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Knowledge Paper
on
“ Reengineering Chemistry for
better tomorrow”
Released at
Industrial Green Chemistry World
December 2013
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IGC&E Report
Contents
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 3
Foreword ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 5
Overview of Indian Chemical Industry...................................................................................................... 8
The need for Green Chemistry ............................................................................................................... 12
Industrial Green Chemistry and Engineering (IGC&E) Practices .............................................................. 16
What is Green Chemistry?................................................................................................................ 16
What is Green Engineering?............................................................................................................. 18
Global evolution of Green Chemistry and Engineering Practices ........................................................ 19
The Global Green Chemistry Opportunity .......................................................................................... 22
Metrics for Green Chemistry and Engineering .................................................................................... 23
Material Efficiency ......................................................................................................................... 23
Energy Efficiency............................................................................................................................ 26
Reduced Hazards ........................................................................................................................... 28
Holistic Design ............................................................................................................................... 29
Barriers in implementation of Green Chemistry and Engineering Practices ............................................ 32
Financing barriers .............................................................................................................................. 32
Economic Feasibility barrier ............................................................................................................... 33
Technology Barriers ........................................................................................................................... 35
Regulatory Barrier ............................................................................................................................. 37
Awareness Barriers ............................................................................................................................ 39
Tools for implementing Green Chemistry .............................................................................................. 42
Life Cycle Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 42
iSUSTAINTM ........................................................................................................................................ 45
EcoScale ............................................................................................................................................ 45
Strategies for implementing Green Chemistry and Engineering ............................................................. 48
Immediate Term Implementation Strategies ...................................................................................... 48
Sustainable recycling solutions ...................................................................................................... 48
Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) ............................................................................................................ 49
COD reduction ............................................................................................................................... 49
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Short Term Implementation Strategies .............................................................................................. 51
Solvent recovery practice ............................................................................................................... 51
Alternate Solvents ......................................................................................................................... 52
Biocatalysts ................................................................................................................................... 53
Alternate Additives –Surfactants, chelates and Reagents ............................................................... 54
Medium Term Implementation Strategies ......................................................................................... 55
Microreactor Technology ............................................................................................................... 55
Microwave Chemistry and Engineering .......................................................................................... 55
Organic solvent free process .......................................................................................................... 56
Supercritical fluids ......................................................................................................................... 57
Long Term Implementation Strategies ............................................................................................... 58
Bio-based Chemicals ...................................................................................................................... 58
Biomimicry .................................................................................................................................... 59
Industrial Ecology .......................................................................................................................... 60
The Way Ahead ..................................................................................................................................... 64
Case Studies .......................................................................................................................................... 68
References ............................................................................................................................................ 82
The Expert Comments ........................................................................................................................... 86
About Tata Strategic .............................................................................................................................. 92
Tata Strategic Contacts ...................................................................................................................... 93
About IGCW .......................................................................................................................................... 94
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Acknowledgements
We deeply acknowledge the contributions from the following green chemistry experts who have shared
their experiences with us in the course of preparation of this report.
Our sincere thanks to:
Dr. Anil Kumar, Principal Scientist, Tata Innovation Centre, Pune
Dr. David Constable, Director ACS – Green Chemistry Institute, USA
Mr. Nitesh Mehta, Founder Director Newreka
Dr. R. Rajagopal, CCO, KnowGenix
Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Chief Scientist, Tata Innovation Centre, Pune
Dr. Rakeshwar Bandichhor, Director API-R&D, Dr. Reddy‟s Laboratories Ltd.
Mr. Satish Khanna, Founder LAZORR Initiative, Ex-Group President, Lupin
Dr. Vilas Dahanukar, Vice President, Dr. Reddy‟s Laboratories Ltd.
We express our gratitude to the following industry leaders for sharing their point of view
Dr. Joerg Strassburger, Country Representative & Managing Director, Lanxess India Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Nitin Nabar, Executive Director & President (Chemicals), Godrej Industries Limited
Mr. R. Mukundan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Limited
Dr. Rajeev Vaidya, President – South Asia & ASEAN, DuPont
Mr. Rakesh Bhartia, CEO, Indian Glycols
Mr. Vipul Shah, President – CEO & Chairman, Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd.
