MOBILE, ALA. — Partners for Environmental Progress (PEP) recognized the contributions of area businesses and organizations at the 25th Annual Membership Meeting and Environmental Stewardship Awards presentation on September 25, 2025.

Since 2005, the PEP Board of Directors has presented Environmental Stewardship Awards to recognize members whose work has made a significant and positive contribution to the Gulf Coast region. The awards recognize businesses of all sizes, as well as nonprofit organizations and municipalities.

This year, the five winning projects represented a diversity of initiatives – from the living shorelines in scenic Aloe Bay and the Christopher Blankenship Eco-tourism Area & Kayak Launch for the Town of Dauphin Island (by Moffatt & Nichol and Goodwyn Mills Cawood), to Ransom Solutions for its pioneering programs Ransom Recycling and Road to Work, which combine workforce development with environmental sustainability.

Additional award recipients included:

ArcelorMittal Calvert for its lighting retrofit project
Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC for its soft lime reduction innovation
Tate & Lyle for its project to remove fire suppression foam containing PFAS
2025 Community Partner Award recipient Robert Swann, Director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program

This year, PEP also introduced a new award to honor small businesses with core operations centered on sustainability. These member companies demonstrate innovation and measurable impact by helping their customers reduce energy and water consumption, minimize carbon emissions and waste, or achieve other key sustainability metrics.

The inaugural PEP Sustainable Small Business Champion Award was presented to Smash My Trash, a small but mighty company transforming the waste hauling industry. By compacting trash in dumpsters onsite, the company reduces the number of required hauls, saving money for clients while cutting emissions. Since its launch in Mobile, Smash My Trash has completed more than 20,000 smashes, eliminating over 10,000 hauls—the equivalent of 2 million vehicle miles removed from the road or 909,000 pounds of coal not burned.

All awards were presented at PEP’s Annual Membership Meeting and Environmental Awards ceremony at The Renaissance Battle House Hotel. Members and guests enjoyed dinner, networking, and celebrating one another’s successes. The award video outlining each project’s impact can be viewed on PEP’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/@pep_mobile).

PEP calculated the total greenhouse gas reductions resulting from the projects selected for the 2025 Environmental Stewardship Awards. Together, these projects decreased emission by 618,263 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent last year. According to EPA calculations, this is equal to taking 144,213 cars off the road – representing 37% of passenger vehicles registered in Mobile County.

In 2025, PEP also celebrated its 25th anniversary – a quarter-century of championing environmental sustainability and responsible industry practices along the Gulf Coast. Since its founding, PEP has fostered collaboration between businesses, industries, and the community to drive meaningful environmental progress. The anniversary celebration culminated in “PEPtember,” held in conjunction with the annual awards banquet, where members and community leaders gathered to recognize the outstanding efforts of companies advancing environmental stewardship.

“This year, we have been honoring the businesses and leaders who have demonstrated economic growth and environmental responsibility for the past 25 years,” said Jennifer Denson, Executive Director. “This milestone was a perfect opportunity to celebrate our past achievements of our members, reflect on our collective impact and renew our commitment to advancing sustainable industry practices for the next generation.”