Green Chemistry Initiatives

Turning apple waste into furniture? Material innovation is being redefined with a groundbreaking vegan-certified leather alternative crafted from upcycled agricultural waste. This innovative material offers a premium, bio-based option that seamlessly blends environmental responsibility with practical versatility. Manufactured on wide rolls, it provides a luxurious, durable alternative to traditional leather while addressing the urgent need for eco-friendly solutions. By utilising by-products of agricultural processes, this innovation exemplifies how waste can become a cornerstone for transformative design, challenging industry norms and fostering a more circular economy. Recently, this material has been introduced in the furniture sector, demonstrating its versatility and effectiveness in reducing carbon footprints. For example, when used in furniture, it achieves significant reductions in carbon emissions compared to traditional materials. This measurable impact highlights the potential of sustainable materials to advance both environmental and business objectives. Key Features of Bio-Based Materials →Transformative Origins: Converts agricultural by-products into high-quality materials. →Cross-Industry Applications: Ideal for furniture, fashion, and automotive sectors. →Design Customisation: Supports diverse finishes and textures, meeting unique design needs. →Supply Chain Transparency: Offers full traceability, ensuring ethical production and enhancing storytelling. Business Impact and ROI →Sustainability Leadership: Collaborating with material innovators demonstrates a commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals. →Cost Optimisation: By utilising waste-based inputs, businesses can reduce dependence on costly, resource-intensive materials. →Market Differentiation: Offering products made with innovative materials positions companies as leaders in sustainability, appealing to a conscientious consumer base. →Carbon Reduction: Bio-based materials deliver tangible emissions savings, supporting corporate decarbonisation objectives. This innovation exemplifies how rethinking waste can drive sustainability and profitability, empowering businesses to lead in the era of bio-based innovation. Link for more info: https://lnkd.in/dmtMrnP3 #sustainability #esg #biomaterials #decarbonisation #wasteupcycling #innovation #bioeconomy #climateaction #circularity #greendesign

As Editor-in-Chief of Organic Process R&D I am excited to highlight one of the contributions from our latest issue (July 2025) by Frédéric Pin, Julien Picard, and Sylvie Dhulut from Servier on GreenScore a web‑based tool that lets chemists rate each synthetic step in minutes across five pillars—Waste, Sustainability, Solvents, HSE and Energy—grounded in the 12 principles of green chemistry. An improved version goes further by adding quantitative carbon‑footprint and biodiversity metrics, while switching to continuous (not bucketed) scoring so small improvements are visible. The results are then rolled up in a one‑page GreenCard that spotlights the worst‑offending steps and tracks progress project‑wide. It is a powerful step toward aligning synthetic chemistry with ESG goals and regulatory demands and supporting sustainable innovation at scale. Check it out! Matt Saucier #ACS #OPRD #ProcessChemistry

Polyamide Recycling and Upcycling: Turning Waste into Value with Engineered Bacteria. Nylons, or aliphatic polyamides, are workhorses in industries like textiles and automotive, praised for their strength and durability. Yet, less than 5% are recycled, and traditional chemical recycling often produces complex mixtures that are difficult to purify. Ina recent Nature Microbiology paper the researchers demonstrates the power of synthetic biology to transform nylon waste into valuable products. They have engineered Pseudomonas putida KT2440 to: Metabolize C6-polyamide monomers: including 6-aminohexanoic acid, ε-caprolactam, and 1,6-hexamethylenediamine, through adaptive laboratory evolution. Break down nylon oligomers: both linear and cyclic, derived from chemical hydrolysis, by expressing nylonase enzymes. Unlock the metabolic pathways: for these non-natural substrates, revealed through RNA sequencing and reverse engineering. But that's not all! They have taken it a step further by expressing the phaCAB operon from Cupriavidus necator, enabling P. putida to produce polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from PA6 hydrolysates – a sustainable bioplastic. This study showcases a powerful microbial host for the biological conversion of polyamide monomers and mixed hydrolysates, in tandem with chemical hydrolysis, into a value-added product. This is a significant step towards a circular economy for plastics. #sustainability #biotechnology #syntheticbiology #circulareconomy

