Dow Receives 11th U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award

Prestigious U.S. EPA award for paper coating innovation illustrates
sustainable chemistry in action

MIDLAND, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Koehler Paper Group are the
recipients of a 2017 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. The award was given in the
design of greener chemicals category for the development of ROPAQUE™
NT-2900 Opaque Polymer for BLUE 4EST™ Thermal Paper. This is the 11^th
Presidential Green Chemistry Award Dow and its affiliates have received
since the EPA introduced the award in 1996.

“BLUE 4EST™ Thermal Paper is an amazing innovation. It takes an entirely
new approach, eliminates chemical developers for improved safety, yet
still works in existing equipment,” said A.N.
Sreeram, senior vice president, Research & Development, and chief
technology officer for Dow. “It demonstrates the passion of our people
to deliver inventive solutions to customer problems. The fact that Dow
has earned more of these awards than any other company speaks to our
focus on providing innovative products in a responsible way and our
drive to collaborate with customers like Koehler to address growing
consumer and regulatory demands.”

BLUE 4EST™ is a more sustainable thermal paper option for applications
such as cash register receipts, tickets, tags, and labels. The
technology, which is compatible with existing printers, is free of
chemical developers and removes chemicals of concern from production
consistent with the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry
Institute’s green chemistry principles. Instead of relying on a chemical
reaction to provide a color change as with conventional thermal paper,
colored paper is masked by a coating consisting of engineered hollow
spheres. Precise chemical control during production of the hollow
spheres controls the wall thickness and void size to form a highly
reflective particle from an otherwise clear polymer. Mild heating with a
thermal print head collapses the spheres, destroying the reflectivity
and allowing the background color to show through.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards affirm Dow’s
commitment to deliver breakthrough sustainable chemistry innovations
that advance the well-being of humanity, part of the Company’s ambitious 2025
Sustainability Goals.

“Dow is having innovation success collaborating with customers for more
effective, sustainable materials,” said Neil
Hawkins, corporate vice president, Environment, Health and Safety,
and chief sustainability officer for Dow. “We are honored to receive
this eleventh Presidential Green Chemistry Award from the EPA.”

This award represents one in a string of many recent accolades for Dow
focused on eliminating chemicals of concern for products with more
sustainable environmental profiles, such as the 2017
U.S. EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award, the 2017
Edison Awards for breakthrough technologies, and the 2016
Sustainability Product of the Year Award from Business Intelligence
Group. Learn more about Dow’s
awards and recognition for sustainable innovations.

ROPAQUE™ Opaque Polymer from Dow
Coating Materials was introduced in the 1980s as the world’s first
hollow sphere pigment technology, designed initially for use in
architectural paints as a partial replacement for titanium dioxide.
Further opportunities to leverage the technology outside of traditional
house paint applications expanded into the paper industry for use as a
glossing agent, and has found a renewed value in thermal paper coatings.
Learn more about ROPAQUE™
Opaque Polymers from Dow.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards promote the
environmental and economic benefits of developing and using novel green
chemistry. These prestigious annual awards recognize chemical
technologies that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into
chemical design, manufacture, and use. The awards are sponsored by the
EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention in partnership
with the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute® and other
members of the chemical community including industry, trade
associations, academic institutions, and other government agencies.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to
passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company
is driving innovations that extract value from material, polymer,
chemical and biological science to help address many of the world’s most
challenging problems, such as the need for fresh food, safer and more
sustainable transportation, clean water, energy efficiency, more durable
infrastructure, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow’s
integrated, market-driven portfolio delivers a broad range of
technology-based products and solutions to customers in 175 countries
and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, infrastructure,
transportation, consumer care, electronics, and agriculture. In 2016,
Dow had annual sales of $48 billion and employed approximately 56,000
people worldwide. The Company’s more than 7,000 product families are
manufactured at 189 sites in 34 countries across the globe. References
to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its
consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More
information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

^®TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an
affiliated company of Dow

Contacts

The Dow Chemical Company
Jarrod Erpelding
+1.989.633.1863
[email protected]
or
Christy
English
+1.989.638.4286
[email protected]