Key Highlights:
- ASTM International’s plastics committee presented its Robert MacFarlane Award of Excellence to Kelvin Okamoto, president and founder of Green Bottom Line, Inc.
- Okamoto was specifically honoured for his leadership and oversight of the subcommittee on environmentally degradable plastics and biobased products (D20.96).
- Okamoto has served as chair of D20.96 for many years, during which time he has maintained, and personally helped revise, many standards.
kmmind/Adobe Stock
ASTM International’s plastics committee (D20) presented its Robert MacFarlane Award of Excellence to Kelvin Okamoto, president of Green Bottom Line, Inc., his own sustainability consulting firm.
The award is the highest in D20, and honours exemplary technical contributions, sustained participation, and valued leadership in ASTM International’s plastics committee. Okamoto was specifically honoured for his leadership and oversight of the subcommittee on environmentally degradable plastics and biobased products (D20.96).
According to the citation, Okamoto has served as chair of D20.96 for many years, during which time he has maintained, and personally helped revise, many standards. During this time, he has also served on D20’s executive committee as vice-chair of products, responsible for overseeing D20 operations where he has helped with matters ranging from revising by-laws to exploring sustainability and circularity of plastics.
An ASTM International member since 2010, Okamoto had been previously honoured by the committee with the Recognition of Achievement, Certificate of Achievement, and the Outstanding Achievement Award.
Okamoto has worked as a self-employed consultant since 2014, with a focus on development, commercialisation, testing, and certification of sustainable materials and packaging. He received his B.S. in chemistry from Stanford University in 1982, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from Cornell University in 1984 and 1986, respectively.