From forests to functional polymers - unlocking lignin’s commercial potential The plastics economy is overdue for transformation. With 98% of global polymer production still fossil-based, the urgency for sustainable alternatives has never been greater. Enter lignin - a renewable, underutilized resource with immense potential. The New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Limited's biomaterials team contributed to this integrated biorefinery proof of concept - demonstrating a breakthrough: synthesizing fully bio-based, functional lignin polyester copolymers via ring-opening copolymerization (ROCOP) of cyclic anhydrides and epoxides. This approach delivers: ✅ Industrial Feasibility – Polymerization under air, without extensive purification. ✅ Versatility – Tunable thermomechanical properties for targeted applications. ✅ High Biomass Content – Polyurethane films with up to 79% bio-based material. Beyond sustainability, these lignin-derived polyols open pathways to commercially viable biomaterials—polyesters and polyurethanes with performance tailored for real-world needs. Oliver Driscoll, Ph.D. I Daniel van de Pas I Kirk Torr I Hayden Thomas I Richard Vendamme I Elias Feghali VITO I New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Limited I Notre Dame University - Louaize (NDU) #Bioeconomy #Biorefinery #LigninValorization #SustainableMaterials #Polyurethane #Polyester #CircularEconomy #Biopolymers #ROCOP #GreenChemistry #Commercialization https://lnkd.in/gkrGxhHZ

💡 Want to become a more valuable Chemical Engineer? Master sustainability. 🌍 The demand for Chemical Engineers driving green, efficient, and responsible production is surging. Every industry, from raw materials to final processes, is transforming. That's why I'm diving deep into "Sustainable Process Engineering: Concepts, Strategies, Evaluation" by David Brennan. This book is a game-changer. It moves beyond theory, providing a robust framework for how chemical engineers implement sustainable solutions. 📗 The book shows us how to: Widen system boundaries: See beyond a single plant, encompassing utility supplies and entire product lifecycles. Develop powerful waste minimization strategies at the process level. Integrate comprehensive evaluation methods: Consider economics, environmental, and social impact. 🚨 This isn't just academic; it's what leading companies are doing right now: 🔺Sika is revolutionizing construction with low-carbon concrete and product circularity, committing to net-zero emissions by 2050 (SBTi-validated) across its value chain. 🔺Dow Chemical is pioneering large-scale decarbonization, building the world's first net-zero Scope 1 & 2 emissions ethylene cracker and advancing water-based solutions. 🔺BASF leads the circular economy with its "Biomass Balance" approach, using certified renewable feedstocks. They're also developing electrified steam crackers to decarbonize base chemical production. 🔺Johnson & Johnson drives green chemistry in pharma manufacturing, drastically cutting process waste and hazardous solvents, targeting net-zero by 2045. 🔺Even major energy players like Shell and INEOS are investing heavily in advanced plastic recycling, large-scale carbon capture (e.g., Ineos's Project Greensand aiming for 8M tonnes CO2/year by 2030), and scaling green hydrogen production. These examples confirm: sustainable chemical engineering is a non-negotiable business imperative and the most exciting pathway to innovation. If you're a Chemical Engineer aiming to future-proof your career and make a tangible impact, this book is an invaluable tool. What are your thoughts on becoming a more sustainable engineer? What resources or initiatives inspire you most? Let's discuss! 👇 #ChemicalEngineering #SustainableEngineering #GreenEngineering #Sustainability #ProcessDesign #EnvironmentalImpact #Innovation #ContinuousLearning #FutureOfChemE

🐘 Europe may be about to kill Advanced Recycling before it even scales. Hundreds of millions in projects from ExxonMobil, Dow, Neste and Ravago are already on ice. The culprit isn’t technology or investment $ — it’s Brussels’ myopic approach to mass balance accounting. By proposing to exclude molecules that end up in fuel streams, the Commission is setting rules that make most advanced recycling projects uneconomic. ♻️ Two recycling paths, two very different bets: 1) Mechanical Recycling:  flakes → washed → pellets ·       Works with clean, sorted plastic. ·       Economically proven / modest returns, widely adopted. ·       Backed by: NOVA Chemicals, LyondellBasell (JV), KW Plastics, Plastipak, Veolia, SUEZ. 2) Chemical / Advanced Recycling: mixed plastics → pyrolysis oil or monomers → virgin-quality resin ·       Can handle mixed plastic streams that mechanical cannot. ·       Attractive returns — but only if regulators allow full mass balance credit. ·       Backed by: Dow, ExxonMobil, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Shell, Eastman, SABIC, BASF. ⚖️ Policy: the make-or-break factor Advanced recycling doesn’t fail in the lab. It fails when policymakers declare that certain outputs “don’t count.” Excluding fuel fractions ignores industrial reality: co-products exist in every process, including refining and steam cracking. If Europe locks in this narrow definition, it won’t just stall projects in Germany or France — it will set a precedent. And what starts in Europe rarely stays in Europe. If U.S. states, Canada, or Asian markets adopt the same restrictive rules, advanced recycling could be written off everywhere. 📌 The takeaway Mechanical recycling will continue to expand steadily. But advanced recycling — the only scalable route for mixed plastic waste — hangs by a policy thread. Unless regulators broaden their perspective, the “circular economy” risks shrinking before it ever expands. 💬 What’s your take — is Europe safeguarding integrity, or choking off innovation?

