Cleantech Group's Global Cleantech 100

• Every year, Cleantech Group recognizes 100 of the leading companies in the cleantech industry in its annual Global Cleantech 100 report. The report is free to download here.
• The report recognizes "100 leading companies poised to solve some of our biggest challenges over the next five to ten years." As Clariter is seeking to take on the monumental problem of plastic waste, it would certainly qualify for this list.
• While nominations for the list are free, entrepreneurs must nominate at least two other companies in addition to their own. Nominations are currently closed for the 2020 report.
• Once a company has been recognized on the list, it qualifies for the annual Cleantech 100 Awards. These are automatically awarded to companies in various categories that are highest-ranked on the list. Categories include "Early Stage Company of the Year," "Rising Star Company of the Year," "Europe and Israel Company of the Year," and others.
• They are presented at the Global Cleantech 100 Gala, along with the unveiling of the latest Global Cleantech 100 report. The gala is held in San Francisco.

Energy & Environment Foundation (EEF)'s Global Sustainability Award

• The EEF is a "not-for-profit, non-political, neutral and independent, non-governmental organization (NGO)" and its primary purpose "is to promote sustainable development of the world’s energy and natural resources in an integrated and holistic way for the benefit of mankind."
• It designates several annual awards to companies making notable contributions across a variety of categories; the one that seems most relevant to Clariter is its Global Sustainability Award, awarded for "excellent contributions, commitment and actions that have made a positive impact on the environment...by helping to improve the management of natural resources, demonstrating new ways to tackle climate change or raising awareness of emerging environmental challenges."
• This award focuses on various criteria, such as sustainability management, green initiatives and production optimization, that are directly related to Clariter's efforts regarding plastic waste repurposing.
• The processing fee for the award nomination is US$1000. Awards are presented in New Delhi, India.

The International CSR Excellence Awards

• The Green Organisation, sponsor of the Green Apple Awards discussed in the previous research, also sponsors an award involving corporate social responsibility excellence. The awards "recognize and reward" the efforts of "responsible, caring companies" that are "a realistic force for good."
• While these awards are not focused solely on cleantech, they have multiple categories that are relevant to Clariter. In its general categories, the 'Innovation' category applies to Clariter's revolutionary plastic waste repurposing process; and in its environmental categories, 'pollution avoidance' and 'waste management' could both apply to Clariter's business.
• The first entry for an award is free, provided it is submitted before March 31, with subsequent entries costing £100 plus VAT. The award appears to be presented at the Green Apple Awards ceremony in London, England.

Your research team employed the following strategy:

1. The Circulars

• The Circulars are described as "an initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders, run in collaboration with Accenture Strategy" and is "the world’s premier circular economy award program."
• The Circulars state that they award "individuals and organizations across the globe that are making notable contributions to the circular economy in the private sector, public sector and society." They are awarded at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
• As the World Economic Forum describes, a circular economy "is an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. It replaces the end-of-life concept with restoration, shifts towards the use of renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals, which impair reuse and return to the biosphere, and aims for the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, systems and business models."
• Fundamentally, "a circular economy aims to design out waste." Clariter, with a business model built on the repurposing of plastic waste, seems in many ways to be the epitome of this concept, and therefore may be a strong applicant for a Circular award.
• There is no fee to apply to the Circulars. There are seven entry categories; of these, Clariter would likely fit most neatly into the "Award for Circular Economy Multinational" (for companies with over $100 million in turnover) or the "Award for Circular Economy SME" (for companies with between $10 million and $100 million in turnover), depending on the scale of the company's turnover.
• Sponsored by the globally-recognized World Economic Forum, The Circulars is an award with extensive international reach, and some of the world's foremost companies (for example, Anheuser-Busch InBev) are among the current finalists for an award.

2. The Edison Awards

• This award is "an annual competition honoring excellence in new product and service development, marketing, human-centered design, and innovation," in the spirit of its namesake, the inventor Thomas Edison.
• The awards are "open to innovative organizations across the globe," and have awarded companies ranging in size from small startups to Fortune 500s.
• While they are not limited to the cleantech industry, The Edison Awards have a category dedicated to it, called Energy and Sustainability, and awarded to "products and services here that impact energy generation, efficiency and conservation, and protection of the environment."
• Given the revolutionary nature of the process it has developed, Clariter could qualify for this category, or for one of the Edison's other categories, such as Material Science and Engineering, which is awarded to "advances in the materials that extend what is possible, covering manipulation of structure and properties whether through nanotechnology, chemistry, metallurgy or formulation."
• The nomination fees vary depending on when the application is submitted; for this year's competition, fees for corporations are $895 for August 1st through September 13, $1095 for September 14 through October 18, and $1395 for October 19 through November 22.
• The awards honor "over 150 companies from all over the world" every year. Winners are announced at the Edison Gala in New York City.

3. Green Apple Awards

• These awards are sponsored by the Green Organisation, a UK-based environmental organization.
• Clariter would qualify for the organization's Green World Awards, in which the winner's home country is selected to hold the awards ceremony the subsequent year.
• This award recognizes and rewards "the endeavours of Commerce, Industry, Governments, Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Authorities and Individuals who have a beneficial impact on the environment." Criteria include environmental benefit and innovation, both of which Clariter demonstrates in spades.
• A Vietnamese company won the competition in 2018, so the 2019 awards will be held there. For this competition, there is a £500 entry fee plus a 20% Value Added Tax.
• Clariter would also be eligible for the organization's International Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice, which seeks to "recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world." Numerous notable companies from around the world have won the award in the past, including Toshiba, Canon, GlaxoSmithKline, Siemens, Nissan, and others.
• The first entry for this award is free, with subsequent entries costing £100 + VAT. Awards are presented in London.

Your research team employed the following strategy:

•  Edie Sustainability Leaders Awards 
•  Rushlight Awards 
•  CIEEM Awards 
•  Global Good Awards (despite its name, it is primarily UK-based)
• American Planning Association's Excellence in Sustainability Awards