Wahaj Khan
York University- Schulich School of Business
Charles Cho
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ABC Dust has created an innovative Dust Suppression solution and customizable application protocol by integrating smart measuring technology with advanced Chemistry and Civil Engineering. The technology is highly efficient in removing dust particulates which are hazardous for ecosystems, river streams, and human health if inhaled. An additional benefit of the solution is its capabilities to track emissions, further allowing clients the data necessary for sustainability reporting and forecasting purposes, ensuring accountability, productivity, and sustainability.
ABC Dust’s innovation is their Dust Suppression additives solutions integrated with advance monitoring sensors provided to companies in the mining, forestry, municipalities, and construction industry. Dust control is a crucial measure these companies must implement as dust from their sites can negatively impact terrain and road conditions. Such dust particulates reduce road visibility and have negative impacts on the health of their workers and nearby community residents and the surrounding environment. To counter these effects, ABC Dust provides an environmentally-friendly solution that both efficiently and effectively binds the particulates to the ground, leaving the area and air tidy and clean. This innovation is commonly used on mining haul, forestry, secondary, agroindustry and municipal roads and other construction sites. While significantly improving road quality, ABC Dust’s solution has been able to help reduce brake distance up to 80% for companies, while reducing water and related CO2 emissions used for watering the roads in up to 90%, providing for smoother and quicker traffic at a competitive cost for their clients.
Additionally, ABC’s Dust Suppression technique is unique from other firms with its embedded sustainability aspect. Leveraging smart product application equipment and sensors allows ABC Dust to map the area to know what rate and amount to apply the product in. This optimizes the usage of resources being spread across the range to ensure no area is under- or over-applied, guaranteeing road safety and reducing wastage. The sensors and technology also take sustainability a step further, with the ability to collect and correlate data on emissions and weather conditions on the roadway for the clients to track, report and forecast, promoting accountability and optimization of preventive resources allocation and planning.
Altogether, this approach of achieving environmental sustainability, social benefits, and a cost-competitive product, has allowed ABC Dust to differentiate itself and its innovation from the products of other competitors while having a positive impact on the community.
Samuel Toledo, President at ABC Dust, who has an entrepreneurial spirit with a Technology Management & Commercialization background, became worried about the environment and the future. He cited a dream, or rather nightmare, about his children playing in dirt due to environmental degradation. From this, Samuel had the vision to create a cutting-edge solution; an innovation that would be both profitable and help achieve sustainability. As he notes “[we] cannot go back to the caveman age, we must innovate our way out of this environmental conundrum,” and that “science & technology are key to achieving a balance”.
The journey to establishing the business and innovation in the construction line began in Chile. There mining is a huge and competitive industry, and it is where Samuel studied and worked several years before coming to Canada. With many mining pits in the country, dust suppression and soil stabilization were needs of companies operating the sites. Seeing the opportunity to see his vision in action, together, with his entrepreneurial and Civil Engineer brother Rafael Toledo, and the support of their close family and the contribution of highly competent colleagues from different backgrounds, a ‘smart’ and sustainable solution was found. Through, a study of the state of the art solutions worldwide, combined with advanced chemistry, Haul Road Engineering, ICT, sensors and geomatics technologies, an improved Dust Suppression process was created achieving massive efficiency, productivity and security gains.
Yet a crucial aspect of creating a successful product was the team. Samuel remarks that “collaboration is key,” statements proven true as ABC Dust’s success was a result of the pure dedication of the team and capital investment. Through hard work and commitment, the team made the most out of everyone’s specialties in engineering, R&D, science, business, and more, to create differentiated Dust Suppression & Soil Stabilization products and techniques. Rather it is more of an innovation than a technique. Especially one that is constantly re-innovated through continuous research, international open collaboration with suppliers, clients, research entities, and support entities in Canada, Chile, the United States, and Europe, and with on-going testing, training, and sampling to grow the business while having a larger positive environmental impact.
ABC Dust’s Dust Suppression solution has had profound effects that spread across to businesses, communities, and the environment. For clients, the solution has improved the quality of the roads for quicker and smoother traffic, further resulting in fewer accidents and streamlined flow along roads. The sensors also track important metrics on emissions which further allows clients to report their environmental impact and be held accountable.
