(Plastics Today) -- Sustainable chemicals and plastics dominated the winners of the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards, including a bioplastic made with the help of E. coli and an acrylic paint that utilizes recycled water bottles. The 16th edition of the awards comes during the 2011 International Year of Chemistry and the 20th anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts in to create "green chemistry".
An independent panel of technical experts convened by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute selected the 2011 winners from "scores" of nominated technologies. Over the course of the program, the EPA has received more than 1400 nominations and awarded 82 winners. The agency estimates that winning technologies have reduced the use or generation of more than 199 million lb of hazardous chemicals, saving 21 billion gallons of water, and eliminating 57 million lb of carbon dioxide releases to the air.