We are thankful to IGCW for providing the opportunity and support in developing the knowledge paper on
Industrial Green Chemistry and Engineering
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Foreword
Manish Panchal
Practice Head - Chemical & Energy
Tata Strategic Management Group
Charu Kapoor
Engagement Manager - Chemicals
Tata Strategic Management Group
The world today is facing a number of environmental challenges like global warming, ozone depletion,
depletion of non-renewable energy resources, water pollution and reduction in fresh water supplies and
increased generation of complex industrial wastes. Often the Chemical Industry is found and perceived to
be a significant contributor to the global environmental issues. This not only impacts the image of the
Industry but also creates a pressure to shift to green practices. A key question therefore in front of the
Industry is “What should be done to make the transition to green practices in a profitable manner”?
In this context, as a significant step towards promoting implementation of green chemistry and
engineering practices, Industrial Green Chemistry World (IGCW) approached Tata Strategic Management
Group to develop a knowledge paper on Industrial Green Chemistry and Engineering. The report explains
the necessity and importance of Green Chemistry and Engineering practices for the current Chemical
Industry. The report builds upon the globally recognized green chemistry and engineering principles and
identifies the four metrics for green chemistry and engineering practices through which companies can
evaluate their current performance and take necessary actions for transition to green practices. The
report highlights the key barriers faced by the industry in implementation of green chemistry, and explores
the possible solutions to overcome the same. The report also looks at the possible strategies which can
aid the companies in implementing the green practices. At the end, the report includes various successful
stories of green chemistry implementation by companies which highlight the benefit obtained by the
companies by implementing green practices. The report has been developed by combination of primary
and secondary research.
We hope that this knowledge paper would help in promoting green chemistry and engineering practices in
the industry, and provide possible direction to the companies in implementing green chemistry and
engineering practices
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IGC&E Report
Executive Summary This report is developed by Tata Strategic
Management Group with support of IGCW
(Industrial Green Chemistry World) as the
knowledge paper for IGCW 2013 convention.
The present chemistry can be classified as
DIRTY, DANGEROUS and DEMANDING posing
a number of challenges, economic and
environmental for the Industry. As a result the
industry faces increasing pressure from the
customers and the NGOs for shifting to green
practices. With strict regulations like REACH in
European Union and California Safer Consumer
Product Law it has become imperative for the
Chemical Industry to make a transition to green
chemistry and engineering practices.
The green chemistry implementation strategies
based on implementation time, resources
involved and associated implementation risks
can be categorized into four types; immediate
term, short term, medium term and long term
implementation strategies. On an immediate
basis companies can look at building
sustainable recycling and zero liquid discharge
solutions. On a short term companies can
implement solvent recovery solutions and switch
to greener bio-degradable alternatives like
biocatalysts, green solvents and additives. On a
medium term companies can explore
opportunities presented by microreactors and
microwave chemistry and supercritical fluids.
Over long term companies can make transition
to bio-based chemicals, develop products based
on biomimicry and build symbiotic
interdependent relationships with the key
stakeholders of the ecosystem.
However the industry faces barriers in
implementation of green chemistry and
engineering. The key barriers are: Financing
barriers, Economic Feasibility Barriers,
Technology Barriers, Regulatory Barriers and
Awareness Barriers. It is to be however
understood that the industry cannot overcome
the barriers in isolation. It requires support from
the academia, government and regulatory
bodies for implementing green chemistry and
engineering practices. Some of the possible
solutions to overcome the barriers are:
Investment in Research and Development
activities, inclusion of green chemistry concepts
in the academic course structure, support and
encouragement for academia for research in
green chemistry, training and development
programs for academia and the industry in the
domain of green chemistry, support for green
practices from the top management and key
decision makers, and financial and regulatory
support from the government to the industry.
The domain of green chemistry provides huge
opportunities for product and process
innovations and opens up new market
opportunities for the industry. With increasing
demand for green products, shifting to green
chemistry is not an option but a necessity for the
companies. It is to be understood that green
chemistry practices are essential for the long
term survival and business sustenance of
chemical companies.
