Nova Chemicals Shuffles Senior Leadership in Sustainability Push

Canada’s Nova Chemicals Corp. has announced strategic senior leadership changes designed to buttress its ambition to be in the industry vanguard of sustainability and the circular economy, as outlined in its Roadmap to Sustainability Leadership. 

VP of polyethylene marketing Greg DeKunder has been named vice president of Nova Circular Solutions, a new business line created in February of this year. Replacing DeKunder as vice president of polyethylene marketing is Sarah Marshall, a more than 20 year veteran of the company. Jennifer Woolfsmith has taken on the role of vice president, sustainability, following Marshall’s transition. 

As VP of Nova Circular Solutions, a business that is focused on lower-emission, recycled materials, DeKunder will be tasked with expanding the company’s portfolio of sustainable products, such as Syndigo recycled polyethylene, made entirely from recycled resins; overseeing the state-of-the-art mechanical recycling business; and exploring advanced recycling opportunities. DeKunder joined Nova Chemicals in 2018.

During her more than 20 years at the company, Marshall built Nova Chemicals’ sustainability team and function, and operationalized the 2030 Roadmap to Sustainability Leadership. She is a much sought-after North American expert on the circular economy, industry decarbonization, and broader sustainability issues. In her new position, Marshall will be responsible for driving the company’s market leadership strategy, continuing to build on her already strong customer relationships, and leveraging business opportunities throughout the value chain.  

Succeeding Marshall as vice president, sustainability, Woolfsmith served most recently as chief of staff to the CEO, where she worked alongside senior leadership and the board to develop the 2030 Roadmap to Sustainability Leadership. Woolfsmith has also been with the company for more than 20 years, and in her new role is expected to leverage her background in finance and governance, business leadership, and passion for sustainability to lead the ongoing development and execution of Nova’s sustainability strategy, the company said.

Woolfsmith will also lead internal and external engagement and reporting, while implementing the strategies required to meet the organization’s goal of reducing Scope 1 and 2 absolute CO₂ emissions by 30% by 2030, and achieving net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050.

“As we embark on this exciting period of growth and transformation, these planned organizational changes will set us up to achieve our ambitious 2030 aspirations while continuing to meet the evolving expectations on our industry from society and our customers,” said John Thayer, Nova Chemicals senior vice president of sales and marketing. “I have tremendous confidence that alongside their teams, the deep level of expertise Greg, Sarah, and Jennifer bring to their respective roles will only serve to unlock new innovative solutions across our business and ensure Nova remains on track to be the leading sustainable polyethylene producer in North America.”

In April of this year, Nova announced that Roger Kearns would take the reins of the Calgary-based company as president and CEO, effective June 12, 2023.