kemira's multi-faceted solutions go beyond just chemistry, incorporating digital tools and AI for optimization.

🎯 What makes Kemira a leader in customer-centric approaches, tackling new challenges as regulations evolve.

📈 How Kemira Beat the Odds: Navigating through COVID-19 and volatile markets to achieve impressive growth.

🌍 Why Global Reach Matters: Dominating Europe and North America while eyeing expansion in China.

🔬 What's ViviMag: Introducing new applications like phosphorus recovery and PFAS treatment.

🌿 How to Go Green: Transitioning from 60% virgin materials to bio-based alternatives.

🤖 Why ChemConnect is a Game-Changer: Leveraging predictive analytics and AI for smarter water treatment.

🚀 How Reliability Fuels Growth: Winning customer trust through consistent delivery, even in crises.

🎯 How Customer Needs Drive Innovation: Kemira's quest to replace fossil-based materials without compromising performance.

🤝 Why Partnerships Matter: Leveraging collaborations and a $500M growth accelerator to fuel bio-based product revenue by 2030.

🌿 What "Walking the Talk" Means: Moving beyond buzzwords to make concrete steps in sustainability and decarbonization.

📊 How Metrics Define Success: Aligning personal KPIs with business targets for a win-win outcome.

🌊 Why Water is the New Cool: Observing a surge in industry excitement and collaboration, especially in digital solutions.

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Have a look at Kemira's website

🔗 Come say hi to Tuija on Linkedin

➡️ Check out the entire article on how Kemira makes a $500 Million biobased bet

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show

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About (don't) Waste Water! | Water Tech to Solve the World

❓ Ever wondered how the #WaterIndustry was reacting to our World's Water Challenges? Water Scarcity? #SDG6? PFAS? Climate Change? Circular Economy? Digitization and Smart Water?

💪 Get the Water Market pulse for free. In one hour per week, while you do the dishes!

📈 We talk water investment, water tech, water entrepreneurship and water market with entrepreneurs, thought leaders, book authors, scientists, investment funds, VCs, and C-Level experts from water majors.

➡️ Leverage their insights, advice & experience and ensure to stay on top of best practices

🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday (don't miss out! 😅)

🌐 Find all the detailed episode notes, interviews, infographics, and more at http://dww.show

Currently in its 10th Season, the "(don't) Waste Water" podcast has already welcomed around 200 guests from Water Majors (SUEZ, Veolia, Jacobs, Xylem, Kemira, Evoqua, Aquatech, SKion Water...), Scale-Ups (Cambrian Innovation, Epic Cleantec, Liqtech, 374Water, Gingko Bioworks...), Start-Ups (Puraffinity, KETOS, 120Water, ZwitterCo, Membrion, Source...), Universities (Berkeley, the Columbia Water Center), Investment Funds (Sciens Water, Mazarine, Burnt Island Ventures...), Business Accelerators (Imagine H2O, Elemental...), Book Authors (Seth Siegel, David Sedlak, David Lloyd Owen...) or Market Intelligence Companies (BlueTech Research, Global Water Intelligence, World Bank, OECD, Isle Utilities...). Or simply water legends like Mina Guli or Andrew Benedek!

On the "(don't) Waste Water" podcast, I strive to make the Water Industry easy to understand for everyone, starting with water professionals, executives, and investors. Hence, he opens the microphone to seasoned, inspirational water experts to discuss their field of excellence.

No one can claim an all-around in-depth understanding of a matter as complex as Water. But piece by piece, you can rebuild the puzzle. With curiosity, patience, and passion, Antoine Walter explores topics such as Advanced Treatment Technologies, Water-Energy Nexus (Hydrogen, Lithium...), PFAS removal, Nature-Based Solutions, Wastewater Reuse, Distributed Water Treatments, Water Finance, and Water Entrepreneurship.

I actually firmly believe that regular listeners of the "(don't) Waste Water" podcast may, in the end, claim a "Water MBA!"

A particular field of interest is how innovation forms, grows and gets widely adopted in a complex and conservative field like the Water Industry. This may be one of the keys to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal n°6 - #SDG6.

ABOUT ME:

I'm a second-generation Water Professional - the legend says my dad traded excavator sessions for me in river banks against lunch invitations. I followed on this early start by completing a Master's in Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering, then won the "Golden Mission" contest organized by ENGIE (GDF-SUEZ).

This led me to travel the Asia-Pacific region for one year to explore, amongst others, water treatment in Hong Kong, desalination facilities in Melbourne, water distribution management in Jakarta, water innovation in Singapore or social water projects in New Delhi and Gujarat. All of that was documented in videos, blog articles, radio spots, and conferences in engineering and business schools (that's where I got hooked!)

I've then worked for SUEZ in Switzerland in strategic marketing, business development, and sales for the DACH and Nordic regions, with an emphasis on micropollutant removal.

I then joined GF Piping Systems in 2017 to take over the business development for the company's services in Europe, then for all Water Treatment and Lithium topics worldwide.

I've been a regular speaker at conferences on four continents, gave my first TEDx in 2022, and regularly acted as a host.

Since 2020, I've been hosting the "(don't) Waste Water" podcast and giving lectures in Business and Engineering schools.

I'm married, a happy father of three, and I'm French (nobody's perfect 😅).