Striving to Balance People, Planet and Profit Featuring Natali Archibee with The Mosaic Company

Photo source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2019/12/10/what-the-3ps-of-the-triple-bottom-line-really-mean/#ce949d514359

​Welcome to Part 4 of Sustainability Superheroes in the world of manufacturing! If you haven’t already, make sure to check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 so you can stay updated on all the exclusive news!
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Today, our special guest is Natali Archibee, Sustainability Manager with The Mosaic Company located in Tampa, FL. The Mosaic Company supplies the world’s largest supplier of phosphate and potash, while helping the world grow its food. They are feeding countries like the United States, Canada, India and Brazil. 

The process of mining phosphates and potash materials requires high amounts of water and energy. So how does a massive global company mitigate their consumption and work sustainably? Find out in this exclusive interview with Natali Archibee!

Tell us about your company and what you do.

Left: Deborah Kozdras (USF Stavros Center) Middle: Natali Archibee (The Mosaic Company) Right: Marilyn Barger (Florida Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence)

Natali is in charge of leading the Mosaic Company’s strategy development plus the internal and external reporting work. The global company mines potash and phosphate and produces carb nutrient products (fertilizers) that are distributed to countries all over the world

What are some of the sustainability issues or concerns you have in your industry?

The Mosaic Company views sustainability very broadly, and there are many different things they consider. Natali says, “Some of the issues are water use, managing energy, greenhouse gas emissions, mining waste, managing impacts within our supply chain, and safety for our 12,000 employees.” That sure is a lot to keep up with! But, Mosaic's goal is to balance people, planet and profit, also known as the Triple Bottom Line.

Photo source: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/zen-and-triple-bottom-line

What other initiatives are you undertaking now?

The Mosaic Company is actually aligned to 6 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals! “We contribute to zero hunger, food security, managing water use, and limiting the potential negative effects for the use of our products. We are also aligned to the clean energy goal,” Natali says. The manufacturer generates energy in their operations from the sulfuric acid manufacturing process. “We harness waste heat from that process and use it to make energy, which accounts for about 40% of the total energy we use in our operations.”

What are some of the problems you’d like to solve in the near future?

Being as sustainable as possible is a long journey and a complicated process for any operation, but The Mosaic Company works with STEM-trained professionals to aid them in the process. Natali says, “STEM-trained professionals are very instrumental to our sustainability journey. So it’s been STEM-trained accountants, analysts, operators and manufacturers. They have been very critical to our success so far in terms of technology and taking our program to the next level.”

When it comes to future challenges, these professionals are going to be very critical in solving issues. The Mosaic Company is investing in programs to recruit and build their capacity in these areas.

Test Your Knowledge!

After reading about Natali Archibee's work or watching the videos, take this quiz and find out if you've got what it takes to be a sustainability superhero! If the quiz does work on this page, you can also take it here.

#ReThink Tank

Now that you have learned about some of the changes The Mosaic Company has made in terms of becoming more sustainable, conduct some research online. Consider ways that agriculture can rethink their processes to become even more sustainable with water, waste, and food security. Here are some rethink tank question starters:

1. How can we reduce . . .
2. How can we reuse . . .
3. How can we recycle . . .
4. How can we redesign . . .
5. How can we repurpose . . .