P2 Project Award:  Transene Company, Inc.  (Danvers, MA)  

Transene Company, a manufacturer of chemical etchants, photoresists, and dielectrics for electronics and aerospace wanted to find viable alternatives to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) use in semiconductor manufacturing in response to customer demands for PFAS-free products. They needed their alternative surfactants to be compatible with strong acidic/oxidizing solutions, reduce etchant surface tension, to be less hazardous and toxic, and have sufficient stability. And because PFAS have unique properties that can be difficult to replace, they asked for help.

As a result, the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) awarded Plastics Engineering Prof. Ramaswamy Nagarajan a grant to fund the research project. The grant successfully lead to finding bio-based alternatives in 18 months to all four of their PFAS etchant solutions. In addition, while the PFAS-based surfactants are $2,400/gallon, the new, safer surfactant costs only $80/gallon. Currently, all but two of their customers have made the switch.

P2 Project Award:  Dave Jones, LLC  (Madison, WI) and Tim O'Brien Homes, Inc.  (Pewaukee, WI)

After testing blending valves themselves, the results were so successful that Dave Jones and Tim O'Brien Homes incorporated blending valves as a standard feature in ALL new construction within the Madison area market. On average, each blending valve installed results in a 10% reduction in salt use compared with fully softened water, with zero customer complaints reported.

The partners have also treated this as a demonstration to be shared from the outset. Dave Jones provided hands-on training about blending valves and salt reduction to all of their service plumbers. And Tim O'Brien Homes communicated the project to the broader homebuilding industry and public through the 2026 Spring Parade of Homes where they featured a blending valve in its Parade home alongside the home's other green and sustainable features, providing an opportunity to demonstrate the technology in a high-profile setting and show how salt reduction can be incorporated into sustainable home design.

This project provides a readily transferable model: a plumbing contractor and home builder tested a new pollution-prevention practice in real homes, evaluated its performance and customer acceptance, trained construction staff, and then incorporated it into standard new-home construction. This same pattern could be tried anywhere. Their success creates a practical pathway for other builders, plumbing contractors, and communities to replicate the approach and reduce chloride pollution at its source.

Also, by making reduced-salt softening a default plumbing practice rather than relying on homeowners to change their behavior later, Dave Jones and Tim O’Brien Homes have demonstrated a scalable way to prevent pollution before it occurs.

Ken Zarker Memorial P2 Champion Award:  Martin (Martye) Griffin

Wastewater utilities are uniquely positioned to practice pollution prevention by understanding what is entering the wastewater system, identifying sources, and working upstream to prevent pollution before it reaches the treatment process or the environment. Martin Griffin has made this approach an important part of the District’s strategic planning and environmental work. He has advocated for looking beyond traditional treatment and compliance solutions to understand the sources of pollution, identify opportunities for prevention, engage the people and organizations who influence those sources, and develop solutions that are scientifically sound, practical, and sustainable.

As part of this, Martin has helped reduce phosphorus and salt emissions not just from the wastewater treatment plant, but throughout the entire watershed.

Martin has overseen innovative approaches to watershed protection, including Yahara WINS, which supports the continuous reduction of phosphorus from their plant and throughout the watershed. The results include preventing thousands of pounds of phosphorus from entering the watershed through preventative actions each year.

He also received a chloride (salt) discharge variance enabling the time and resources to help change practices in water softening and winter maintenance. As a result, hundreds of thousands of pounds of chloride influent to the plant have been reduced.

These accomplishments show the success of his approach to work with his staff to identify the environmental problems, understand the sources, bring the right people to the table, secure resources, and time and support to find a solution that is effective, sustainable, and achievable.

P2 Student Award:  Osama Samaha

During his Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) summer internship at AaCron Anodizing, Inc., Osama Samaha made recommendations for both water and energy conservation. As a result, AaCron Anodizing reduced their rinse tank water use by over 75%, saved $33,000 in sewerage disposal costs, saved another 9.8 million gallons of well water use, fixed their compressed air leaks, and also hired Osama as their Internal Project Engineer.

Install Continuous Flow Pipe Restrictors

Prior to the project, AaCron used 8.5 million gallons of water in their 15 rinse tanks with each operating at a flow rate of 2 gallons per minute (gpm). To reduce rinse tanks’ water use, as recommended by Osama, the site finished installing pipe restrictors on July 3, 2024 with a payback period of less than 2 weeks.

Enforce Restricted Well Usage

At the beginning of the project, AaCron’s wells were manually activated at 4:00am even though the process line did not begin until 5:00am. This presented an opportunity to save water that was not being used for its operations. After coordinating with the operators, a later activation time of 5:15am was established. This change was enforced through a new procedure and log sheet to ensure the change would be followed.

Fix Compressed Air Leaks

Osama used an ultrasonic leak detector to find 12 leaks around the facility, particularly around compressed air fittings. According to AaCron, "Fixing these leaks did not just save money. It reduced wasted energy, decreased strain on our compressor system, and extended equipment life — all steps that help us operate more sustainably while delivering reliable results for our customers."