Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
society and will involve aspects of all of the follow-
ing, coming together as a coherent package:
growing realisation that the key to future success
lies with not one but three bottom lines: eco-
nomic, environmental and social. The costs
of causing environmental harm are becoming
unacceptably high in every sense. This, coupled
with increasing knowledge of the long-term
effects that chemicals have on the environment
and the technical advances are helping to ensure
that new products and processes are much
greener than those being replaced.
(1)
Technology.
A significant amount of valuable
green technology exists, as is evident from pub-
lications such as this and the references therein.
Further green technology needs to be developed
and, more importantly, this technology needs
to be commercially viable. In the short- to
medium-term future we are likely to see signif-
icant reductions in the use of hazardous volatile
organic solvents through increased use of benign
alternatives. More widespread use of catalysts
to reduce waste and improve selectivity, partic-
ularly in the speciality and pharmaceutical
industry, undoubtedly will be forthcoming.
Engineeringwise, we will see something of a
design revolution, reducing materials and
energy use and improving safety. However, in
terms of sustainability we require significant
advances in the development of renewable
sources of energy.
(2)
Education.
Increased environmental awareness
and the role that science can play need to be
taught at an early age. In tertiary education the
principles of green chemistry need to underpin
the whole undergraduate and graduate course
structure and not be taught as a separate course.
It is the culture and mind-set that we teach stu-
dents of today that will determine the greenness
of tomorrow's processes and products.
(3)
Society
in general has a huge role to play. Con-
sumer power is a major force in determining the
products that industry produces. Sometimes sus-
tainability comes at a price, either economic- or
performancewise; it is the informed consumer
who needs to make this choice, e.g. water-based
versus solvent-based paint. As stakeholders in
industry, individuals and organisations also can
have an influential role in ensuring that sus-
tainable practices are adopted.
(4)
Governments
have a role to play in formulating
policies to encourage sustainable development
and in ensuring that there is an even com-
petitive playing field throughout the world.
Governments also should be encouraging the
development of green technologies through R &
E funding mechanisms.
(5)
Industry
has the prime purpose of adding value
to shareholder investment. However, there is the
The goal of a green and sustainable society cannot
be achieved overnight; the path is long and uncer-
tain. Undoubtedly we will take a few wrong turns
along the way, but there is growing agreement on
the general way forward. Although science can
help move towards the ideal of completely avoiding
risk, hazard, pollution, etc., society at large will
ultimately determine what is acceptable in terms
of the cost-benefit issues posed by sustainable
development.
Although, as discussed at the beginning of the
chapter, the modern ideas of sustainable and green
chemistry are only around ten years old, we should
not lose sight of the fact that some of the objectives
have been pursued for many years. A quote from
R. W. Hofmann, the first President of The Royal
College of Chemistry, London, made in 1848 is just
as relevant today as it was then:
'In an ideal chemical factory there is, strictly
speaking, no waste but only product. The better a
real factory makes use of its waste, the closer it
gets to its ideal, the bigger is the profit.'
References
1.
World Commission on Environment and Develop-
ment.
Our Common Future
. Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1987.
2.
Basiago, A. D.
Sustain. Dev.
, 1995,
3
, 109.
3.
Anastas, P. T., & Warner, J. C.,
Green Chemistry, Theory
and Practice
. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998.
4.
Environmental Protection Expenditure by UK Indus-
try.
Survey of 1997 Expenditure
, final report to the DETR.
ECOTEC Research and Consulting, Birmingham, UK,
1999.
5.
Lancaster, M.
Environ. Bus. Mag.
, 1999,
May
, 34.
6.
MORI.
The Public Image of the Chemical Industry
, report
for the CIA. MORI, London, 1999.
7.
Trost, B. M.
Science
, 1991,
254
, 1471.
8.
Sheldon, R. A.
Chemtech
, 1994,
March
, 38.
9.
Sheldon, R. A.
J. Chem. Tech. Biotechnol.
, 1997,
68
, 381.
