The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the 2024 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners on September 24, 2024. EPA recognized the 43 award winners for their achievements in the design, manufacture, promotion, selection, and use of cleaners, detergents, and other products with safer chemicals. EPA notes the following achievements among the winners:

• Improving Access to Products with Safer Ingredients: Many Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners showed leadership in developing affordable products that use safer chemical ingredients and work well. Several winners made their Safer Choice-certified products available at low-cost retailers in stores and online. EPA states that one winner highlighted the Safer Choice label in consumer product coupons, while another winner began reformulating its line of more affordable cleaning products to use safer ingredients. According to EPA, “[t]hese efforts help ensure products with safer ingredients are accessible to more people at more affordable prices.”
• Using Products with Safer Ingredients in Communities: Winners made achievements in protecting communities, including workers. For example, according to EPA, two cleaning service providers, including a minority-owned business, used Safer Choice-certified products in their facilities’ cleaning work. EPA notes that these efforts help protect the workers who use cleaning products throughout the day and the people in the buildings being cleaned. In addition, Tribal and local winners and national non-governmental organization (NGO) winners advanced environmental justice by increasing awareness of the Safer Choice label among Tribal elders and Tribal facilities and in childcare centers in disadvantaged and Spanish-speaking communities.
• Advancing Innovation in Safer Chemistry and Sustainable Packaging: Award winners also showed leadership and innovation in safer chemistry and sustainability. According to EPA, one innovator winner upcycled seafood waste to create two safer chemicals. EPA states that “[t]hese two chitosan-based chemicals can be used in wastewater treatment products and are now included on EPA’s Safer Chemical ingredients list.” Several winners also reduced plastic use with plastic-free packaging, concentrated formulas, and reusable or refillable cleaning bottles. EPA notes that one winner offers refill cartridges for their reusable cleaning bottles that reduce plastic waste by 83 percent each time they are used.

The winners include: