This article was originally published on The Nexus blog.
In May 2024, leaders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Chemical Society (ACS) agreed to continue their co-sponsorship of the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards through 2029. This partnership was initiated in 1996 to showcase the human, environmental, and economic benefits of developing and implementing green chemistry. To date, 139 American businesses, academic institutions, and individuals have been recognized for their green chemistry innovations in focus areas such as greener synthetic pathways, chemical and process design for circularity, and design of safer and degradable chemicals. The awards demonstrate that excellence in more sustainable, cutting-edge science is being implemented across the U.S.
The award ceremony for this year’s winners took place on September 26 in New York City in conjunction with Climate Week NYC. The Call for Nominations for the 2025 GCCAs is open until December 13, 2024.
ACS GCI had the privilege of interviewing several past GCCA winners about their technologies, where they are today, and what the awards mean to them. Columbia Forest Products, Eastman Chemical Company, Codexis, and Merck shared their experiences.
Columbia Forest Products
Headquartered in Greensboro, NC with 15 facilities employing 2,200 people, Columbia Forest Products received a GCCA in 2007 for implementing a soy-based plywood assembly technology in wood panel production that replaced formaldehyde – a known human carcinogen. The majority of domestic decorative plywood plants in North America now use soy technology (by volume).
The technology was developed through an academia-industry partnership with Professor Kaichang Li at Oregon State University, and the new product helped CFP compete against an influx of imported products, transformed plywood production, and offered an economic benefit to soy farmers whose product was in over-supply
“In late 2024, Columbia is forecasted to ship its 200 millionth sheet of PureBond® soy bonded plywood. It is a proven solution today which got an important boost through recognition bestowed to us by the EPA, of which we are still quite proud,” said Chris Groves, Director of Innovation, Technology and Adhesives. “Columbia benefitted from reduced stack emissions as hundreds of thousands of tons of urea-formaldehyde resins where forgone as well as additional scavenging chemistries which would have been required to meet TSCA requirements today. It was and continues to be a big win for us, for our fabricators, and our customers.”
Eastman Chemical Company
In 2009, Eastman – headquartered in Kingsport, TN with 15 operating sites in the U.S. – won a GCCA for their GEM™ technology which saves energy, avoids hazardous reagents, and reduces solvent use compared to conventional manufacturing processes, creating more sustainable cosmetics ingredients.
The technology improved quality, yield, cost, and environmental footprint. The GCCA also enabled Eastman to reach new customers and resulted in a scale-up of the program.
"The technology is still in use, and the revenue is measured in millions,” said Stephanie Clendennen, Technology Fellow at Eastman. “The GCCA was important to the company, and the sustainability initiatives have only grown since then. It marked the beginning of a journey, and in the past 15 years we have become a world leader, especially in the chemical industry, of being a model in sustainability.”
Codexis
Headquartered in Redwood City, CA, Codexis is a protein engineering company developing enzymes for pharmaceutical, food, and medical applications. Codexis won GCCAs in 2006, 2010, and 2012 for enzymatic processes to replace conventional pharmaceutical syntheses for some of the world’s best-selling drugs. Their innovations demonstrate the power of state-of-the-art enzyme optimization technologies in enabling economically viable, green-by-design biocatalytic processes.
“The economic competitiveness of our biocatalysts is demonstrated by the fact the corresponding enzymatic processes became the preferred manufacturing route over conventional processes,” said Stefan Lutz, PhD, Senior VP of Research at Codexis. “We’ve also had three technology licenses by major pharmaceutical organizations.”
The greener alternatives have environmental benefits including waste reduction, energy savings, reagent reduction, and elimination of rare metals.
Merck & Co., Inc.
Merck, which is headquartered in New Jersey and has 10 R&D facilities in the U.S., takes the lead for most GCCAs won by a single company––nine total from 2005 to 2022. Their improvements to pharmaceutical synthesis include increasing yields, reducing waste, and removing hazardous reagents and solvents.
“We’re honored to be recognized as part of the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. These recognitions help to further foster our culture of innovating for a greener future,” said Carly Myar, Global Communications at Merck. “They have spurred the invention of new technologies, highlighted gaps in existing chemistries, and reaffirmed the importance of developing the most sustainable processes.”
The awards have helped Merck continue to recruit top talent who share a passion for sustainability and have the skills to push the field forward in new and inventive ways.
“We believe it’s our responsibility to bring medicines and vaccines to people in a way that sustains a healthy planet, including lowering the environmental impact of our products and packaging,” said Kevin Maloney, Head of Process Chemistry at Merck. “The GCCAs have highlighted the benefits of having a green and sustainable science framework that applies green chemistry principles and quantitative sustainability metrics and goals to our scientific processes.”
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Visit the EPA Green Chemistry page to explore all the past GCCA winners.
