Green chemistry, also known as sustainable chemistry, is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous substances. Among the host of benefits derived from green chemistry technologies are reduced waste, safer products, reduced use of energy and resources, and improved competitiveness for the companies that utilize them.

Each year, the U.S. EPA bestows its Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards to five individuals and organizations. Claiming one of those five spots is Cleveland's Sherwin-Williams, who was awarded the Designing Greener Chemicals Award for its water-based acrylic alkyd technology.

Oil-based "alkyd" paints have high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that become air pollutants as the paint dries. While other paints contain lower VOCs, they can't match the performance of alkyds. Sherwin-Williams developed water-based acrylic alkyd paints with low VOCs that can be made from recycled soda bottle plastic, acrylics and soybean oil. These paints combine the performance benefits of alkyds and low VOC content of acrylics. In 2010, Sherwin-Williams manufactured enough of these new paints to eliminate over 800,000 pounds of VOCs.

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