With pressure growing all the time for the chemical industry to shrug off its ‘dirty’ tag and do more to protect the environment, the ideas of green chemistry and increased recycling are gathering pace all the time.
As a result, many companies and research organisations have come forward with initiatives that allow the industry to be more environmentally-responsible and which offer exciting commercial opportunities.
The concept of green chemistry is a relatively new idea which developed out of initiatives to reduce pollution and minimise the industry’s impact on the planet.
It came about because by the mid-20th Century, pollution choked many of the world’s waterways, acid rain damaged forests, there were holes in the earth’s ozone and some chemicals in common use were suspected of causing or directly linked to cancer and other conditions.
Increasingly alarmed, many governments began to regulate the generation and disposal of industrial wastes and emissions and industry responded. The result has been a breathtaking array of breakthroughs.
