Promoting sustainability through green chemistry

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Abstract

Green chemistry is an important tool in achieving sustainability. The implementation of green chemistry, the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances, is essential if the expanding global population is to enjoy an increased standard of living without having a negative impact on the health of the planet. Cleaner technologies will allow the chemical enterprise to provide society with the goods and services on which it depends in an environmentally responsible manner. Green chemistry provides solutions to such global challenges as climate change, sustainable agriculture, energy, toxics in the environment, and the depletion of natural resources. A collaborative effort by industry, academia, and government is needed to promote the adoption of the green chemistry technologies necessary to achieve a sustainable society.

Introduction

The Brundtland Commission (1987) defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Current practices by society are not sustainable, however. Natural resources are being consumed faster than they are being replenished, global population continues to rise, and hazardous materials are being released into the environment in large quantities. In 2001, for example, more than six billion pounds of the 522 chemicals listed on the Toxics Release Inventory (2001) were released both on- and off-site in the U.S.

How can science address the challenge of sustainability, especially as an increasing global population and an increased standard of living exert pressure on the resources of the planet? Scientific innovations must play a major role in meeting this challenge. While technological advances have created a number of unanticipated environmental concerns, scientific breakthroughs offer solutions to many of these problems. Green chemistry provides one such opportunity.

Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances (Anastas et al., 2000). Green chemistry prevents pollution at the source by using innovative chemical processes to provide society with the products on which it depends. The implementation of green chemistry technologies minimizes the use of materials that are hazardous to human health and the environment, decreases energy and water usage, and maximizes efficiency. The collaborative efforts of academia, industry, and government are needed to advance sustainability through the adoption of green chemistry. The following sections highlight green chemistry approaches to sustainability within these sectors.

Section snippets

Academia

Academic research in green chemistry serves several key functions. First, it provides fundamental knowledge related to new chemical products and processes, data that are necessary to develop cleaner technologies. Second, new products and processes developed in an academic setting can, in some cases, have direct applications to industry. Third, academia serves as the primary means to educate students about the need to design green chemistry technologies, and provides them with the tools to do

Industry

Significant environmental and economic benefits are realized when industry implements technologies that eliminate hazardous substances from their products and processes. Companies adopt cleaner technologies because of favorable economics: material, compliance, and clean-up costs are lowered. Improvements are being made at both the process and consumer level.

A number of pharmaceutical companies are dramatically reducing the quantity of hazardous waste produced in the manufacture of best-selling

Government

Government organizations can promote sustainability through mechanisms such as funding for research and education, and regulatory relief for the adoption of cleaner technologies. In the U.S., H.R. 3970, The Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2004, seeks to coordinate green chemistry activities across Federal agencies. The European Union has supported a Green Chemistry Summer School in Venice, Italy since 1998, and the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Network supports green chemistry

Conclusion

Establishing a sustainable society is a monumental task, one that will clearly require a collaborative effort. Green chemistry is an essential component of the sustainability agenda because it applies scientific innovations to global challenges; it addresses environmental concerns at the most fundamental level, the atomic and molecular level. Partnerships among academia, industry, and government will maximize the use of available resources, minimize duplication of effort, and accelerate the

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