Waste Prevention

Synthesis of biodiesel and NOBS (advanced bleaching system). This company's biodiesel comes from multiple sustainable feedstocks, including inedible corn oil, used cooking oil, degummed/crude soil oil, beef tallow, and pork lard. These feedstocks do not compete with food production. This company produces 89 million gallons of biodiesel per year and has an on-site liquid waste treatment facility. NOBS is a bleach activator that performs in cold water. Traditional stain removal ingredients, such as sodium hypochlorite, contain chlorine, which corrodes washing machines and destroys fabrics.

Producing phenol from waste nitrous oxide. The adipic acid manufacturing process produces large amounts of nitrous oxide gas as waste. Nitrous oxide gas has high global warming potential and contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer. This process takes waste nitrous oxide gas and reuses it as a reagent in hydroxylating benzene to phenol. This reduces nitrous oxide gas waste and reduces the raw materials involved in phenol production. 

Polyester polyols made from byproduct of the phtahlic anhydride process. Byproducts from the phthalic anhydride process are usually disposed by incineration. Using these byproducts to manufacture polyester polyols reduces waste and its associated environmental impacts.

Economic production of 100% renewable chemicals and second-generation advanced biofuels from any cellulosic waste stream. This company converts lignocellulose to levulinic acid. The cellulosic waste feedstock consists of woody biomass, municipal solid waste, cellulosic crops, and recycled paper and cardboard. Levulinic acid is versatile and has the potential for downstream derivative production, such as biofuels and renewable chemicals.

Manufacturing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents. PCR is used in research, genetic engineering, forensics, infectious disease identification, food safety, and personalized medicine. The conventional production of key chemicals for PCR tests (such as deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates, or dNTP) is hazardous, inefficient, and not atom economic. This new method for the manufacturing of dNTP consists of only three steps in a single pot, eliminating hazardous reagents and solvents such as zinc chloride, triphenyl phosphine, aldrithiol, dimethyl formamide, and dichloromethane.

Uses photothermography to produce imaging technology that uses heat for medical imaging applications. The photothermography process consists of a latent image that is initially generated from the revelation of a sensitized emulsion to suitable light energy. The image is made visible by exposing it to heat. This process produces no liquid waste and does not require chemical developers and fixing solutions. This process eliminates large amounts of toxic chemicals and waste generated in traditional chemical photographic processing.

Toner made from soy and corn biomass. This toner uses polyester, polyamide, and polyurethane resins made from soy oil, protein, and carbohydrates extracted from corn. Conventional petroleum-based toners that use synthetic resins (such as styrene acrylates and styrene butadiene) are challenging to remove from papers during recycling. While toners that facilitate the de-inking process have been developed, they are much more expensive than traditional toners. Contrarily, these soy and corn-based toners have a more competitive price.

Electricity-free mobile refrigeration technology using only sun and water. Refrigeration unit that is lightweight, easy to carry, and fully portable. Product requires no electricity and emits no greenhouse gas emissions. Uses PhaseTek™ technology; when the internal reservoir of the product is filled with any water source, the product undergoes evaporative cooling, reducing the internal storage space by 10-15 degrees Celsius. Refrigeration reduces spoilage, which reduces waste.