San Diego materials science company Algenesis Labs has won the 2026 ACS Green Chemistry Challenge Award in the Small Business category for its Soleic platform, a family of plant-based polyurethane materials engineered to biodegrade fully without leaving persistent microplastics.
The ACS Green Chemistry Challenge Award is one of the most prestigious recognitions in sustainable chemistry. Algenesis will be honoured at the ACS Fall 2026 Meeting in Chicago on 26 August.
Soleic is a patent-pending family of polyurethane materials, including polyols, isocyanates, thermoplastic polyurethanes and foams, derived from plant-based feedstocks that do not compete with food supply. The platform is USDA BioPreferred certified across multiple grades, with biobased content ranging from 56% to 100%. An independent life cycle assessment by TrueNorth Collective found Soleic delivers a 50 to 65% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-based alternatives.
Rather than fragmenting into persistent microplastics, Soleic undergoes full mineralisation, breaking down into CO₂ and biomass. Biodegradation has been validated under ASTM D5338 and ISO 14855 standards, with ecotoxicity confirmed through OECD 208 plant growth studies.
“We built Soleic from the ground up to address the growing accumulation of microplastics in our oceans, our soil, and ultimately our bodies,” said CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Stephen Mayfield. “This recognition from ACS tells us the science is right and the timing is now.”
The microplastics problem the platform targets is significant. Footwear alone sheds an estimated 400,000 tonnes of microplastics annually. A 2025 study published in Nature Medicine confirmed microplastic accumulation in human kidneys, livers and brains.
Algenesis has published 17 peer-reviewed papers supporting its biodegradation claims.
