Sustainability and recycle–reuse in process systems

We have only one planet in which to live. Because of accelerating use of limited natural resources, its attendant environmental degradation, and societal inequity that has resulted among groups of people as well as that which will result between present and future generations, we generally recognize that the current development patterns are not sustainable for the long term. This realization calls for satisfying our needs by judiciously using renewable resources, recycling wastes and end-of-life products for beneficial uses, and reversing environmental degradation in some areas and minimizing environmental impacts in others. As new scientific and technological innovations are exploited to implement these goals, tools and methods are needed to ascertain that the direction of economic development for meeting increasing standard of living is protective of human life and ecology. Countries that are economically developed, and therefore wealthy, are in a better position to protect the environment than are the developing countries. This situation calls for technologies that are not only benign but also affordable for the developing world. This is the grand challenge of this century. Some ideas on the elements of this grand challenge that are relevant to the practice of chemistry and engineering are discussed here.