This news came in this morning from Procter & Gamble (P&G) Chemicals about their green alkyd resin Chempol® MPS winning this year's EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge award under the category Greener Chemicals Design.
The resin is based from P&G's Sefose technology which is produced from combined sugar and vegetable oil. Chempol® MPS enables formulation of paints and coatings with less than half the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of traditional, solvent-borne alkyd coatings, according to P&G.
The resin was developed and jointly being commercialized by P&G Chemicals and Cook Composites and Polymers (CCP). According to the companies replacement of conventional alkyd resins by Chempol® MPS could:
(1) reduce VOCs equivalent to the emissions from 7,000,000 cars per year;
(2) reduce ground-level ozone by 215,000 tons per year; and
(3) save 900,000 barrels per year of crude oil from the solvents and alkyd polymers it replaces.
CCP launched the resin in October 2008 and began actively sampling the coatings industry. P&G said it is also evaluating and testing Sefose® oils as biobased alternatives to replace petroleum-based lubricants.
Other recipients of the 2009 EPA Green Chemistry award include:
- Eastman Chemical with their "Solvent-Free Biocatalytic Process for Cosmetic and Personal Care Ingredients" (Greener Synthetic Pathways Award)
- CEM Corporation's "Analyzer Tags Proteins for Fast, Accurate Results without Hazardous Chemicals or High Temperatures" (Greener Reaction Conditions Award)
- Virent Energy Systems for their BioForming® Process: Catalytic Conversion of Plant Sugars into Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels (Small Business Award)
- Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski of Carnegie Mellon University for his study "Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization: Low-impact Polymerization Using a Copper Catalyst and Environmentally Friendly Reducing Agents" (Academic Award)
That's great that the chemical industry has made an effort to go for an environmently friendly options.
shannon