WASHINGTON – Today, Sept. 24, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced 43 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners across 20 states and the District of Columbia, recognizing their achievements in the design, manufacture, promotion, selection and use of cleaners, detergents and other products with safer chemicals.

The Safer Choice program and label help consumers and purchasers at facilities find cleaning and other products with chemical ingredients that are safer for human health and the environment. Applicants for this year’s awards were encouraged to show how their work promotes environmental justice, bolsters resilience to the impacts of climate change, results in cleaner air or water, improves drinking water quality or advances innovation in packaging.

“We all deserve to clean our homes, schools and other facilities with cleaning products that use safer ingredients, like those that have earned EPA’s Safer Choice label,” said EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention Jennie Romer. “I want to congratulate this year’s Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners for going above and beyond to protect public health and the environment and to show their support for making products with safer ingredients accessible for all people.”

Improving Access to Products with Safer Ingredients

Many Safer Choice partners recognized today have shown 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. One winner highlighted the Safer Choice label in consumer product coupons. Another winner began reformulating their line of more affordable cleaning products to use safer ingredients. These efforts help ensure products with safer ingredients are accessible to more people at more affordable prices. 

Using Products with Safer Ingredients in Communities

Winners also made achievements in protecting communities, including workers. For example, two cleaning service providers, including a minority-owned business, used Safer Choice-certified products in their facilities’ cleaning work. 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 and national nongovernmental organization winners advanced environmental justice by increasing awareness of the Safer Choice label among tribal elders and tribal facilities, childcare centers in disadvantaged communities and Spanish-speaking communities.

Advancing Innovation in Safer Chemistry and Sustainable Packaging

Winners of the Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award have also shown leadership and innovation in safer chemistry and sustainability. One innovator winner upcycled seafood waste to create two safer chemicals. These 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. One winner offers refill cartridges for their reusable cleaning bottles that reduce plastic waste by 83% each time they are used.

A list of the 2024 Partner of the Year award winners can be found below. Learn more about the 2024 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners and watch videos highlighting their accomplishments.

List of Winners

American Cleaning Institute, Washington, D.C. 

Apple, Cupertino, Calif. 

Blueland, New York, N.Y. 

Bona US, Englewood, Colo. 

Booyah Clean, Harahan, La. 

Case Medical, Bloomfield, N.J. 

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Environmental Protection Service, Durant, Okla. 

Church & Dwight Co., Inc., Ewing, N.J. 

City of Gresham, Oregon and Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Gresham, Ore. and Everett, Wash.

The Clorox Company, Oakland, Calif.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability, Denver, Colo. 

ECOS, Cypress, Calif.

EnvirOx, Danville, Ill.

Hazardous Waste Management Program, King County, Wash. 

Henkel Corporation, Rocky Hill, Conn.

Holloway House, Inc., Fortville, Ind.

The Home Depot, Atlanta, Ga.

Household & Commercial Products Association, Washington, D.C. 

IndSpyre Solutions, Inc., Lawrenceville, Ga.

ISSA, The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, Rosemont, Ill.

JAWS International, Ltd., a Division of Canberra Corporation, Toledo, Ohio 

Jelmar, LLC, Skokie, Ill.

Mighty Fire Breaker LLC, Lima, Ohio

North Central Educational Service District, Wenatchee, Wash.

Novonesis, Franklinton, N.C. 

Optimal Cleaning Solutions, Stockbridge, Wis.

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Portland, Ore. and Everett, Wash.

The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 

PurposeBuilt Brands, Gurnee, Ill.

Roger McFadden and Associates, LLC, Canby, Ore.

Rust-Oleum Corporation, Vernon Hills, Ill.

SEIU Education & Support Fund, Washington, D.C.

Seventh Generation, Burlington, Vt. 

Solutex, Inc., Sterling, Va.

SOZIO, Piscataway, N.J. 

Spartan Chemical Company, Maumee, Ohio 

State Industrial Products, Mayfield Heights, Ohio 

Tidal Vision Products Inc., Bellingham, Wash.

Toxic-Free Future, Seattle, Wash. 

Toxics Use Reduction Institute, Lowell, Mass.

Verde, Phoenix, Ariz.

WAXIE Sanitary Supply, San Diego, Calif. 

Women for a Healthy Environment, Pittsburgh, Pa.