Green Chemistry

The term ‘green chemistry’

The goals of green chemistry are to be energy- and resource-efficient and to protect health and the environment.

Green chemistry can thus be viewed as a holistic approach that aims to integrate the concept of sustainability into chemical thinking and establish it in the chemical industry. The entire process, from the design and development of a new substance via its manufacture or production, processing and use through to recycling or disposal, must be taken into account.

In addition to the goal of acting sustainably to protect nature and people by thinking in new and innovative ways, businesses also gain new momentum by using alternative approaches, concepts and technologies.

Since the 1990s, the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry developed by John Warner and Paul Anastas have described this comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach:

These 12 principles can be assigned to five green chemistry criteria:

Green chemistry supports the following goals in particular:

• Achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 12: “Sustainable Consumption and Production”;
• Implementing sustainable global chemicals management in line with SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management);
• Paving the way to the non-toxic environment laid down in the EU’s 7th Environment Action Programme;
• Moving towards the zero-pollution goal set out in the EU’s Green Deal;
• Advancing the EU’s circular economy strategy;

Implementing the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) proposed by the European Commission.

Definitions of green chemistry

Very different approaches are taken worldwide when it comes to defining green chemistry. The term is sometimes used in a fairly narrow sense to refer to the synthetic process, but it is also used much more broadly to include all stages of a substance’s life cycle until it is recycled or disposed of as waste.

Definition of the Austrian Platform of Green Chemistry

The Austrian Platform of Green Chemistry (PGC) defined as one of it's first activities the term "Green Chemistry" that reflects the Austrian initiative the best. The definition-making process is documented and presented in the document Definition of Green Chemistry.

References to a number of definitions are given below:

The first definition of green chemistry was given by John Warner and Paul Anastas in 1998 based on their 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. These principles are designed to reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous chemical substances in the development, production and consumption of products.

Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, Paul Anastas and John Warner, 1998

The British Royal Society of Chemistry also defines green chemistry based on the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and sees the following areas as some of the focal points of green chemistry: design, reagents and raw materials, synthesis, processes, energy, applications, impact.

For the Green Chemistry Institute of the American Chemical Society, green chemistry encompasses the design, development and practical implementation of chemical products and processes in order to reduce waste, conserve energy, discover replacements for hazardous substances and achieve circularity. The Green Chemistry Institute has developed its own evaluation system (metrics).

The EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency)defines both sustainable and green chemistry as the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. Green/sustainable chemistry relates to the entire life cycle of a chemical product, including design and development, production and use. The aim is to drive the innovation and generation of products that are both economically and ecologically sustainable.

The OECD(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) similarly defines both sustainable and green chemistry as strategies for the design, manufacture and use of efficient, effective, safe and more environmentally benign chemical products and processes. Sustainable/green chemistry aims to improve resource efficiency (by conserving energy and resources), minimises risks, prevents environmental damage and minimises waste at all life cycle stages. Products should be durable and reusable or recyclable.

In 2000, IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) defined green chemistry as follows: the invention, design and application of chemical products and processes to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. The following definition was adopted at the IUPAC Congress in 2019: green chemistry uses processes and creates products that do not cause any specific or general harm either before, during or after production and/or use.

The German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt Deutschland) sees green chemistry and the 12 principles developed by Warner and Anastas as mostly linked to discussion of the synthetic reaction process and therefore prefers the term ‘sustainable chemistry’, which also encompasses the economic and social goals of SDG 12 in addition to the issue of preventive protection of health and the environment. Sustainable chemistry can be defined by “the 12 considerations when determining best available techniques” in the EU directive concerning integrated pollution prevention and control.

The German institution ISC3(International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre) sees sustainable chemistry as an essential part of sustainable development in accordance with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. This sustainable chemistry is based on ecological principles for chemical production and covers product design, manufacturing, resource consumption, and occupational health and safety, coupled with economic success and technical innovation. All these processes/workflows should be based on sustainability criteria.