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SECTION 1
Overview of Indian
Chemical Industry
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Overview of Indian Chemical
Industry
Chemical industry is a capital as well as
knowledge intensive industry. This industry
plays a significant role in the global economic
and social development. It is also a human
resource intensive industry and hence generates
significant employment. Globally, the industry
employs more than 20 million people. The
diversification within the chemical industry is
large and constitutes approximately 80,000
products. Global chemical industry is estimated
at USD 3.7 trillion in 2012 and is expected to
grow at 4-5% per annum over the next decade
to reach USD 5.8 trillion by 20211.
The chemical industry can be classified into four
key segments
1. Chemical sector: It includes basic
organic chemicals (methanol, acetic
acid etc.), basic inorganic chemicals
(caustic soda, chlor alkali etc.), specialty
chemicals (colorants, water treatment
etc.) and agrochemicals (pesticides etc.)
2. Petrochemical sector: Petrochemicals
includes polymers, synthetic fibers,
surfactants and elastomers
3. Fertilizers: Include all types of N,P& K
based fertilizers like Urea, DAP
4. Pharmaceuticals: It includes
formulations, APIs and biotechnology
Indian Chemical Industry1
India currently accounts for only 3.3 % of the
total chemical market with a market size of ~
USD 110 billion in 2012. Indian chemical
industry accounted for ~13% of the total India‟s
exports. Indian chemical sector is very crucial for
the economic development of country. (Refer
figure 1).
Indian chemical industry comprises both small
scale as \well as large scale units. The large
scale units are able to set up capital intensive
projects with long gestation periods. While the
fiscal incentives provided to small scale units
earlier led to development of large number of
small and medium enterprises (SME). It is also a
significant employment generator. Over the last
five years Indian chemical industry has started
to evolve rapidly. With significant capacity
additions coming into place, the focus has also
been towards investments in R&D (Research
and Development). India‟s competence in this
knowledge intensive industry is increasing
however the tapped potential is very limited. The
Indian Population today stands at more than 1.2
billion. 63% of the Indian population lies in the
15-64 year age group which forms the earning
population group. Within the 15-64 year age
Figure 1: Indian Chemical Industry 2012
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IGC&E Report
group, 55% of population belongs to the 15-34
age groups. The increasing urbanization,
increasing percapita disposable income and
increasing number of double income nuclear
families has resulted in a very strong growth
outlook for the key end user industries. For
instance, growing eating out habits and increase
in consumption of packaged food has positively
impacted packaging industry. Packaging
industry is expected to grow at ~15% p.a. over
the next five years, similarly Electronic is
expected to grow at ~12% p.a. over the next five
years, Construction and Automotive both sectors
are expected to grow at ~12% p.a. over the next
five years. Hence, going ahead the demand of
chemical products is expected to grow at 1.5
times of GDP and with project growth rates,
Indian Chemical Industry is expected to grow at
8-9 % p.a. over the next five years.
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SECTION 2
The need for Green
Chemistry
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The need for Green Chemistry
The rapid growth in global population, rapid
industrialization and urbanization has led to a
number of environmental concerns. The world
today is grappling with issues like global
warming, ozone depletion, rapid depletion of
non-renewable energy sources, reduced fresh
water supplies and increased generation of
complex industrial wastes.
The chemical industry touches all facets of
human lives and is an important source of
world‟s energy and raw materials requirements.
However, it has always been perceived as a
contributor in degradation of environment across
the globe and has been labeled as “Dirty,
Dangerous and Demanding”. Unfortunately, this
has been supported with infamous instances like
Cuyahago river fire incident of 1969 or Bhopal
Gas tragedy of 1984 and various other instances
across the globe. Today, in India the river bodies
and ground water in various parts of the country
are contaminated with various unwanted
products on account of reckless behavior of
people and careless disposal of post-production
wastes either without appropriate treatment or
namesake treatment. These contaminants may
or may not be chemicals but often it is the
chemical industry which gets the maximum
blame. Many of these products are toxic,
carcinogenic and harmful to life and to the
environment.
The chemical industry is material and energy
intensive and is facing a number of challenges
today due to above mentioned issues and
perception in society at large. Moreover, the
industry today has a significant dependence on
non-renewable petrochemicals as feedstocks.
