UBQ’s Sustainability Champion On The Threat To World Oceans, And Protecting The World From Methane Pollution

Q: Where do you see Israel and the rest of the Middle East in terms of its solid waste management requirements today and in the near future? How does UBQ’s offer a disruptive solution?

A: Israel is currently far behind where it needs to be in terms of solid waste management. For example, our landfilling rate (roughly 80%) is among the highest in the OECD, and 77% of the country’s methane comes from landfills. 

Our per capita methane emissions are high as well, compared to the averages in the EU and worldwide. Other aspects of sustainability, like water efficiency and climate tech development, have taken more of a front seat compared to waste management.

Happily, the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s goals for 2030 is a step in the right direction. If the targets are met, by that date we’ll only be sending 20% of our waste to landfills and will have reduced emissions of methane from waste by 47%. 

Of course, we’d love to see these numbers improve even further, and these are two areas where UBQ can make a significant contribution. We’re excited to be headquartered in a place that is ready to step up its climate ambition and that sets such high value on innovation.

The situation is similar in other parts of the Middle East, with high levels of current waste production but also increasing ambition to address the problem in the coming years. 

For example, the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council have among the highest per capita rates of waste generation in the world, but I’m inspired by efforts like those in the UAE to work toward a circular economy and significantly increase landfill diversion rates.

Q: Please tell us more about UBQ’s innovative material and how this was developed? 

A: UBQ Materials’ patented material, fittingly called UBQ™, is a thermoplastic that can replace plastics, wood, concrete, and minerals in the manufacturing of industrial and everyday products. Our technology converts unsorted household waste, including all organics, into UBQ™, which reduces the need for landfills, prevents methane emissions, and provides a solution for waste that was previously considered unrecyclable.

The inspiration for UBQ came from academic and empirical evidence that mixed organic materials could be broken down into their basic natural components and converted into building blocks for new materials. 

Our founders and their research team understood that UBQ™ is a scientific breakthrough that could close the loop between waste and product manufacturing. In 2018, following several years of R&D, plant upscaling, automation, and material certifications, UBQ introduced its material into commercial production. 

Now, UBQ™ can be found in diverse commercial applications, including in the logistics and automotive industries, and we are preparing to expand internationally, starting with a full-scale factory in the Netherlands.

Q: How have the new agreements signed at COP26 affected UBQ both in terms of the current projects your company is in involved in as well as the new projects you will be taking on.

A: The most exciting thing to come out of COP26 for UBQ, and for a lot of people and communities around the world, was the Global Methane Pledge. 

A few years ago, no one was talking about methane, and now more than 100 countries have committed to reducing global methane emissions by 30% within a decade! 

This momentum reinforces that the time is right for UBQ to expand. It hasn’t changed the kinds of projects we’re pursuing, but it’s helping us along the path we were already on. Previously, it was arduous work to explain the connection between waste and methane and even more difficult to show people how important preventing methane emissions really is. Now they get it, and more than that – they’re eager for a solution.

Q: Please tell us more about yourself, how you got involved in the sustainability agenda and how you got involved with UBQ? How are you helping UBQ drive the sustainability agenda forward with internal and external stakeholders?

A: My hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, is one of the US cities most at risk of climate change-induced sea-level rise. In the 20th century, we experienced nearly 18 inches of relative sea-level rise, but more than 6 feet is expected during the 21st century. I got involved in sustainability because my beautiful hometown is going to drown if nothing is done about climate change.  

During my undergraduate degree in Finance at McGill University, I realized that a direct yet overlooked approach to addressing climate change was to tie environmental solutions and costs to the corporate bottom line. This idea propelled my research in climate change and circular economics as a master’s student at Yale as well my environmental policy research at Princeton University. I came to be involved with UBQ during a semester off from Harvard, where I had been working towards finishing my PhD. With the climate crisis at a fever pitch, I couldn’t wait any longer to help make a tangible difference.

In UBQ, I found a company and product with sustainability woven into its fabric from birth, a solid business model, and a team of go-getters in need of someone with my highly specialized academic background. Most critically, I was drawn to UBQ’s potential to grow into a company capable of substantially reducing methane emissions, about 15-20% of which come from landfills. 

Methane has a powerful effect on climate change in the first decade following its release, and it’s hard not to notice that this timeframe corresponds to our last best chance to avoid climate catastrophe. The world needs long-term decarbonization, but it also needs solutions that will have an impact in the near term, like cutting methane.

Q: Tell us about your favorite city and book of all time and why?

A: My favorite city is Tel Aviv, 9 months out of the year. During the summer, I don’t think there is a city enjoying life more than Montreal. I’m a pushover for any place that combines fantastic weather, food, and people. Both cities have great food and people all year round but good weather…well that’s seasonal.

My favorite book is The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Of course, the story attracts readers to the environmental movement, but I love the book because of the more generalized moral lessons it teaches, like not being a bystander to observed wrongs and advocating on behalf of vulnerable groups. It is not enough to just care about the environment—we should care about people and animals too!