Author: Giselle Vincent, VP of Yordas North America

Read Time: 4 minutes

Lately, I have been thinking about how the chemical sector can sustainably reinvent itself. This, in part, is due to our work with several innovative companies focused on developing chemical feedstocks from renewable resources, as well as all the sustainable chemicals management work that we do. Also, partly because Yordas will be presenting a webinar for the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3) next month entitled ‘Emerging Trends in Sustainable Chemistry and Circularity’ (July 13th).

From a sustainability perspective, it is clear that the chemicals industry cannot continue to run the way it has traditionally or with the chemistries it is founded upon. As Joel Tickner (the head of the GC3) et al. point out in ‘Transitioning the Chemical Industry’ (Environment 63:6), oil and gas now accounts for 99% of the chemical industry’s feedstocks, with just 7 petrochemicals forming the basis for ‘tens of thousands of chemical products’. The heavy reliance on petrochemicals also accounts for the chemical sector’s high energy use and nearly all of its greenhouse gas emissions. As Tickner et al. stress, ‘feedstock choice matters’. Regulatory drivers are also substantially increasing as authorities move from an individual substance approach to regulating and restricting whole groups of chemicals (as with PFAS or endocrine disruptors). Added to this, pressures from increasingly well-educated consumers and increasingly litigious NGOs mean that innovation is often imperative from a risk management perspective.

The most fundamental move to sustainability must be in ensuring chemicals are Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD), a concept outlined by the EU in their Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, which ensures that the full life cycle, as well as health, safety and environmental impacts, must be considered in the design of new chemicals and chemical products. In the US, several Executive Orders under the Biden administration have established a comprehensive and multi-tiered approach to the environmental crisis and include the goal that ‘environmental justice’ must be taken into account. In both cases, chemical safety is increasingly not just an environmental or health issue but also a social issue.

In several recent papers, Joel Tickner and colleagues argue the business case for the shift to sustainable chemistries and set out a roadmap for the industry, highlighting:

• alternative sustainable feedstocks

• innovative tunable molecules that are scalable

• sustained investment and creative collaborations/partnerships (public and private) for sustainable chemistry, as well as 

• the technology to support them

To these, I would add that all of this must happen in a strategic and joined-up way. Companies, and often industry sectors, need sustainable chemicals management plans, in which the phasing out of certain substances and alternatives assessments play a part alongside other initiatives along both the supply chain (perhaps through collaborations with suppliers) and the full lifecycle of substances and products (such as waste). 

Tickner et al. caution that sustainable initiatives in ‘high consumption countries’ must not end up shifting the chemical industry towards emerging economies – either as markets for less sustainable products or as places to shift less sustainable manufacturing. Fortunately, we are seeing emerging economies enacting their own chemical regulatory frameworks. India REACH, for example, has the potential to act as a model for other emerging markets. Further, the EU has explicitly added knowledge sharing with others as a part of its Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. And internationally binding agreements are increasing with sometimes surprising unanimity across parties. One example is the UN Plastic Pollution Treaty (PPT), agreed upon in March of this year, which aims to end plastic pollution and establish a science-policy panel on chemicals and waste and pollution prevention.

A recent cover story in the New Scientist, entitled ‘Chemistry to Save the World’ (March 5-11, 2022) makes a case for seven innovation-rich areas. Most of these address solutions to pollution or finding alternatives to rare materials (such as sodium-based batteries). Even more interesting, is their piece on biomolecular machines for material design, which could speed up molecule sequencing, pointing us to ways that technology can help drive forward innovation. It is similar to Tickner et al. proposing technology is leveraged to scale sustainable chemistries. Likewise, a piece on endlessly recyclable plastics aims to tackle new ways of managing hard-to-recycle plastics and new, self-recycling plastics. Underlining these solutions is the principle of Safe and Sustainable by Design and the importance of finding sustainable chemistries to address problems caused earlier.

Some of the most interesting potential benefits of a shift to sustainable chemistries -from my perspective as a trained social researcher are social. Sustainable chemistries must be safe and sustainable across the lifecycle and for all peoples and environments. That means that SSbD must consider where manufacturing plants are located, including such things as existing economic, social or environmental stressors or vulnerabilities. However, such care for the social also opens up opportunities since sustainable feedstocks may benefit rural communities or foster better corporate-neighbourhood relations. 

I’m also interested in the shift in agency: showing not only are stakeholders educated and engaged but also want to work with businesses to find sustainable solutions. In a slightly different vein, we also see shifts in responsibility as government authorities, particularly in the US, are increasingly placing the burden of responsibility for safety and risk assessments onto companies (more similar to the EU model).

Of course, all of this is incredibly complex and will require companies to underline, as part of their sustainable chemicals management plans: 

• transparency

• due diligence

• community engagement plans

• regulatory monitoring

• a good sense of the full life cycle of their substances and products (meaning good supply chain relationships) 

• alternatives assessments and/or SSbD alternatives research

• and sustainable policies embedded in company culture

It's a big task, and smaller companies, more so, will need support. While governments mostly work from the top-down on restrictions and transparency legislation, industry collaborations can help fill in gaps directly (between companies) or through industry associations, such as the Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (auto) or the IAEG (aerospace). Industry and supply chain collaboration will be essential to foster innovation and optimise costs while enhancing the overall sustainability of substances and products. 

For more insight into green and sustainable chemistry, their benefits and for examples of their adoption into policy, you can sign-up for our ‘The Current State of Green & Sustainable Chemistry’ webinar.

For more information on our sustainability services, visit our website. Also, visit our product stewardship page to find out how we can help your business with sustainable chemicals management planning. 

If you wish to discuss how our team can help your business identify the most effective measures to address the environmental, social and economic risks and impacts stemming from your operations, send us a message here.