With increasing volatility of petrochemical
feedstocks prices, supply constraints due to
diminishing natural reserves and political
uncertainties in several feedstock rich nations,
the industry is finding it difficult to maintain a
reliable and predictable feedstock situation.
Besides feedstocks, the industry is also facing
challenges in controlling its energy and water
footprint. At various stages of processes wastes
and hazardous substances are generated. Often
these wastes are not treated properly or can‟t be
treated easily resulting in increasing waste
creation and waste disposal costs. Strict
government regulations and new legislations like
Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and
Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) are creating
further pressure for chemical industry to relook
at their manufacturing processes and develop
products which are less or non-toxic. NGO‟s and
end consumers are now demanding products
which are green and cause little or no negative
impact to environment (Refer figure 2).
In general the present chemistry can be
classified as DIRTY (handles non-renewable
raw materials and generates hazardous wastes
and emissions), DANGEROUS (handles
hazardous reagents and solvents) and
DEMANDING (multi-step material and energy
intensive processes involving reworks and
reprocessing), leading to excessive strain on
environment, natural resources and human
health and the companies will need to think
holistically for long term survival.
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IGC&E Report
Industry
sector
E-factor
(kg waste/kg product)
Volume of liquid
effluents
(billion liters)
COD
(100
thousands)
Toxicity
Pharma 50-100 10-15 1.5-2 Very high
Agro 40-60 10-15 1-1.5 Very high
Pigment 30-50 20-25 0.5-1 Medium high
Dyes 20-30 20-25 0.25-0.5 High
Within the chemical industry it is the speciality
and the fine chemicals segments which are the
significant contributor to the hazardous waste
generating and environmentally inefficient
chemistry. This is due to the complex molecules,
multi-step synthesis in high volumes, use of
traditional stoichiometric reagents and chemistry
intensive processes resulting in high e-factor i.e.
amount of waste generated per kilogram of
product manufactured. Compared to oil refining
(e-factor <0.1) and bulk chemicals (e-factor 1 to
5) speciality and fine chemicals have e-factors
ranging from 5 to 1003 (Refer Table 1).
Almost 80% of the mass in chemical reactions
consists of solvents and water, which are
discharged post treatment as waste. This leads
to raw material usage inefficiency and generates
wastes which could have been recycled and
reused in chemical reactions. Often the solvents
are costly and disposing them as wastes leads
to increased manufacturing costs. For example,
the pharma sector alone generates wastes
Figure 2: Challenges faced by Chemical Industry 2
Table 1: Waste generation across Industries4
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almost 50 to 100 times of finished products.
According to indicative rough estimates the total
volume of liquid effluents generated by the
above mentioned four segments annually
worldwide is 60 to 80 billion liters. It is estimated
that the Indian market alone is responsible for
approximately 20% to 30% of global liquid
effluents amounting to 15 to 20 billion liters
annually. Furthermore, the annual organic mass
generated in effluents in India is almost 875,000
metric tons with an average Chemical Oxygen
Demand (COD) of 50,0004.
To solve the above mentioned challenges and
create sustainable businesses, Green Chemistry
and Engineering can play a significant role.
Through implementation of green practices
companies can improve mass and energy
efficiency, thereby reducing the generation of
hazardous wastes. Companies will also gain by
having lower material costs, significantly
reduced environmental and health risks thereby
creating an improved image for themselves
across stakeholders (Refer figure 3).
Figure 3: Transition from present chemistry to Green Chemistry
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SECTION 3
Industrial Green Chemistry
and Engineering (IGC&E)
practices
What is Green
Chemistry?
What is Green
Engineering?
Global evolution of
IGC&E practices
The Global Green
Chemistry opportunity
Metrics for Green
Chemistry and
Engineering
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Industrial Green Chemistry and
Engineering (IGC&E) Practices
What is Green Chemistry?
Green chemistry is a philosophy of chemical
research and engineering that involves the
design of products and processes that minimize
the use and generation of hazardous chemicals.
Unlike the environmental chemistry which
focuses on the study of pollutant chemicals and
their effect on nature, green chemistry aims to
reduce the pollution at the source. The concepts
of green chemistry ranges from general
principles like prevention and production of less
waste to specific recommendations of preferring
catalytic reagents over stoichiometric ones. The
term green chemistry was first coined by Paul
Anastas of United States in 1991.
