So you think your process is green, how do you know? — Using principles of sustainability to determine what is green – a corporate perspective

Abstract

Green Chemistry CONTENTS News & Views G2Editorial Evolution and growth in 2001 G3 Feature Fluorous techniques for the synthesis and separation of organic molecules G8News & Views -G8 Highlights. G10 Super-efficient dyes for the colorations of cotton. G13 Focus on . . . Professor Keith Smith, University of Wales Swansea. G15 Pipe dreams? Shifting the balance towards clean technology.

Application of environmental and economic metrics to guide the development of biocatalytic processes

“…(2)] and thus, the preferred reaction systems corresponds to CME = 100% and a reaction with a lower CME lead to a less desired system, as there is a greater amount of carbon that will eventually end in a waste stream or as emissions. CME takes into account the stoichiometry and the amount of carbon in the reagents that is incorporated into the final product [23]. However, as noted for the previous metric (CME), it does not account for the waste generated during the process:…”

“…Indeed, the number of environmental assessments of biocatalytic processes that are published today remains rather limited [34] and such studies invariably require a large amount of information which is not available at an early development stage. However, there are several simpler approaches to quantify the process environmental performance [23][24][25], by using process-related green chemistry metrics. These metrics quantify the overall process (including the reaction chemistry, covered by the reaction-related green chemistry metrics).…”

“…One very useful tool at this stage of development is application of the so-called 'Green Chemistry Metrics'. The metrics can be used during route selection, to compare between options [23][24][25] according to the Green Principles. These are used to evaluate the potential of the reaction chemistry and therefore it is the reaction-related green chemistry metrics that are of primary interest.…”

“…CME, also known as carbon efficiency, is a green chemistry metric developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to measure the sustainability of their processes within the framework of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry [23]. CME is defined as the percentage of carbon in the reagents that remains in the final product [Eq.…”

Incorporating sustainable development in the design of mineral processing operations – Review and analysis of current approaches

“…They identify challenges in environmental design of minerals technologies: the limited availability of thermodynamic information covering the full spectrum of chemical conversions embodied in minerals technologies; the low grade of mineral ores (and as a result, the myriad of impurities which must be removed typically); the variability and non-homogeneity of ores resulting in significant variation between ore bodies, as well as over the life of a single mine; the large energy demand for physical transformations; the significant role of poorly understood particulate processes in beneficiation and refining; the relative conservatism of the industry for technological change, itself captured in the dominance of vendor-driven design solutions; and Whilst not focusing on all elements of the TBL, ''Green chemistry'', ''green engineering'' and DfE are all closely linked (and sometimes interchangeable) concepts that aim to improve sustainability by reducing impact on the environment through changing processing pathways and eliminating damaging products, by-products. These methodologies aim to compare the impacts of different processing alternatives by determining indicators of the potential for process flows to impact on the environment [43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. Cano-Ruiz and McRae [20] offer a very comprehensive review of current practices in process plant DfE.…”