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Anuvia® Plant Nutrients received recognition for its work in environmental technology at the InnoSTARS Innovation Competition, a unique competition focusing on new technologies and officially supported by the governments of the United States and China. InnoSTARS is a nonprofit whose mission is to connect U.S. technology companies to Chinese market and investor resources.

The competition is featured as a main component in the science and technology cooperative area at the first U.S./China Social and Cultural Dialogue (SCD), co-chaired by Former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yangdong. The awards presentation was held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China in November.

Approximately 1,000 U.S. companies participated in the InnoSTARS competition. Twenty-one companies were selected to present to a panel of industry expert judges. The questions focused on how the technology would benefit China and which technology represented a strong business plan for the Chinese market. Anuvia Plant Nutrients was awarded second place in the competition.

“With the Chinese population exceeding 1.3 billion people (more than four times that of the United States), food production is of utmost importance,” explains Margaret Richardson, Anuvia vice president and chief legal counsel who traveled to China to explain how Anuvia’s technology can be applied to Chinese farming. “Our technology represents a good fit in China as it offers an economically viable and sustainable fertilization, delivering benefits of increased food production, improved soil health and a cleaner environment.

“It was a very innovative platform to connect with potential Chinese investors,” she says. As a finalist, Richardson met with approximately 20 potential Chinese investors and fund partners who manage funds greater than $50 million.

Richardson addressed Anuvia’s unique technology which reclaims organic waste creating a high efficiency, slow release plant nutrient. When applied, it reduces volatilization and leaching while adding up to 16 percent organic matter back into the soil, thereby improving soil health. A key environmental benefit is when Anuvia products are used, net greenhouse emissions can be reduced by as much as 27 percent in multiple crops compared to conventional practices. Economically, farmers in the United States realize a 3 to 5 times return on investment when utilizing this new technology, providing farmers a profitable, sustainable practice.

Anuvia’s technology represents a model for the circular economy: effective re-use of resources creating products of economic value. Its products hold the promise to make agriculture more sustainable by reducing nutrient losses in the environment, feeding the soil to improve soil health and reducing greenhouse gasses.