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Environmental Health & Safety

EPA Funds 24 Companies $2.4M to Advance Environmental Innovations

Jan. 15, 2025

The awards are part of an annual, two-phase competition for small businesses, many of which are chemical companies, to develop and commercialize environmental technologies.

Source EPA

Amanda Joshi

On Jan. 13, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $2.4 million for 24 small businesses to develop technologies to address public health and environmental challenges. These companies are using innovative approaches that include treating PFAS in biosolids, reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from building materials and developing chemical alternatives that are safer for our environment.

The awards are part of the EPA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, an annual, two-phase competition for small businesses to develop and commercialize environmental technologies that help address the agency’s mission of protecting human health and the environment.

The 24 winners will receive $100,000 of Phase I funding for six months to demonstrate their proposed technology. Companies that complete Phase I can then apply for Phase II funding of up to $400,000 to further develop and commercialize their technology.

Many of the winners serve the chemical sector or use chemistry innovations in their proposed technologies. Winners include:

Agtec Innovations Inc, Los Altos, California, for a cost-effective, non-polluting phosphate fertilizer alternative that helps prevent runoff.
AxNano, LLC, Greensboro, North Carolina, to create a novel, field deployable treatment process for removing PFAS from biosolids allowing beneficial reuse.
Design Interactive Inc., Orlando, Florida, for a comprehensive, AI-powered training simulation to enhance disaster response preparedness.
EcoaTEX, LLC., Hull, Georgia, to create a technology that converts agricultural waste into high-performance biodegradable fibers.
ENF Products, LLC, Edmond, Oklahoma, to design a filter kit to be used with existing air filters to improve indoor air quality.
Huma, Inc., Gilbert, Arizona, to create a novel urea/humate enhanced-efficiency fertilizer designed to optimize nitrogen uptake and reduce environmental impacts.
Mainstream Engineering Corporation, Rockledge, Florida, to create a scalable point-of-use water treatment system to remove cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins.
PAGE Technologies, Inc., Boulder, Colorado, to develop low-cost, handheld printable sensors for real-time measurement of water quality parameters.
Phospholutions, Inc., State College, Pennsylvania, to create an activated metal oxide technology to mitigate the environmental impact of phosphorus runoff into water bodies and enhance crop productivity.
Prospect Growth, Inc., New Haven, Connecticut, to develop a novel nanoparticle-based phosphorous fertilizer with exceptional nutrient uptake efficiency.
Sustainable Water Infrastructure Group, Seattle, Washington, to develop a nature-based absorbent technology to remove PFAS, pathogens and other contaminants from water.
Talon/LPE, Ltd., Amarillo, Texas, to develop a sustainable method to treat PFAS in biosolids using biochar.
Tetramer Technologies LLC, Pendleton, South Carolina, to create a bio-renewable high-performance tire rubber additive to replace the standard use of 6PPD and alleviate its associated ecotoxicity.
VerdeTerra LLC., Atlanta, Georgia, to develop an air purification system which uses microbes to reduce CO₂ and other indoor pollutants.

About the Author

Amanda Joshi | Managing Editor

Amanda Joshi has more than 18 years of experience in business-to-business publishing for both print and digital content. Before joining Chemical Processing, she worked with Manufacturing.net and Electrical Contracting Products. She’s a versatile, award-winning editor with experience in writing and editing technical content, executing marketing strategy, developing new products, attending industry events and developing customer relationships.

Amanda graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2001 with a B.A. in English and has been an English teacher. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and daughter, and their mini Aussiedoodle, Riley. In her rare spare time, she enjoys reading, tackling DIY projects, and horseback riding.