EPA Announces 2023 Green Chemistry Challenge Award Winners

Academic Category: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, for developing new ways to refine common agricultural waste such as rice hulls into materials that can be used in lithium-ion batteries and other products that are important for the transition to green energy. The new processes can replace the energy and carbon intensive methods currently used to obtain silicon metals.

Design of Greener Chemicals: The Clorox Company, Oakland, CA, for designing Clorox EcoClean Disinfecting Cleaner, a Design for the Environment-certified disinfecting cleaner that can be used without personal protective equipment, is formulated without alcohol and can be used safely on most surfaces without bleaching. The product disinfects 99.999% of illness-causing germs in two minutes or less when used as directed.

Greener Synthetic Pathways: Solugen, Houston, TX, for developing the Bioforge, a chemical manufacturing platform that converts plant-derived substances into a range of materials that have historically been made from fossil fuels — without resulting emissions or waste. Materials made in the Bioforge include those used for water treatment and detergents.

Greener Reaction Conditions: Captis Aire LLC, East Point, GA, for the patent pending CAIRE Technology that captures more than 90% of terpenes, a waste product from the wood manufacturing process, and converts it into valuable chemicals including those used in products such as biofuels, flavors, and fragrances. Currently these terpenes can be an air pollutant, an irritant to eyes, lungs and skin, and are commonly burned as waste which releases greenhouse gases.

Small Business Award: Modern Meadow, Nutley, NJ, for developing a more efficient textile dyeing process called Bio-FREED Powered by Bio-Alloy which uses a bio-based protein foam to dye any type of fiber. Compared to traditional dyeing methods, Bio-FREED conserves 95% of water, reduces energy consumption by 75%, and utilizes 80% fewer dyes and chemicals. Bio-FREED does not require a separate step to fix the dye and requires one or even no washes at the end of the dyeing process, compared to 4-7 washes for traditional dyeing.

Specific Environmental Benefit – Climate Change: Air Company, Brooklyn, NY, for developing a technology that mimics photosynthesis to transform the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into other organic chemicals, producing oxygen as the only byproduct. The technology both removes carbon dioxide from the air by using it as a chemical reactant and reduces the need for fossil fuels by transforming it into fuels, including aviation fuels.