EVOQUE Pre-Composite Polymer Wins 2013 U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award

The Dow Chemical Company has been named a winner of the 2013 U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for its development of EVOQUE Pre-Composite Polymer Technology. This Dow innovation helps coatings formulators improve paint performance properties while using less titanium dioxide (TiO2), a white pigment that is energy intensive to manufacture but ubiquitous in architectural paint for its ability to provide quality hiding. This win marks the ninth time that Dow and its affiliates have won the Presidential Green Chemistry Award, more than double any other company in Award history.

“EVOQUE Pre-Composite Polymer Technology was developed with the goal of driving gains in sustainability through more efficient raw material use coupled with increased paint performance,” said Keith Watson, global R&D director, Dow Coating Materials and Performance Monomers. “This is our latest development in bringing more sustainable chemistry to the coatings industry, which began when we introduced waterborne binder technology 60 years ago. With the development and market acceptance of EVOQUE Pre-Composite Polymer Technology, we are once again driving innovation that is changing the way that paint is made and how we expect it to perform.”

Pat Gottschalk, business president, Dow Coating Materials and Performance Monomers, echoed Watson’s sentiments regarding the Award,

“At Dow, we believe in putting science, technology and people to work to improve the world around us,” said Gottschalk. “We’re thrilled to be recognized by the EPA in this way and we take it as confirmation that we are on the right track in advancing sustainability through science.”

In the paint and coatings industry, Dow is considered a pioneer in hiding technology, having invented ROPAQUE Opaque Polymer, the world’s first hollow sphere pigment for partial replacement of TiO2 in paint formulations. EVOQUE Pre-Composite Polymer allows formulators to further improve TiO2 efficiency and also raise paint performance in key areas such as stain resistance and durability.

A recent third-party validated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) showed that paints formulated with EVOQUE Technology yielded the lowest environmental impact compared to similar technologies in 10 out of 10 key categories, including resource depletion and Green House Effect. The LCA also demonstrated that EVOQUE Pre-Composite Polymers reduced the paint’s carbon footprint by more than 22% and water consumption by 30%.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards are sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention in partnership with the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute and other members of the chemical community. The U.S. EPA grants the award each year to organizations that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture and use.