Sustainability is built into Cancarb's foundation.
"It goes back to our company values—responsibility, integrity, collaboration—which essentially is trying to do the right thing all the time," Thompson said. "And being sustainable is the right thing to do."
Cancarb also was one of the first to achieve net zero carbon emissions as a carbon black producer, having operated a steam generating power plant since 2001 that produces electricity from the waste heat recovered from its thermal carbon black process, according to the company's social responsibility statement.
Because of this, Cancarb, on average, provides about 15 percent of Medicine Hat's local electricity demand, "thereby offsetting electricity that would have been produced mainly though natural gas generation with resultant (greenhouse gas) emissions."
But the way Cancarb sees it, there is no end game when it comes to achieving its sustainability initiatives.
"We can always do better," Thompson said.
"Getting EcoVadis Platinum for the second year (in a row), that's great, …but we understand that we can't just stop," he said. "There's still way more we can do."
Cancarb President Peter Donnelly expressed a similar sentiment when the company received the 2024 recognition in August.
"A pillar of Cancarb's corporate identity is our commitment to the environment, our customers, employees and community, which can only be achieved by being a sustainable and responsible organization," Donnelly said in a statement. "While always grateful for the recognition, Cancarb is careful to remember this does not represent an end destination; the work continues in being an important contributor to Tokai Carbon Group's Net-Zero Initiative."
So how does a company dubbed a leader in sustainability become even more sustainable?
It requires looking further than just production methods, Thompson said, noting changes can even be made to improve areas like hiring or purchasing methods.
"It's an overarching thing," he said. "Every part of your company, you can look at it and say, 'How can we be more sustainable than this? How can we be more sustainable here?'
"There's always more to do, and there always will be."
Currently, Cancarb is looking to offset its electricity usage with the installation of a solar field around its plant.
Thompson couldn't share exact details of the project in terms of investment and total project timeline, but noted the project is slated to begin sometime in 2025.
"We own all the land around our plant site, so it's going to reopen this big, open space," he said. "We live in what's considered Canada's sunniest city, so it seems kind of a natural thing to do. We have the space, we have the sun, so let's put in a solar field."
And while embarking on a sustainability journey can be daunting, Thompson encouraged those getting started to do just that.
"You've just got to start, and it'll start to fall into place. Even one or two changes is better than not taking any sort of initiative," he said.