For communities, ABC Dust has always made efforts and took initiatives to hire local workers from surrounding communities. In providing the service to clients, ABC Dust always looks to hire at least 50% local workers for the project’s workforce. While also empowering local economies, the actual process of dust control suppresses 95-99% of dust particulates, such as PM10-2.5, which can be tracked through the sensors. Most popular measures, such as Chlorides and road watering are only effective at a 70-80% rate and require several re-applications.
Chlorides are corrosive for the Trucks and Vehicles and increase the road slipperiness when it rains. Also, they have a negative impact on ecosystems due to the runoff into the water and soil. Furthermore, road watering is CO2 emissions intensive, as it requires several hours of fuel propelled water trucks. It also erodes the road material, which increases road maintenance needs while reducing the road availability and increasing road slipperiness. This has been reported in Australia, being the main cause of mining haul roads accidents (46%).
Fine airborne particles, PM 10-2.5, if not properly eliminated can travel and impact the health of workers, residents in communities if inhaled; leading to sickness and pulmonary diseases. Moreover, for the environment, the suppression of the particulates prevents them from spreading to plants and crops, compromising their growth and quality, and run-off into streams. Otherwise, these particulates can harm land and water ecosystems.
In the competitive industry ABC Dust operates in, Samuel remarks that innovation is key to survival and differentiate itself from competitors. In this way, the innovative Dust Suppression techniques developed gives ABC Dust its competitive advantage in differentiating itself from others. The efficient use of resources aids the business in reducing wastage and costs incurred. Samuel notes that the Dust Suppression technique “allows [them] to do more with less.” ABC Dust products are manufactured according to ABC Dust requirements in ISO 9001-14001 facilities under manufacturing contracts, not only ensuring accountability through the supply chain, but additionally guaranteeing high-quality product is being used.
Furthermore, in terms of hiring practices, hiring local workers is beneficial to both surrounding communities and the business. With the goal of hiring 50% local workers, ABC Dust can acquire great insight from their knowledge of the area, further increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the process. Also, 1/3 of ABC Dust’s shareholder, management, and R&D team is comprised of women. Supporting ABC Dust’s active stance on hiring diversity and promoting the brand of the business.
Overall, such practices have enabled ABC Dust to gain a sustained competitive advantage. Already having completed significant contracts in the Cuajone mines in Peru and mines operated by Codelco, just to mention a few. While the innovative Dust Suppression technique helped generate profits through these contracts, the project also helped to create thousands of jobs in the region, benefiting the business in multiple ways.
The Dust Suppression innovation has numerous environmental benefits. The potential for the harm dust particulates can have on humans, animals, plant life, and ecosystems through run-off and air-borne travel is immense. The suppression of such particulates, from 95-99% of PM10, helps sustain these ecosystems from otherwise hazardous matter. In a similar manner, this promotes healthy communities, reducing the risk of illness and pulmonary diseases from airborne travel of these particulates. Moreover, ABC Dust reduces the use of salt and chlorides, common in solutions of other firms, that harms the nearby environment. Further environmental benefits are experienced from the use of sensors and technology in achieving efficiency. The result is reduced water and resource usage, 80-90% reduction in water usage, as well as higher quality roads.
Social benefits are also achieved with local economies boosted from ABC Dust’s push to hire local in for their projects. As well, as part of continuous R&D and innovation, ABC Dust works with universities and other organizations, promoting education and training.
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Samuel Toledo, President
ABC Dust provides dust control and soil stabilization solutions to the mining, forestry, municipalities, and construction companies worldwide. ABC Dust prides itself on developing a treatment applied “at the right place, at the right time with the right product and the right equipment” to suppress up to 99% of dust levels while reducing braking distances up to 80% and saving up to 80-90% of H2O. By developing and integrating products and technology, ABC Dust has innovated itself into a leading firm for providing sound high performance, lower cost, and sustainable solutions measured with state of the art georeferenced sensors and metrics.