Sustainability Leadership Awards
ACC’s Sustainability Leadership Awards recognize outstanding ACC member company achievements in priority areas, including:
- Sustainable Chemistry, Innovation & Transparency
- Environmental Protection
- Circularity
- Social Responsibility & Community Engagement
ACC also recognizes external organizations that are collaborating with ACC members to advance sustainability through ACC’s “External Collaborator” Award.
Sustainable Chemistry, Innovation, & Transparency Award
Clariant’s Dynamic Portfolio Sustainability Assessments
Clariant launched its Dynamic Portfolio Value Program (PVP), an enhancement to the company’s original Portfolio Value Program, aimed at improving product sustainability assessments. Clariant’s initial assessment program evaluated all the company’s products, spanning environmental impacts, safety, social value, and performance metrics, using manual rescreening to address regulatory changes. The new Dynamic PVP works through an internally coded program that automatically captures information from the PVP database, enabling real-time simulation of changes across sustainability criteria. Key features include automated screening evaluation showing original vs. simulated grades; simultaneous assessment of multiple products; a sales impact analysis; and expert-verified data tracking and impact analysis.
Environmental Protection Award
Arkema’s Kynar Aquatec® PVDF Waterborne Low VOC Protective Coatings
Arkema developed the Kynar Aquatec® Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) latex-based coatings for building applications. A low VOC, water-based alternative to traditional, solvent-based PVDF coatings, these coatings can be applied to various surfaces, including metals, plastics, wood, concrete, textiles, and previously painted surfaces. These coatings have long-lasting color stability and are resistant to dirt and weather. A properly formulated Kynar Aquatec® PVDF latex-based coating can significantly reduce the surface temperature by reflecting the sun’s rays. For example, on roofs, it has been shown to reduce the roof’s surface temperature by as much as 50°F, and interior temperatures by 6-9°F, which translates into reducing cooling costs by as much as 30%.
Circularity Award
Reusing the Chlorine Molecule as a Raw Material Feedstock to Minimize Hazardous Waste Disposal
Occidental Chemical Corp.’s Chlorine (Cl2) Recovery Initiative at its LaPorte, Texas, facility recovers 29 million pounds of chlorine, byproducts of Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) production, for use as raw material at other OxyChem sites. If the chlorine byproduct is incinerated as hazardous waste, it creates hydrochloric acid and air emissions. By recovering this chlorine byproduct, OxyChem’s LaPorte facility has been able to divert more than 10 million pounds of chlorine from waste incineration, as well as decrease Toxic Release Inventory air emission transfers by 2 million pounds and lower the carbon footprint by 14,800 Metric Tons carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
Social Responsibility & Community Engagement Award
Enhancing STEAM Education and Sustainability Through Fish-O-Rama
With the goal of raising funds for local STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education programs, Indovinya, the specialty chemical division of Indorama Ventures, and the Beaumont Children's Museum have partnered for the past 4 years to host “Fish-O-Rama" in Port Neches Park, Texas. The event features fishing competitions, a Captain’s Dinner to promote recycling and environmental preservation, and an Angler Education Awareness course that emphasizes sustainable fishing practices and ecosystem conservation. In 2024, Fish-O-Rama outreach activities brought together 135 volunteers and more than 1,000 community members and netted over $780,000, much of which is directly returned to local educators as STEAM grants.
External Collaboration Award
Dow, JLR, and Adient Develop Industry-First Breakthrough for Circularity in Automotive Seating
Dow’s MobilityScience™ material innovators collaborated with auto seat manufacturer Adient, and auto manufacturer JLR to create seat foam for JLR vehicles made from polyurethane foams recovered from vehicles, marking an industry-first in the automotive sector.
The Adient Front Seat Cushion prototypes contain 20% re-polyol from Renuva™ and reduce CO2 emissions and waste by recycling polyurethane foam from end-of-life vehicles into new, circular polyol for Adient’s seating formulas. It is estimated that this new circular seat will half CO2 emissions impact while maintaining high performance, avoiding over 44kg of CO2 per seat.
JLR plans to test this material at scale in pre-production vehicles in 2026.