On October 15, 2018, the American Chemical Society (ACS) held the 2018 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Ceremony at the National Education Association in Washington, D.C. This year, five awards were given to academics, scientists, and business innovators across the biobased industry sector. Promoting environmental and economic benefits of developments in green chemistry, the ACS Green Chemistry Institute hosts this event on an annual basis. Of particular interest in this year’s ceremony was the “Greener Reaction Conditions Award” presented to Mari Signum Mid-Atlantic, L.L.C. for their research: A Practical Way to Mass Production of Chitin: The Only Facility in the U.S. to Use Ionic Liquid-Based Isolation Process. Awarded for its commercialization of a safe, environmentally friendly, low energy demand, and overall cost efficient process to produce chitin from seafood waste, Mari Signum Mid-Atlantic, L.L.C., holds the only facility in the U.S. that uses an ionic liquid-based isolation process. The zero-discharge process is a key development in the biobased industry due to the fact that all components of the waste crustacean biomass are monetized, recycled, and reused.
ACS Green Chemistry Challenge Award Winners also included:
- Academic Award — Professor Frank Gupton and Professor Tyler McQuade, Virginia Commonwealth University, “Increasing Global Access to the High-volume HIV Drug Nevirapine through Process Intensification”
- Small Business Award — Chemetry, Corp., “The eShuttleTM Technology for Propulene Oxide and Reducing CO2 Emissions in the PVC Supply Chain”
- Greener Synthetic Pathways Award — Merck & Co. and Merck Research Laboratories, “A Sustainable Commercial Manufacturing Process for Doravirine from Commodity Chemicals”
- Designing Greener Chemicals Award — Corteva AgriscienceTM Agriculture Division of DowDuPontTM, “RinskorTM Active — Improving Rice Production While Reducing Environmental Impact”
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. congratulates all ACS Green Chemistry Challenge Award Winners for their invaluable contributions to a more sustainable and renewable future.