Press Release

Dow Receives 11th U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Koehler Paper Group are the recipients of a 2017 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. The award was given in the design of greener chemicals category for the development of ROPAQUE™ NT-2900 Opaque Polymer for BLUE 4EST™ Thermal Paper. This is the 11th Presidential Green Chemistry Award Dow and its affiliates have received since the EPA introduced the award in 1996.

Published 7 years ago | About a 4 minute read

“BLUE 4EST™ Thermal Paper is an amazing innovation. It takes an entirely new approach, eliminates chemical developers for improved safety, yet still works in existing equipment,” said A.N. Sreeram, senior vice president, Research & Development, and chief technology officer for Dow. “It demonstrates the passion of our people to deliver inventive solutions to customer problems. The fact that Dow has earned more of these awards than any other company speaks to our focus on providing innovative products in a responsible way and our drive to collaborate with customers like Koehler to address growing consumer and regulatory demands.”

BLUE 4EST™ is a more sustainable thermal paper option for applications such as cash register receipts, tickets, tags, and labels. The technology, which is compatible with existing printers, is free of chemical developers and removes chemicals of concern from production consistent with the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute’s green chemistry principles. Instead of relying on a chemical reaction to provide a color change as with conventional thermal paper, colored paper is masked by a coating consisting of engineered hollow spheres. Precise chemical control during production of the hollow spheres controls the wall thickness and void size to form a highly reflective particle from an otherwise clear polymer. Mild heating with a thermal print head collapses the spheres, destroying the reflectivity and allowing the background color to show through.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards affirm Dow’s commitment to deliver breakthrough sustainable chemistry innovations that advance the well-being of humanity, part of the Company’s ambitious 2025 Sustainability Goals.

“Dow is having innovation success collaborating with customers for more effective, sustainable materials,” said Neil Hawkins, corporate vice president, Environment, Health and Safety, and chief sustainability officer for Dow. “We are honored to receive this eleventh Presidential Green Chemistry Award from the EPA.”

This award represents one in a string of many recent accolades for Dow focused on eliminating chemicals of concern for products with more sustainable environmental profiles, such as the 2017 U.S. EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award, the 2017 Edison Awards for breakthrough technologies, and the 2016 Sustainability Product of the Year Award from Business Intelligence Group. Learn more about Dow’s awards and recognition for sustainable innovations.

ROPAQUE™ Opaque Polymer**** from Dow Coating Materials was introduced in the 1980s as the world’s first hollow sphere pigment technology, designed initially for use in architectural paints as a partial replacement for titanium dioxide. Further opportunities to leverage the technology outside of traditional house paint applications expanded into the paper industry for use as a glossing agent, and has found a renewed value in thermal paper coatings. Learn more about ROPAQUE™ Opaque Polymers from Dow.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards promote the environmental and economic benefits of developing and using novel green chemistry. These prestigious annual awards recognize chemical technologies that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture, and use. The awards are sponsored by the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention in partnership with the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Intitute® and other members of the chemical community including industry, trade associations, academic institutions, and other government agencies.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from material, polymer, chemical and biological science to help address many of the world's most challenging problems, such as the need for fresh food, safer and more sustainable transportation, clean water, energy efficiency, more durable infrastructure, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven portfolio delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in 175 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, infrastructure, transportation, consumer care, electronics, and agriculture. In 2016, Dow had annual sales of $48 billion and employed approximately 56,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 7,000 product families are manufactured at 189 sites in 34 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

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