The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge: Celebrating 20 Years of Green Chemistry Innovation
B&C has prepared and serviced this press release based on information publicly available from EPA and ACS. We have no involvement in or knowledge of the award selection process.
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®) are deeply committed to supporting the development of greener, more sustainable chemical processes and products, and so we are pleased to help spread the news about a tremendous success story, featuring scientists from industry, government, and academia working together to create groundbreaking solutions to real-world environmental problems. It is called the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge and the 2015 winners will be announced at the 20th Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Ceremony, July 13, 2015, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge, administered through a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute® (ACS GCI), promotes the environmental and economic benefits of developing and using novel green chemistry, and has significantly reduced the hazards associated with designing, manufacturing, and using chemicals.
Since 1996, the 98 winning technologies have made billions of pounds of real, measurable progress, including:
- 826 million pounds of hazardous chemicals and solvents eliminated each year — enough to fill almost 3,800 railroad tank cars or a train nearly 47 miles long;
- 21 billion gallons of water saved each year — the amount used by 820,000 people annually; and
- 7.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents released to air eliminated each year — equal to taking 810,000 automobiles off the road.
Past winners include:
- An environmentally safe alternative to toxic and bioaccumulating ships’ hull coatings;
- A water-based, catalytic method used to produce gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel from sugar, starch, or cellulose;
- A process to create tiny micelles, or “nanoreactors,” in water, within which a variety of chemical reactions can occur, eliminating the need for organic solvents;
- A polymer that coats titanium dioxide to reduce pigment clumping in paint, so less pigment needs to be used to achieve the same results, lowering carbon footprint, water use, and release of volatile compounds; and
- An enzyme that increases the ability of cellulose fibers to bind together, therefore reducing the paper’s weight without sacrificing performance, and making it possible to use higher percentages of recycled pulp.
Detailed descriptions of all the winning technologies, processes, and discoveries are available on EPA’s Green Chemistry website.
Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards are awarded in six categories
- Focus Area 1: Greener Synthetic Pathways;
- Focus Area 2: Greener Reaction Conditions;
- Focus Area 3: The Design of Greener Chemicals;
- Small Business (for a technology in any of the three focus areas developed by a business with annual sales of less than $40 million);
- Academic (for a technology in any of the three focus areas developed by an academic researcher); and
- Specific Environmental Benefit: Climate Change (for a technology in any of the three focus areas that reduces greenhouse gas emissions)
Information and instructions on nominating a product, process, or technology for an award are available on the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award website.
Journalists interested in covering the safer, cleaner, greener chemistry that is being done by this year’s winning chemistry innovators are encouraged to contact the EPA and ACS representatives listed below. There are both compelling business and consumer stories to be told about the companies and scientists who are working to make the products and services we buy every day more profitable, sustainable, and renewable.
ACS GCI offers a wealth of resources regarding green chemistry, including the brochure “Design Principles for Sustainable and Green Chemistry and Engineering,” the What’s Your Green Chemistry? YouTube channel, and Green Chemistry: The Nexus Blog.
B&C and Acta are thoroughly engaged in the law, science, and business of green chemistry, and are honored to have worked with a number of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award winners. Resources available on our websites include articles and memoranda regarding green and biobased chemicals and chemical products, and descriptions of our services for biobased and green chemical companies.
B&C also serves as an advisor to the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®), managed by B&C® Consortia Management, L.L.C. BRAG helps members develop and bring to market their innovative biobased and renewable chemical products through insightful policy and regulatory advocacy. BRAG publishes the Biobased Products blog and the Biobased Products News and Policy Report newsletter.
Media Inquiries:
To speak with this year’s winners, or to report from the awards ceremony, contact:
Cheryl Brown, ACS Green Chemistry Institute, gci@acs.org (202) 452-8917
Cathy Milbourn, Press Officer, EPA, milbourn.cathy@epa.gov (202) 564-7849.