Rivertop Renewables, a Montana-based novel chemicals company, announced that sodium glucarate produced by the company’s breakthrough oxidation technology has been listed on the U.S. EPA’s Safer Chemicals Ingredients List (SCIL). Chemicals on the SCIL have been certified by the EPA as safer than traditional chemical ingredients, helping formulators secure the Safer Choice label for end products sold to industry and consumers. Rivertop’s product, manufactured at DTI in Danville, Virginia, is the first chemical with corrosion inhibiting properties to secure full approval for the SCIL.

“Rivertop is honored and energized that our corrosion inhibitor is the first to qualify for EPA’s safer chemicals list. This is a win for Rivertop and end-product developers that are facing increasing demands to meet environmental and health standards without sacrificing performance or economics,” said Mike Knauf, CEO of Rivertop Renewables. “From the beginning we’ve set out to develop a set of novel chemicals and products based on simple plant sugars that are safe for the environment and human health. Securing the EPA’s stamp of approval confirms that with Rivertop’s sodium glucarate there is no need to compromise environmental performance for product performance or cost.”

Sodium glucarate enables superior performance from two Rivertop products. Waterline CI is designed to be a high-performing alternative to phosphorous-based corrosion inhibitors in the water treatment industry. Headwaters corrosion inhibitor for salt brine is used to de-ice winter roads while protecting vehicles and highway infrastructure from corrosion.

To qualify for EPA’s SCIL, a product or chemical ingredient must meet EPA’s Safer Choice Standard, which is based on stringent human and environmental health criteria. Currently, the Safer Choice Program has nearly 500 formulator-manufacturer partners who make more than 2,000 products for retail and institutional customers.

Rivertop’s products are based on salts of glucaric acid, recognized more than a decade ago by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of the top 12 “biobased building block chemicals.” Traditional pathways to produce glucaric, other sugar acids and their salts have been costly, energy intensive and environmentally challenging, relegating their use to niche pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. By applying robust and proven science to renewable resources, Rivertop is creating an abundant and far more economical supply of glucarate and other green chemicals and bioproducts.