Green & Sustainable Chemistry Network

Green & Sustainable Chemistry Network, Japan

1) Background
The Green Chemistry(GC) Initiative, a task force consisting of representatives from
Japanese chemical organizations, was formed in September 1998. It worked actively to
implement practical methods of effectively pursuing the above goals. To this end, a
workshop was held in Tokyo in November 1999. The participants agreed to establish a new
organization, Green & Sustainable Chemistry Network(GSCN) and the official name, concept,
structure and framework of the activities by this new organization.

2) Launching of GSCN
The Green & Sustainable Chemistry Network(GSCN) was officially launched in March 2000.

3) Mission of GSCN
The main mission of the GSCN is to promote R&D on Green & Sustainable Chemistry as a
center of network, through such activities as promotion of collaboration including
international activities, information exchange, communication, education and relevant
proposals to funding agencies.

Definition of Green and Sustainable Chemistry

Green and Sustainable Chemistry is defined as chemical sciences and technologies which are benign to both human health and the environment, and support the development of a sustainable society.

Guidelines for Green and Sustainable Chemistry Activities

Chemical community has been addressing future-oriented research and education, and development of environmentally-benign systems, processes, and products for the sustainable development of society.

In response to the Rio Declaration at the Earth Summit in 1992, chemical community has been working on challenges in a unified manner among academia, industry and government with the launch of Green and Sustainable Chemistry. The outcomes include the pursuance of coexistence with the global environment, the satisfaction of society’s needs, and economic rationality, with consideration for improved health, safety and the environment across the life cycles of chemical products, their design, selection of raw materials, processing, use, recycling, and final disposal.

Long-term global issues, in areas such as resources, energy, global warming, water, food production, and demographic changes have increasingly become major complicated concerns requiring serious attention and innovative solutions. Therefore, expectations are growing for innovations, based on the chemical sciences and technologies, as driving forces to solve such issues and to achieve the sustainable development of society with enhanced quality of life and well-being.

Chemical community will meet these expectations by strongly advancing Green and Sustainable Chemistry through global partnership and collaboration and going beyond such traditional boundaries that involve the consumer, industry, academia, government and country.

Examples

< Minimization of resource consumption and maximization of the efficiency of reaction processes for production with reduced environmental impact. This will be achieved through: >
(1) Chemical technologies that lead to reduction in by-product formation and avoid the use of hazardous substances
(2) Separation, purification, and recycling technologies that reduce the generation and emission of greenhouse gases like CO2 or toxic/hazardous substances, thus lowering environmental impact
(3) Chemical technologies and products that reduce the generation and emission to the environment of greenhouse gases like CO2 or toxic/hazardous substances.
(4) Catalysts and reaction processes that realize the saving of energy and resources and improvement in product yields

< Risk reduction of chemical substances beneficial to safe and secure living environment>
(5) Chemical technologies, products, and systems that reduce waste generation;
(6) Chemical technologies, products, and systems that inhibit the generation and emission of hazardous substances and pollutants

<Challenges to solve energy, resource, food, and water issues >
(7) Chemical technologies, products, and systems to utilize low-grade heat sources, non-conventional resources, and other similar alternatives
(8) Chemical technologies, products, and systems whereby un-utilized energy and resources can be converted into available energy, transported, and stored
(9) Chemical technologies, products, and systems which decrease the dependence on exhaustible resources such as fossil fuels and scarce minerals and promote the shift to renewable energy and resources, including their storage;
(10) Chemical technologies, products, and systems that contribute to the Three R's: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle;
(11) Chemical technologies, products, and systems that promote the efficiency of production and supply of food, and utilization of water resources.

<Pioneering challenges to long-term issues aiming to realize a safe, secure, and sustainable society with enhanced quality of life>
(12) Chemical technologies, new products, and new operational systems that contribute to the introduction of new social systems, for instance based on ICT, and aimed at solving social issues such as energy and resource consumption,, food and water security, disaster prevention and infrastructure improvements, transportation and logistics, medical and health care, education and welfare, and other mega-trends of society.
(13) Chemical technologies, new products, and new operational systems that contribute to the improvement of social and individual comfort whilst reducing and preferably inhibiting environmental impact

<Systemization, dissemination, enlightenment, and education of GSC including its metrics to be established>
(14) Systemization of GSC practices and concepts
(15) Dissemination, enlightenment, and education of GSC practices and concepts.
(16) Establishment and dissemination of GSC metrics