The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced AkzoNobel's Surface Chemistry business as a 2017 Safer Choice Partner of the Year. The business was recognized for its role in proactively advancing the safer chemistry and safer product goals of the EPA Safer Choice program.

The Safer Choice program evaluates the environmental and human health impacts of every chemical ingredient in a product. The EPA chooses Partners of the Year in five categories; AkzoNobel was selected in the "Innovators" category.

The Surface Chemistry business recently unveiled an innovative ingredient for cleaning products, Berol DR-B1,which caught the attention of the EPA due to its sustainability benefits, according to AkzoNobel Technical Service and Product Development Manager Butch Dery.

Berol DR-B1 is categorized as a direct-release surfactant, meaning that it passed very stringent requirements to be approved by the EPA for direct release into the environment. Customers can therefore use it for a wide range of outdoor applications where very low environmental impact is a priority, such as cleaning of mass transit vehicles, car washes, or cleaning of house exteriors and garden furniture.

"The recognition from the EPA is an important validation of AkzoNobel's efforts to make safer and more sustainable products for our customers," Dery said. With AkzoNobel's inclusion as an EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year, products that include Berol DR-B1 can carry the EPA Safer Choice Label. This indicates that the EPA has evaluated a product and determined it contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class, he added.

The EPA will recognize AkzoNobel at the 2017 Safer Choice Partner of the Year Awards on May 15, 2017.