Taken Up by Countries Around the World

The Maastricht Treaty states that those who are responsible for environmental pollution, resource depletion, and social cost should pay the full cost of their activities. If these costs are ultimately passed on to the consumer, then there is an incentive to reduce the levels of environmental damage and resource depletion. For example, discharge of industrial waste from a manufacturing operation into a water course results in a downstream user s incurring extra costs to treat and purify it. Unless there is government 

Green chemistry has introduced several new terms and new research frontiers, including eco-efficiency, sustainable chemistry, atom efficiency or economy, process intensification and integration, inherent safety, product life-cycle analysis, ionic liquids, alternate feedstock, and renewable energy sources.  

Eco-efficiency is the efficiency with which ecological resources are used to meet human needs. It includes three scientific focus areas needed to achieve eco-efficiency. The three focuses, which are the same in the United States and Australia, are the use of alternative synthetic pathways, the use of alternative reaction conditions, and the design of chemicals that are less toxic than current alternatives or the design of inherently safer chemicals with regard to accident potential. 

Great Britain s Royal Society of Ghemistry publishes an international scientific journal entitled Green Chemistry bimonthly,-the first issue was published in February 1999. The majority of the synthesis and process journals focus on papers related to this topic. 

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