EPA Honors Green Innovator Who Uses Chicken Feathers and Plant Fibers to Create Eco-Leather

February 3, 2014- The EPA has honored the University of Delaware's Richard Wool with its Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for his extensive work developing bio-based materials to support the green energy infrastructure. Wool was recognized during a presentation at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11. Now in its 18th year, the EPA awards program recognizes the design of safer and more sustainable chemicals, processes and products.

Wool, a UD professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of the Affordable Composites from Renewable Resources (ACRES) program, is a world leader in developing safer chemical substances from renewable resources.
The greener products can be used as adhesives, composites and foams -- even circuit boards, hurricane-resistant energy efficient roofs and leather substitutes.

Wool created several high-performance materials using bio-based feedstocks, including vegetable oils, chicken feathers and flax. He developed hurricane-resistant roofing with colleagues in UD's civil and environmental engineering department in response to issues in global warming. One of Wool's more recent inventions is a breathable, bio-based eco-leather that avoids the traditional leather tanning process.

“Finding low-toxicity replacements for commodity plastics such as polystyrene and PVC, adhesives, foams and composite resins, in addition to leather-like materials, must be a priority if we are to benefit the environment and human health," said Wool.

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