2.3 The Concept of Sustainability
21
incentives for innovations and behavioral changes that lead to more intelligent
and more sustainable use of these limited resources as well as careful use of
hazardous substances. There should be a clear economic benefit to considering
effects on humans and the environment. However, even after many years of political
discussions, adequate prices of resources consumed and emissions generated have
still not yet been introduced.
2.3.3 The Implementation of Sustainability
The concrete implementation of the concept of sustainability is seriously hampered
by the complexity of economic, ecological, and societal problems. This difficulty
was identified very early in the discussions about sustainable development (Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen, 1994), and its urgency and importance have further
increased since then.
For the scope considered within this book, the focus is on approaches for the
concrete implementation of sustainable practices on two different levels: (i) the
technical level and (ii) the societal level.
On the technical level, the chemical industry is challenged to develop processes
and products with sustainability in mind. General guidelines to achieve this can
be through the implementation of high productivity, low consumption of renewable
resources and energy, avoidance of emissions and waste, high levels of occupational
health and safety, and minimization of accident risks and other risks. The same
guidelines can be applied to the development of sustainable product life cycles.
The guidelines mentioned above are also reflected by the 12 principles of
Green Chemistry (Anastas and Warner, 1998). Most of these principles refer to
improved material and energy efficiency (principles 2, 6, 7, and 8: atom economy,
design for energy efficiency, use of renewable feedstocks, reduce derivatives) and
increased process safety (principle 12: inherently safer chemistry for accident
prevention). Only two principles directly refer to the development of “greener”
chemical products (principles 4 and 10: designing safer (i.e., less toxic) chemicals,
design for degradation).
A large body of research has been published under the principle of Green
Chemistry, much of it in the journal Green Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry,
2020). Several governments as well as the OECD (2019) actively support the
development of Green Chemistry or Sustainable Chemistry, including the United
States (US EPA, 2020) and Germany (UBA, 2020; ISC3, 2020).
However, it has to be pointed out that in practical terms, most of the research
and development in the area of Green Chemistry has been put into improving
chemical reactions and process conditions. Much less progress has been made in
the development of truly “green” chemical products (Clark, 2006; Strempel et al.,
2012; Kümmerer et al., 2020). Good summaries of the serious challenges still
associated with the concept of Green Chemistry are provided by Collins (Collins,
2001; Jumman, 2013).
21
incentives for innovations and behavioral changes that lead to more intelligent
and more sustainable use of these limited resources as well as careful use of
hazardous substances. There should be a clear economic benefit to considering
effects on humans and the environment. However, even after many years of political
discussions, adequate prices of resources consumed and emissions generated have
still not yet been introduced.
2.3.3 The Implementation of Sustainability
The concrete implementation of the concept of sustainability is seriously hampered
by the complexity of economic, ecological, and societal problems. This difficulty
was identified very early in the discussions about sustainable development (Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen, 1994), and its urgency and importance have further
increased since then.
For the scope considered within this book, the focus is on approaches for the
concrete implementation of sustainable practices on two different levels: (i) the
technical level and (ii) the societal level.
On the technical level, the chemical industry is challenged to develop processes
and products with sustainability in mind. General guidelines to achieve this can
be through the implementation of high productivity, low consumption of renewable
resources and energy, avoidance of emissions and waste, high levels of occupational
health and safety, and minimization of accident risks and other risks. The same
guidelines can be applied to the development of sustainable product life cycles.
The guidelines mentioned above are also reflected by the 12 principles of
Green Chemistry (Anastas and Warner, 1998). Most of these principles refer to
improved material and energy efficiency (principles 2, 6, 7, and 8: atom economy,
design for energy efficiency, use of renewable feedstocks, reduce derivatives) and
increased process safety (principle 12: inherently safer chemistry for accident
prevention). Only two principles directly refer to the development of “greener”
chemical products (principles 4 and 10: designing safer (i.e., less toxic) chemicals,
design for degradation).
A large body of research has been published under the principle of Green
Chemistry, much of it in the journal Green Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry,
2020). Several governments as well as the OECD (2019) actively support the
development of Green Chemistry or Sustainable Chemistry, including the United
States (US EPA, 2020) and Germany (UBA, 2020; ISC3, 2020).
However, it has to be pointed out that in practical terms, most of the research
and development in the area of Green Chemistry has been put into improving
chemical reactions and process conditions. Much less progress has been made in
the development of truly “green” chemical products (Clark, 2006; Strempel et al.,
2012; Kümmerer et al., 2020). Good summaries of the serious challenges still
associated with the concept of Green Chemistry are provided by Collins (Collins,
2001; Jumman, 2013).