Nicole Stefenelli, Winner: Clean Tech

Rebecca Tay

| October 8, 2010

Image by: Adam Blasberg

The judges:  "Nicole is a woman with the courage to take the entrepreneurial route straight out of university and demonstrate the dedication to be able to see her project through to success at such a young age."

The 2010 Clean Tech Entrepreneur of the Year is Nicole Stefenelli, Founder and president,  Urban Impact Recycling Ltd. 

A lack of formal business training is the last thing that comes to mind upon meeting Nicole Stefenelli, and despite her claims that she “wasn’t always into the environment,” it’s clearly the perfect industry for her – one in which she can combine environmental stewardship with keen business instincts. 

It all started in 1989 when Stefenelli returned from a trip to Europe. “It was a major turning point for me,” she recalls, “seeing how many light years ahead those countries were in terms of recycling.” One year later, Urban Impact was born as a university project aimed at proving that commercial businesses could reduce their waste disposal costs and carbon footprint by recycling. 

Stefenelli started with a client roster of four restaurants. She laughs, remembering a friend who “figured I’d need about 25 to be successful.” Today Urban Impact picks up waste and recyclable material from 5,000 locations across the Lower Mainland and Alberta, and Stefenelli manages a staff of 100 and a fleet of 32 vehicles.

Four Questions

What was your  first real job? 

I worked at an ice cream parlour in Kerrisdale .

What was your first big break in your current business? 

The e-series, put on by Forum for Women Entrepreneurs in 2003. The series led to me buying our largest competitor in 2006, which was another big break.

Who was your role model/mentor? 

My first business partner, Jamie van Poele, was a small-business owner and gave me a lot of business lessons.

If I wasn’t doing this, I’d be... 

I don’t know. I love it. I was 18 when I started, and I feel so lucky to have been stirred by something.

Urban Impact acquired two major competitors in 2006 and 2008, doubling its business, and Stefenelli signed contracts with several municipalities in 2008. The company acts as the intermediary between consumers and mills that can reuse the material. One of the company’s advantages in an increasingly competitive market is that it can execute five aspects of the recycling process: pickup, receiving and weighing of materials, sorting, baling and shipping. 

“There is not much camaraderie in this business,” concedes Stefenelli, whose immediate goal is to settle into her company’s recent growth (25 per cent year-over-year for the past two years) before continuing to acquire competitors and grow her business, especially in Alberta.  

According to Stefenelli, “20 years ago, recycling was the most important thing to me. Now my mindset has moved to diversion and reducing consumption.” She explains that in 2009 Urban Impact diverted more than 90,000 tonnes of recyclable material from landfills. 