At the inaugural OCS CON in 2024, more than one hundred attendees gathered to celebrate the first-ever OCS Difference Maker Award recipients — Brittany Darras, Senior Sustainability Manager at Braskem; Gina James, Environmental Specialist at Chevron Phillips Chemical; and Anna Ross, Sustainability Director – Packaging & Specialty Plastics at Dow Chemical. Presented during the event held last September in Houston, Texas, the OCS Difference Maker Award was created to honor individual OCS champions who have gone above and beyond in their efforts toward zero plastic resin loss.
Brittany Darras was recognized for her work to implement OCS Blue at all Braskem America’s sites, while also exceeding program expectations. Brittany established an internal auditing process to quickly address and resolve any resin loss risks in operations. From spearheading an effort to properly secure and audit emptied plastic resin railcars to driving internal meetings to ensure continuous improvement, her commitment to resin loss prevention is profound.
“This recognition represents the collective, unwavering efforts of Braskem team members and other OCS members I’ve worked with to continually improve our practices to keep plastic off the ground and out of the environment,” said Brittany Darras. “Responsibly managing the products we make is part of our license to operate. I look forward to continuing to advance efforts to reduce resin losses through collaboration and partnership both within and outside of Braskem.”
Gina James was recognized for her dedication to preventing plastic resin loss through the implementation of a pellet management program at Chevron Phillip’s Orange facility and her ability to engage and impress upon others the importance of resin handling practices. James championed facility improvements that were instrumental to the facility’s OCS program.
“I am honored to receive this award, which recognizes the significant efforts of CP Chem’s plastics stewardship programs,” said Gina James. “We have deployed cross-functional teams across our facilities to lead initiatives that further enhance our OCS program and encourage others in our value chain to make this journey with us. By striving for zero pellet loss, we aim to keep valuable resources out of the environment, helping to meet society’s needs both now and in the future.”
Anna Ross was recognized for her unwavering passion for sustainability and resin loss prevention, exemplified by the creation of the OCS Steering Team and now-famous OCS Playbook. At Dow, Ross identified an opportunity to drive culture change and launched the “Every Pellet Counts” campaign which calls on employees to get involved and approach resin loss prevention with a renewed understanding.
“Operation Clean Sweep is an amazing opportunity for industry to collaborate, as true success only comes when we are all winning together,” said Anna Ross. “The OCS Difference Maker award was especially meaningful to me because it represents the impact of what the Dow Team has been able to accomplish internally, and the unlimited potential of what we can achieve together as an industry.”
From developing innovative solutions for mitigating resin loss to deploying culture change initiatives, the outstanding contributions demonstrated by the OCS Difference Maker Award recipients showcase significant industry-led leadership in protecting the environment and exhibiting operational excellence.
OCS looks forward to recognizing the next group of OCS Difference Maker Award recipients at OCS CON 2025, taking place in Indianapolis, Indiana, from October 15-17. OCS members may submit a nomination for the OCS Difference Maker Award through June 13, 2025. New this year, OCS will be recognizing OCS companies for their achievements in OCS, alongside the individual awards. Interested OCS member companies and staff can submit their nominees for consideration here.
If you are new to OCS and are looking to learn more about efforts towards zero resin loss in operations, please reach out to info@opcleansweep.org.