Everything consists of molecules. But who makes the molecules? For most things around you, the answer probably goes back to “chemists.”
“If we look at everything around us in our world – the food, the drugs, the plastics and polymers, our computers, our vehicles… there is some kind of chemical production involved in all of this,” says Associate Professor Tony Patti, a chemist . at Monash University.
These “things we just take for granted” have changed the environment in dramatic and often harmful ways.
But the growing green chemistry movement is trying to undo some of the damage.
“Green and sustainable chemistry is actually about: how do we move forward into the future and avoid the problems of the past?” says Patti.
In its strictest sense, green chemistry refers to a movement started in the late 1990s by American chemists Dr. John Warner and Professor Paul Anastas. They outlined twelve principles that, considered before a chemist starts a process, should make the molecules they design better for the environment and human health.
“The principles now applied and adopted in chemical manufacturing will ultimately give us a better world,” said Patti, co-chair of the 2024 Australian Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemical Technology, to be held in Melbourne in mid-December.
“And they can undoubtedly help achieve virtually all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
Patti’s interest in green chemistry first arose from his research into compost.
“I started wondering: Making compost is great, and that’s important, but are we also throwing away or ignoring important components?” he says.
Food waste, it turns out, can be a valuable source of important raw materials, such as antioxidants, pectin and lignin.
Although green and sustainable chemistry is becoming established in academia and has led to a number of successful commercial products, it can be difficult to translate research into industry.
Part of the goal of the conference is to strengthen connections between industry and research chemists.
“I think all industries today are very conscious of being more sustainable when sourcing their raw materials from renewable sources [resources] whenever possible,” says Patti.
“But ‘where possible’ is of course a big limitation, because supply chains don’t necessarily have the quantities they need.”
Another problem is that ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ can sometimes contradict each other.
“Not everything that is green is sustainable. And conversely, not everything that is sustainable is necessarily green,” says Patti.
Benign green molecules are created with the intention of not causing harm in their creation, use, and disposal. But they are not necessarily active in the right quantities for sustainable industries.
“The input materials you need, the energy to make it, etc. – they may not be sustainable, or they may not produce a product that is affordable for its function in society. And that’s part of the challenge,” says Patti.
Well-established industries often struggle to change their practices for sustainability.
“I think one of the exciting things about developing green chemistry is the opportunities for new industries, new work and economic benefits,” says Patti.
“Newer companies setting up shop today have a potential advantage because they can start with the better, improved way of doing things. They don’t necessarily have to use the old technologies of the past.”
Green chemists have also worked to change public perception of chemistry – a science that has long had a reputation for being at best indifferent and often harmful to the environment and human health.
Part of this means adapting chemistry education to include green principles – but Patti says public outreach is also important.
“Chemical manufacturing really gives us the lifestyle that we have become accustomed to in today’s society,” he says.
“After all, chemistry is a creative activity. It creates new materials and new things for us to have viable societies.”