Overview of Green and Sustainable Manufacturing Processes: • Green and sustainable manufacturing focuses on creating products through processes that minimize environmental impacts, conserve energy and natural resources, and ensure safety for employees, communities, and consumers. The goal is to balance economic growth with environmental stewardship and social responsibility. • The 12 principles of green chemistry provide a framework for designing new chemical processes responsibly, reducing environmental footprints, and improving the safety of processes and products. • The American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute’s Pharmaceutical Roundtable has identified process mass intensity (PMI) as a key metric for evaluating and benchmarking sustainability efforts, moving beyond traditional metrics like E-factor and atom economy. • PMI is a key green chemistry metric. It tells you how much total material you use (including solvents, reagents, etc.) to make a unit mass of product. PMI = Total mass input (kg) / Mass of product (kg). • The aspirational goal for a green and sustainable manufacturing route is achieving a "zero-waste" process. • Hong Ren, Kevin Maloney, and colleagues demonstrated a green and sustainable manufacturing process for Gefapixant Citrate (MK-7264), achieving a low PMI, short synthetic sequence, high overall yield, minimal environmental impact, and significantly reduced API costs.   Limitations of Supply Process for Gefapixant Citrate 1:  • The process did not meet key success criteria for commercial manufacturing, including lead time, cost, process mass intensity (PMI), and robustness. • It involves a longest linear sequence of 11 steps, a high PMI of 366, a low overall yield of 16%, and a high API cost. • Several reactions in the route are unsuitable for commercial manufacturing due to the use of hazardous reagents and unsafe conditions. Advantages of green and sustainable commercial process for Gefapixant Citrate 1: • Reduced the process from 11 steps to 6 steps. • Achieved a significantly improved overall PMI of 78. • Increased overall yield from 16% to 60%. • Developed a more practical and cost-effective manufacturing route. • Replaced hazardous alkylation and two highly toxic chemicals, making the process safer and more robust. • Successfully demonstrated at >300 kg scale for the production of Gefapixant Citrate (1). Refer to the following OPRD journal articles for a detailed understanding of Green and Sustainable Manufacturing Processes • Org. Process Res. Dev. 2011, 15, 912–917;  https://lnkd.in/gqNMmBur   • Org. Process Res. Dev. 2011, 15, 898–899;  https://lnkd.in/gASy6Aax • Org. Process Res. Dev. 2020, 24, 11, 2445–2452; https://lnkd.in/gf69nFhu   #SntheticOrganicChemistry #SustainableProcessDevelopment #GreenChemistry  #ManufacturingProcesses #API

Recycling without chemistry-by-design isn’t circular. It’s guesswork. Recycling won’t save us if we can’t see what’s inside the polymers we’re circulating. Last week I shared research showing recycled plastic pellets can leach complex mixtures of chemicals that disrupt biology. Some pushed back: zebrafish are sensitive, the methods are imperfect, and the samples weren’t from the EU. These are fair points that are worth to examine. But they don’t touch the core issue I’m raising: At the chemical level, today’s common recycling processes cannot guarantee safety because we don’t know—let alone control—the full additive and contaminant profile of what we’re melting and remolding. This is not an India/Nigeria/Taiwan vs. EU debate. It’s a design and disclosure problem. I was fortunate to work with Michael Braungart, whose Cradle to Cradle work with William McDonough, made me pivot my career and sharpened my thinking: circularity is a chemistry problem before it’s a waste problem. If we don’t know what’s in the material, “recycling” becomes guesswork. EU frameworks help, but even in Europe: 🔹 Multi-source feedstocks + legacy additives + unreported contaminants = black-box inputs. 🔹 Mechanical recycling does not remove most additives; it redistributes them. 🔹 So let’s be precise about what “good recycling” requires if we care about human health and true circularity: 1️⃣ Fewer polymers, simpler recipes. Reduce the palette to known & safe ingredients. 2️⃣ Full chemical transparency. Mandatory disclosure and digital product passports so recycled feedstock isn’t guesswork. 3️⃣ Design for safe cycles. So materials remain nutrients, not liabilities. 4️⃣ Remove endocrine disruptors, persistent/bioaccumulative/toxic additives, and legacy contaminants from circulation. 5️⃣ Absolute reduction targets. Use less plastic overall—then recycle what’s designed to be safely recycled. Recycling should be the consequence (and last resort) of good chemistry, not the cover for unknown chemistry. If your plastics strategy is “more recycling” without chemistry-by-design, transparency, and reduction, you’re optimizing the wrong variable. Let’s build coalitions that make circular chemistry the default—so we can keep value in play without poisoning the loop.

