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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named the American Cleaning Institute (ACI), the trade association of the U.S. cleaning product supply chain, as a Safer Choice Partner of the Year. ACI (www.cleaninginstitute.org) was recognized in the Supporter category.
EPA’s Safer Choice program uses the technical tools and expertise of EPA’s New Chemicals Program to evaluate the environmental and human health impacts of every chemical ingredient in a product. As a voluntary partnership program, Safer Choice brings all interested parties together to advance sustainability in chemical products. More than 2,000 products currently qualify to carry the Safer Choice label. In addition, Safer Choice recognizes hundreds of ingredients on its Safer Chemical Ingredient List (SCIL).
EPA developed the Partner of the Year Awards to recognize Safer Choice stakeholders who have furthered the safer chemistry and safer product goals of the Safer Choice program, previously known Design for the Environment (DfE).
The sustainability leadership of ACI and its member companies is reflected in the recognition received by ACI, according to Melissa Hockstad, the association’s President & CEO.
“Many ACI member companies have products and chemistries that are recognized by the EPA Safer Choice program,” said Hockstad. “ACI is proud to have supported the program for the last decade through ongoing work with EPA staff, including the advocacy of science-based principles for ingredient and product criteria.”
Part of that support for Safer Choice has been through advocacy related to state-level procurement programs.
“Since 2008, ACI has offered testimony with regards to legislation impacting state government procurement guidelines on approximately 36 occasions,” said Hockstad. “ACI’s written and oral remarks have included requests that a state’s procurement guidelines include recognition of Safer Choice/DfE labeled products among those products given preferences in state procurement programs.”
The 2017 Safer Choice Partner of the Year Awards will be held on May 15, 2017 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, MD.