2021 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards honor beauty ingredient maker Colonial Chemical

The 2021 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards, announced earlier this week, honor the work of 5 companies and 1 individual scientist.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (or EPA, an independent executive agency of the US federal government), green chemistry is, “the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances.”​

And like many awards programs the annual Green Chemistry Challenge is meant to not only celebrate but also encourage companies to make the shift to greener technologies. In his remarks during the awards announcement, Michal Freedhoff, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator in the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, emphasized that “Green chemistry is one way to provide solutions to some of the significant environmental challenges we’re facing today, like exposure to toxic chemicals, dependence on non-renewable sources, and climate change.”​

And he went on to say that, “The innovative technologies we celebrate today are great examples of how green chemistry is protecting our environment, preventing pollution at its source, and keeping US business globally competitive by creating more sustainable products.”​

SugaBoost Performance Surfactant Blends score EPA Green Chemistry Award 

Colonial Chemical specializes in surfactant technologies and serves several industries including the personal care industry. And it’s the company’s SugaBoost surfactant blends​ that won this year’s EPA Green Chemistry Challenge Award.

Colonial Chemical’s portfolio of SugaBoost ingredients is comprised of functionalized alkyl polyglucoside (APG) blends. According to a press release issued by the company about the award, “SugaBoost surfactants are blends of derivatized APGs prepared by attaching functional groups such as sulfonate, phosphate, quaternary ammonium, glycinate, and citrate.”​

What makes these ingredients less hazardous and in line with the EPA award standards are that “SugaBoost blends do not yield toxic substances as they biodegrade. They are mild and safe for the formulator and end-user. Lastly, SugaBoost blends require less energy to manufacture and require only water as a solvent during manufacture and cleanup,” ​according to Colonial Chemical.

Accepting the award at this week’s virtual American Chemical Society Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, David Anderson Jr, President of Colonial Chemical, commented that “Colonial’s SugaBoost technology platform is an example of a decades-old commitment to the design of greener, safer, effective surfactants for our customers and our consumers,”​ adding that, “We are honored to be recognized for this achievement and will continue to design and innovate in this space that is critical for our country and world.”​

Read about the full roster of this year’s winners of the EPA Green Chemistry Challenge Awards online here​.