Moving Towards Sustainability

New directions for the industry are emerging. Chemical stewardship, green chemistry, biomimicy, chemical substitution, and nanotechnology all provide approaches that are potentially cleaner, greener, and more productive. At this point they are 

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In a period, such as the present time, of growth in P and C, the latter through economic growth in the developing world, notably India and China, (and an assumption that EC is not limitless and that we may not be far short of reaching its limit) we can only move towards sustainability through a reduction in B. 

Examples of industry and academia using green chemistry to move toward sustainable manufacturing are well documented and have been lauded through the U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. These awards were established in 1995 and are presented annually at the National Academy of Sciences. 

A brief review of two of these new directions - chemical stewardship (services) and green chemistry (function) - and then a look to the future, offer illustrations of how the industry may be moved towards sustainability. 

TABLE 8.6. Strategies in Moving Towards Sustainability in Environment, Health, and... 

The benefits of moving toward sustainability are not dependent on country-specific regulation. To the contrary, their impact on productivity and profitability are similar around the world. For this reason, 3M facilities worldwide are held to the same environmental standards that the company applies to its facilities in the United States (except where local standards are higher). For the same reason, all 3M manufacturing facilities making products for transnational markets are required to become ISO 14001 certified. 

The importance of the presence of social responsibility reporting is underpinned by the anticipated move towards sustainability reporting, which will require a consideration of social issues. It is a very subjective EPI. To obtain a yes rating, there must be evidence in the CER of company expenditure on social and community issues or projects, over and above that which would normally be expected to maintain good public relations. It is expected that two or three separate projects or initiatives will be reported, but those included must reflect the geographical diversity of the company. 

Rossi, M., Griffith, Ch., Gearhart, J., and Juska, C. (2005). Moving towards sustainable plastics. A report card on the six leading antomakers. A Report by the Ecology Center, U.S.A. Available at http //www.ecocenter.org/publications/downloads/anto plastics report.pdf. Accessed October 4, 2014. 

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