A new paper in a special edition of Science (“Chemistry for Tomorrow’s Earth”) makes the case for green chemistry as the underpinning for a sustainable future: a future where the materials and chemicals that make up the basis of our society and our economy are healthful rather than toxic, renewable rather than depleting, and degradable rather than persistent.
In the paper titled “Design for a chemistry future”, Paul Anastas, Julie Zimmerman and Hanno Erythropel from the Yale Center for Green Chemistry & Engineering along Walter Leitner from the German Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion argue that the design of products, feedstocks and manufacturing processes will need to include considerations about their potential impacts during their entire life cycle, rather solely focusing on function— aligned with the principles of green chemistry and green engineering.
When it comes to chemical production, systems thinking must be used to create sustainable, non-toxic, and recyclable chemicals — from the design stage, through production and use, to disposal. Feel free to contact hanno.erythropel@yale.edu for a copy of the full manuscript.
The article can be found here: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6476/397
The Yale press release: https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/principles-for-a-green-chemistry-future/