WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2021 — The American Chemical Society (ACS), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announces the call for nominations for the 2022 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards to recognize businesses, academic institutions and nonprofits for innovative green chemistry solutions and products.

“The Green Chemistry Challenge Awards is an opportunity for EPA to recognize green chemistry solutions that advance protection of human health and the environment by preventing pollution at its source,” says EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Assistant Administrator Michal Freedhoff, Ph.D. 

Nominations demonstrating innovations in green chemistry must be submitted to EPA by Dec. 10, 2021. Nominations will be accepted for the following awards: 

Focus Area 1: Greener Synthetic Pathways
Focus Area 2: Greener Reaction Conditions
Focus Area 3: The Design of Greener Chemicals
Specific Environmental Benefit: Climate Change (for a technology in any of the three focus areas that can prevent or reduce greenhouse gas emissions)
Small Business (for a technology in any of the three focus areas developed by a small business)
Academic (for a technology in any of the three focus areas developed by an academic researcher)

The ACS Green Chemistry Institute ® (ACS GCI) will convene an independent panel of technical experts to formally judge the 2022 nominations and make recommendations to EPA for the 2022 winners. EPA anticipates giving awards to outstanding green chemistry technologies in six categories in June 2022.

Since the inception of the awards program a quarter century ago, EPA has received more than 1,800 nominations and presented awards for 128 technologies that decrease hazardous chemicals and use of resources, reduce costs and protect human health. Winning technologies are responsible for annually reducing the use or generation of hundreds of millions of pounds of hazardous chemicals, saving billions of gallons of water and eliminating billions of pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents.
 

To receive guidance on how to submit a nomination, register for a 90-minute EPA-hosted webinar on Sept. 22, 2021 at 2 p.m. ET. More information about the upcoming webinar and the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards program can be found at www.epa.gov/greenchemistry.

The ACS Green Chemistry Institute® is an institute of the American Chemical Society dedicated to catalyzing the implementation of green and sustainable chemistry and engineering through the global chemistry enterprise and the Society. ACS GCI convenes industrial roundtables, holds an annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference (gcande.org), and offers educational resources including grants, awards, webinars and workshops — encouraging scientific innovations to solve environmental and human health issues facing our world today.