AUGUST 2014
H
business elite canada 91
By Leah Kellar
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As the third largest geomembrane manufac-
turer in the world, Solmax International Inc.
has literally covered the world and protected
the earth for more than 30 years as a leader in
an increasingly competitive commodity niche
market. Geomembranes are used in a myriad
of environmental, geotechnical, hydraulic,
transportation and private development appli-
cations everyday, such as: protective liners for
municipal and hazardous waste landfills cells
and covers, tailings and heap leach pads for
mining operations, irrigation and water reser-
voirs and canals, secondary containments for
oil and gas extractive sector—just to name a
few. Geomembranes often act as the last de-
fense separating or containing elements from
one another, which if brought together could
cause serious health or safety problems among
others.
This makes the raison d’être of Solmax, an
international company with its headquarters
in Varennes, Quebec, a vital one. The manu-
facturing of HDPE and LLDPE geomembranes,
and fluid transportation services to the mining
industry are the company’s two core services
through which it offers synthetic products des-
tined for separation and/or confinement solu-
tion of solids and liquids and water treatment
in the construction, engineering and environ-
ment sectors. For example, geomembrane and
fluid transport products that allow the separa-
tion or confinement of harzardous waste liquid
from seeping into the potable or reserve water
supply. It’s a vital niche market that improves
the quality of life and societal wellbeing each
day, of which the public knows very little about
on average.
But the public doesn’t have to know to reap
the daily benefits of its innovation. Solmax has
