Read the full story from the American Chemical Society.
Single-use hard plastics are all around us: utensils, party decorations and food containers, to name a few examples. These items pile up in landfills, and many biodegradable versions stick around for months, requiring industrial composting systems to fully degrade. Now, researchers have created a sturdy, lightweight material that disintegrates on-demand — and they made it from sugar and wood-derived powders.
Read the full story at Coming Clean.
Recently I took part in a one-day roundtable to advance ‘Sustainable Chemistry in RD&D to Transform the Chemicals Industry.’ The focus was how to advance research, development and demonstration of sustainable chemistry and how the Department of Energy could play a role. This one-day event, held March 7, 2023 in Washington DC, was co-hosted by the Dept of Energy/Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office and the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council.
I was asked to open this panel by addressing why environmental justice (EJ) is a critical component of safe and sustainable chemistry. The audience included executives of chemical industry start-ups and Department of Energy program officers. Were people in the room familiar with the term ‘environmental justice’ and the history of impacted communities? How much was chemical toxicity a focus among Department of Energy policy makers? Not knowing the answers, I presented the following five points.
Let’s reimagine our relationship to how chemicals are traditionally engineered and manufactured—including how we educate the next generation of scientists and researchers. Applying this greener thinking lens is key to reducing our impact on the environment and on human health while simultaneously accelerating science.
On Tues., Apr. 11, 2023, at 12pm EDT, Beyond Benign is hosting a discussion on integrating green chemistry principles into curriculum and practices worldwide for a more sustainable future, including tangible best practices scientists can implement today … for a greener future tomorrow.
The free event will feature John Warner, co-founder and board member, Beyond Benign, as well as a #greenchemistry pioneer; Amy Cannon, co-founder and executive director, Beyond Benign; Dr. Meghna Dilip, Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry, Worcester State University; and Areej Nitowski, green chemistry education manager, MilliporeSigma, as moderator.
Register here for the event.
Read the full story at AZO Materials.
A research group from China attained the first visible-light-promoted simultaneous cleavage of carbon-nitrogen and carbon-carbon bonds through a silver-modified polyoxometalate photocatalyst, which unlocks avenues for applications such as carbon-neutral substitutes for fossil fuels. The results of this research were published on March 3rd, 2023, in Polyoxometalates.
Read the full story at Recycling Today.
Clariter, a global cleantech company based in Luxembourg, and TotalEnergies Fluids, a division of Paris-based TotalEnergies, have premiered what they’re calling the first sustainable ultra-pure solvent made from plastic scrap.
Apr 13, 2023, 11 am CT
Register here.
The Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) is a framework to unite the Green Chemistry higher education community around a common vision to:
Join us for an information session, where you can learn more about the GCC’s benefits and outcomes of becoming a GCC Signer. We’ll also be sharing our latest initiatives for the higher education community including the Green Chemistry Teaching & Learning Community (GCTLC) Online Platform and our Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Initiative.
When your institution becomes a GCC signer, you will gain:
The GCC is a departmental commitment, so please consider inviting your colleagues or department chair to this event.
In January, Beyond Benign hosted a webinar on tools in green chemistry. Speakers included:
Read the full story at Beyond Benign.
Based in New York, Annette Sebuyira is a retired Guilderland High School chemistry teacher with over 30 years of experience. Annette is a Beyond Benign Certified Lead Teacher and is doing inspiring work to advance green chemistry education. Currently, she is involved in creating a green chemistry lab book for New York educators and is a co-facilitator of the New York State Master Teacher Green Chemistry Professional Learning Team.
In this Q&A, Annette shares more about the projects she’s working on, how she’s brought green chemistry into her classroom, and her hope for the future of green chemistry.
Read the full story from the American Chemical Society.
Carrots come in a rainbow of bright colors — red, orange, yellow and purplish black — because of compounds called carotenoids. They help support eye health by reacting with potentially harmful UV light. Interestingly, the molecular structures of carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, are similar to the building blocks of some polymers. Now, researchers have incorporated a compound derived from beta-carotene into a polymer that’s fully degradable.
Read the full story at Food Navigator Europe.
Although ‘many thought approving a new solvent would be impossible’, the European Parliament and Council have added plant-based solvent methyloxolane to the list of permitted processing aids for the manufacture of food ingredients.
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