Last year, world population surpassed 7 billion, and over the next four decades, it is expected to grow by 2 billion more. The impact this will have on the planet and society can be staggering — increasing demand for material goods, growing strains on natural resources and energy supplies and more waste generated. To meet these needs, we will need more sustainable products and infrastructure — in short, a more sustainable economy.
Recently, I participated in a dialogue on the building blocks of a sustainable economy at the GLOBE 2012 conference in Vancouver, and my role was to discuss how sustainable chemistry can build a more sustainable economy.
In the chemical industry, we have “chemical building blocks,” which are basic chemicals from which many others can be made. With more than 95 percent of all manufactured goods relying on chemistry in their value chain, integrating sustainability and green chemistry concepts — “sustainable chemistry” — as a building block is a vitally important part of building a more sustainable economy.
Green chemistry is a set of principles to design, but sustainable chemistry looks beyond only a science. It is a catalyst for change, an innovative approach to problem-solving and a long-term solution to global sustainability challenges.
Source: GreenBiz.com
By Dave Kepler