Char from Plastic Chemical Recycling: A Drop-In Alternative for Rubber Manufacturing 🔍 Chemical recycling of plastics at high temperatures produces char—a solid byproduct that, until recently, was mainly used for energy recovery. Now, new trials show char can substitute for #carbonblack, a key additive that reinforces rubber and improves durability. ⚙️ Plastic Energy has launched TACFILLER, a char-based alternative to conventional carbon black. TACFILLER is produced via the company’s TAC chemical recycling process, which converts hard-to-recycle plastics into TACOIL (a recycled feedstock for new plastics) and char. 🌱 According to a Life Cycle Assessment, TACFILLER delivers up to 89% lower carbon emissions compared to traditional carbon black, which is made by partially combusting heavy petroleum products. With global carbon black use contributing between 29 and 79 million metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually, this innovation offers a significant reduction in environmental impact. 📊 TACFILLER is a “drop-in” solution for rubber manufacturers, supporting efforts to lower carbon footprints without compromising performance. Plastic Energy is collaborating with manufacturers like Standard Profil Group to validate TACFILLER’s use in automotive sealing systems. After rigorous trials, Standard Profil confirmed the feasibility of partially replacing carbon black with TACFILLER, opening new possibilities for sustainable rubber products. 🌍 Regulatory Pressures and Impact on Tires: The EU’s End-of-Life Vehicles Directive requires automotive components—including tires—to contain higher levels of recycled content and to demonstrate reduced environmental impact. This regulation is pushing tire manufacturers to seek alternatives to traditional additives like carbon black, which is produced from fossil fuels and is highly carbon-intensive. TACFILLER directly addresses these requirements. By integrating TACFILLER into tire rubber formulations, manufacturers can: 1 - Comply with EU mandates for increased recycled content in automotive components. 2 - Significantly reduce the carbon footprint of tire production, thanks to up to 89% lower emissions compared to conventional carbon black. 3 - Support circular economy goals by converting plastic waste—otherwise destined for incineration or landfill—into valuable tire ingredients. #ChemicalRecycling #RubberIndustry #CarbonBlack #CircularEconomy https://lnkd.in/eaRzdS2w https://lnkd.in/e5mPKMf4

A fully bio-fabricated boot just made its runway debut at Milan Design Week 🍄👟🌿 For the first time, a shoe prototype built entirely from pure mycelium, including a load-bearing sole, has gone on public display, signalling a structural leap for #fungalmaterials beyond surface-level applications. Mycelium materials have largely been confined to leather-alternative panels or foam-replacement packaging. The $400B+ global footwear market has lacked a bio-fabricated structural material capable of replacing conventional soles, until now. Researcher Lars D. (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and master shoemaker Marie De Ryck (La Monnaie/De Munt) spent two years selecting two complementary fungal strains: one yields a mouldable, foam-like sole material; the other produces an elastic, leather-like upper. Multiple mycelium sheets are bonded into a dense, load-bearing formation,  no composite additives or reinforcing scaffolds. This is core #biofabrication and #biomaterials science delivering functional performance. The project sits within the #MycoMatters programme, which targets pure mycelium materials at the performance and scalability levels required for commercial deployment. The prototype is framed as a state-of-the-art demonstrator, not a market-ready product, but the gap is narrowing. Strain-specific material selection is the key insight here. Rather than a one-size-fits-all mycelium block, researchers are now matching fungal biology to mechanical requirements, a modular logic that could translate to #sustainabledesign applications in automotive, medical, and construction sectors. Scaling controlled-condition agricultural substrate growth, maintaining consistency across batches, and meeting repeated compressive-load durability standards remain open engineering problems. Craft-lab feedback loops, where shoemaking intuition directly informed material processing, offer a promising model for iterative development. Biology and artisanal craft are converging into something the #circulareconomy has long needed: a structural, compostable material that performs. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dEG3ZNuS 💬 Tag a #fungalbiotech founder, materials researcher, or footwear investor who should be watching this space. 👇 #Mycelium #MyceliumMaterials #FungalBiotech #BiofabricatedMaterials #SustainableFootwear #CircularFashion #GreenMaterials #BioDesign #Biomimicry #SustainableBusiness #MaterialsScience #FungalInnovation #MycoMatters #CleanTech #RegenerativeBusiness #BioEconomy #SustainableLuxury #FungalResearch #InnovationInMaterials #ImpactInvesting