Massachusetts has the unique opportunity to be a world leader in Green Chemistry.  Many local colleges and universities have Green Chemistry courses, including UMass Boston with the country’s first PhD program in Green Chemistry.  With the help of John Warner, President and Chief Technology Officer of Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and Paul Anastas, the Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the Science Advisor to the Agency, many companies are following the 12 principles of Green Chemistry.  These companies are reducing the use of toxic chemicals, saving energy, reducing waste, and saving money.  They are at the forefront of Sustainability.  Furthermore, they are stewards of the environment, helping to reduce climate change and pollution.

The EPA, along with Green Chemistry leaders such as Paul Anastas and John Warner, ran a forum today at the MIT Sloan School in Cambridge, MA to create a sustainable green chemistry future for New England.   It was a networking and community building event with NO PowerPoint presentations!

Local colleges and universities, non profits and businesses involved in Green Chemistry demonstrated their programs.  With the aim of creating a community of practice, we addressed business issues relating to Green Chemistry.  We discussed how to create a community of practice to bring Green Chemistry to more companies, and to improve the overall sustainability of these companies.

For companies the benefits of Green Chemistry are:

• Cut costs
• Save energy
• Reduce waste

Pharmaceutical companies can save as much as $15 million per year with a Green Chemistry redesign. For example:

• Pfizer will save more than 200,000 metric tons of chemical waste between 2007 and 2020 by “naturalizing” Lyrica^® and 25,000 tons of waste per year in the manufacture of Vfend^®.
• By “greening” Lipitor^® Pfizer also saves energy.

Some of the challenges and barriers include:

• Permitting
• Regulatory framework
• Financial commitment
• Lack of uniform standards
• Uninformed buying public
• IP/patent process

In order to promote Green Chemistry, we need to:

• Size the business opportunity
• Educate the general public
• Make more success stories accessible
• Provide a forum to share information
• Offer prizes and awards to recognize Green Chemistry achievements
• Establish linkages between schools and businesses

***

Utilizing the principles of Eco Marketing, the Green Chemistry coalition will need to: (a) better understand its stakeholders and what they need, (b) clearly articulate the messages for each set of constituents, and (c) create a communications program to reach out to people and encourage active participation.  This is doable, with a motivated team that can draw from the experience of those who have achieved successes thus far in Green Chemistry.