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Contact: Brian Sansoni, 202-662-2517 or bsansoni@cleaning101.com

Solvay Technology Honored With 2007 SDA/NBB
Glycerine Innovation Award

New Environmentally Sustainable Technology
Likened to “Making Oranges from Orange Juice”

WASHINGTON, DC – May 15, 2007 – It’s relatively easy to make orange juice from oranges. But imagine making an orange from orange juice.

That analogy is an apt description for the work done by Solvay SA representatives who are the recipients of the 2007 Glycerine Innovation Award from The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB).

The honor was presented during the Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) in Quebec, held May 13-16.

“NBB is proud to team with SDA to encourage new, high value uses for glycerine,” said Steve Howell, NBB’s Technical Director. “Glycerine is an important by-product of making biodiesel. Also, the use of glycerine as a chemical building block can help supplement petroleum-derived products."

Business managers and researchers working together helped develop Solvay’s Epicerol™ technology, which company officials say offers major environmental improvements in the production of Epichlorohydrin, whose main applications include the production of epoxy resins, paper reinforcement and water purification products.

The environmental advantages of the new technology include:

• Consumption of glycerine, a renewable resource, instead of propylene, an oil derivative.
• A tenfold reduction of water consumption.
• An eightfold reduction of chlorinated residues.

Solvay researchers offer the analogy of making an orange from orange juice as a reference to the reverse technology that allowed the company to produce Epichlorohydrin from glycerine. Previously, the company produced synthetic glycerine from Epichlorohydrin.

At present, Solvay has 22 patent applications covering the Epicerol^TM technology.

Bruno Jestin and Philippe Krafft, representing Solvay’s business and research teams, were named on the Glycerine Innovation Award commemorative plaque, which also comes with a $5,000 honorarium.

“The SDA/NBB Glycerine Innovation Award recognizes outstanding achievement for research into new applications for glycerine with particular emphasis on commercial viability. This year’s awardee certainly meets those criteria,” said Kathleen Stanton, SDA Associate Director, Scientific Affairs.

More information on the Award and the research is available at www.cleaning101.com/oleo.

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The Soap and Detergent Association (www.cleaning101.com), the Home of the U.S. Cleaning Product and Oleochemical Industries^SM, is the non-profit trade association representing manufacturers of household, industrial, and institutional cleaning products, their ingredients and finished packaging; oleochemical producers; and chemical distributors to the cleaning product industry. SDA members produce more than 90 percent of the cleaning products marketed in the U.S. The SDA is located at 1500 K Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005.

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