The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Jan. 18 recognized nine small businesses, including Philadelphia-based OLIN, by awarding them with approximately $3.5 million in funding.
According to an EPA press release, OLIN will use the Small Business Innovation Research Program Phase II funding to pursue a project that repurposes glass waste.
“I commend our nation’s small businesses for being at the forefront of addressing these environmental problems,” said Wayne Cascio, acting principal deputy assistant administrator in the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, according to the release.
OLIN aims to develop an engineered solid product, as well as a process that repurposes waste-stream glass into soil that is suitable for horticultural & green infrastructure projects, according to the release.
“We are thrilled and honored to have this opportunity to create new healthy soils for our cities’ urban forests from materials that have historically been too difficult or too costly to recycle: mixed broken glass and food waste,” Partner of OLIN Richard Roark said, according to the release. “This work unites the need to conserve the vanishing resources of our natural sands and soils with the task of reducing the materials that constitute a quarter of our municipal waste stream. We greatly appreciate the EPA’s continued support of this promising research.”
According to SBIR, the funding program aims to stimulate technological innovation and meet federal research and development needs. The program is available across all 50 states as well as U.S. territories.
The release states that the nine SBIR Phase II funding recipients include: OLIN, Aquagga, Inc.; Hyperion Analytical LLC, Nikira Labs; PKS Consulting, Inc.; Pure Blue Tech Inc.; Quick-Med Technologies, Inc.; Triangle Environmental Health Initiative, LLC; and Verdant Structural Engineers.
“We are grateful to OLIN for making strides to ensure the healthy future of our environment,” EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz said, according to the release. “EPA is proud to support the innovation of the businesses in our backyard whose reduction efforts will not only make an impact here but across the nation.”
