Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
front end of the manufacturing process rather than trying to capture, manage, or clean up waste at
the back end. Some of the key principles of Green Chemistry include the following:
1. Preventing the generation of waste rather than dealing with waste disposal
2. Incorporating all of the materials used in manufacturing processes into the i nal product
3. Substituting less hazardous or nontoxic chemicals
4. Designing safer chemicals that achieve their performance objective with little or no
toxicity
5. Using safer solvents and other auxiliary chemicals in manufacturing
6. Designing chemical processes to optimize energy efi ciency; where possible, conducting
chemical synthesis at ambient temperature and pressure
7. Using renewable feedstocks instead of those that deplete i nite natural resources whenever
technically and economically feasible
8. Designing chemical products that break down into innocuous degradation products at the
end of their function and do not persist in the environment
9. Choosing safe chemical components for the chemical process to minimize the potential for
chemical accidents, including releases, explosions and i res
An example of Green Chemistry is the substitution of supercritical CO 2 as a cleaning agent to
replace chlorinated solvents (Strickland, 2008; Goosey, 2008).
Europe, Canada, and California now have Green Chemistry laws. In 2007, the European Union
adopted the REACH regulation. REACH creates a unii ed regulatory framework for substances on
the European market and requires that manufacturers or importers of at least 1 metric ton (1000 kg)
per year of chemical substances submit a registration dossier to the European Chemicals Agency in
Helsinki, Finland (Strickland, 2008; Lahl and Hawxwell, 2006). The registration dossier is required
to provide information about the chemical identity of the substance in question, including its physical-
chemical properties, toxicity assay proi les, and ecotoxicity properties.
The REACH approach will require consideration of water quality and air pollution factors at the
registration stage of introducing a new chemical into the marketplace, including specialized hazard
categories, such as endocrine disruption in aquatic organisms (Strickland, 2008). The collected data
will be maintained in a publicly available database. Application to obtain authorization to use
chemical substances must include an analysis of available substitutes or alternative production
processes, as well as an analysis of their technical and economic feasibility (Strickland, 2008; Lahl
and Hawxwell, 2006).
In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the DTSC's Green Chemistry Initiative
into law on September 29, 2008 (Renner, 2009). The new laws (AB 1879 and SB 509) give the
California DTSC two years to identify and prioritize toxic, persistent, and bioaccumulative chemi-
cals and will create a new online Toxics Information Clearinghouse for businesses and consumers.
The goal of California's new laws is to move away from a chemical-by-chemical approach and
toward a more comprehensive policy towards cradle-to-cradle stewardship to prevent unintended
consequences. Unlike REACH, California's program does not require companies to provide chemi-
cal data; instead, the DTSC will conduct lifecycle assessments on existing chemicals and their
alternatives (Renner, 2009). California is the i rst American state to adopt Green Chemistry laws.
However, if each state pursues its own Green Chemistry program, industries may be stymied by 50
different sets of program and registration requirements, which could encourage new production to
be outsourced offshore. USEPA has begun a series of Green Chemistry initiatives, including on-line
tools to help manufacturers i nd safer alternatives to chemicals used in their operations (see http://
www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/ ). USEPA coined the phrase “cradle-to-cradle” * and proposed a
* The “cradle-to-cradle” concept posits that it is more proi table and environmentally benei cial to design and produce
chemicals that may be readily recovered as raw materials once a product's useful life has ended.
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