Green chemistry involves waste minimization at
source, use of catalysts in place of reagents,
use of non-toxic reagents, use of renewable
resources, improved atom efficiency and use of
Solvent Free or Recyclable Environmentally
Benign Solvent systems.
According to P.T. Anastas and J.C. Warner,
Green chemistry can be defined by a set of 12
principles
1. Prevention: It is better to prevent waste
than to treat or clean up waste after it
has been created.
2. Atom Economy: Synthetic methods
should be designed to maximize the
incorporation of all materials used in the
process into the final product.
3. Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses:
Wherever practicable, synthetic
methods should be designed to use and
generate substances that possess little
or no toxicity to human health and the
environment.
4. Designing Safer Chemicals: Chemical
products should be designed to effect
their desired function while minimizing
their toxicity.
5. Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries: The use
of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents,
separation agents, etc.) should be made
unnecessary wherever possible and
innocuous when used.
6. Design for Energy Efficiency: Energy
requirements of chemical processes
should be recognized for their
environmental and economic impacts
and should be minimized. If possible,
synthetic methods should be conducted
at ambient temperature and pressure.
7. Use of Renewable Feedstocks: A raw
material or feedstock should be
renewable rather than depleting
whenever technically and economically
practicable.
8. Reduce Derivatives: Unnecessary
derivatization (use of blocking groups,
protection/ deprotection, temporary
modification of physical/chemical
processes) should be minimized or
avoided if possible, because such steps
require additional reagents and can
generate waste.
9. Catalysis: Catalytic reagents (as
selective as possible) are superior to
stoichiometric reagents.
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10. Design for Degradation: Chemical
products should be designed so that at
the end of their function they break
down into innocuous degradation
products and do not persist in the
environment.
11. Real-time analysis for Pollution
Prevention: Analytical methodologies
need to be further developed to allow for
real-time, in-process monitoring and
control prior to the formation of
hazardous substances.
12. Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident
Prevention: Substances and the form of
a substance used in a chemical process
should be chosen to minimize the
potential for chemical accidents,
including releases, explosions, and fires.
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What is Green Engineering?
Green engineering involves development and
commercialization of industrial processes and
products which are economically feasible and
simultaneously ensuring minimization of
pollution generation at the source, and mitigating
the risk to human health and environment. The
focus of green engineering is to minimize the
overall environmental impact throughout the
entire life cycle of a product starting from the
extraction/procurement of raw materials required
for manufacturing to the disposal of the waste
materials which cannot be reused or recycled.
The concept of green engineering is not limited
to specific field of engineering or an industry but
rather it includes all engineering disciplines and
is pertinent to every industry.
According to P.T. Anastas and J.B. Zimmerman,
Green engineering can be defined by a set of 12
principles:
1. Inherent rather than circumstantial:
Designers need to strive to ensure that
all materials and energy inputs and
outputs are as inherently nonhazardous
as possible
2. Prevention instead of treatment: It is
better to prevent waste than to treat or
clean up waste after it is formed
3. Design for separation: Separation and
purification operations should be
designed to minimize energy
consumption and materials use
4. Maximize efficiency: Products,
processes, and systems should be
designed to maximize mass, energy,
space and time efficiency
5. Output-pulled versus input-pushed:
Products, processes and systems
should be “output-pulled” rather than
“input-pushed” through the use of
energy and materials
6. Conserve Complexity: Embedded
entropy and complexity must be viewed
as an investment when making design
choices on recycle, reuse, or beneficial
disposition
7. Durability Rather Than Immortality:
Targeted durability, not immortality,
should be a design goal
8. Meet Need, Minimize Excess: Design
for unnecessary capacity or capability
(e.g., "one size fits all") solutions should
be considered a design flaw
9. Minimize Material Diversity: Material
diversity in multicomponent products
should be minimized to promote
disassembly and value retention
10. Integrate Material and Energy Flows:
Design of products, processes, and
systems must include integration and
interconnectivity with available energy
and materials flows
11. Design for Commercial "Afterlife":
Products, processes, and systems
should be designed for performance in a
commercial "afterlife"
12. Renewable Rather Than Depleting:
Material and energy inputs should be
renewable rather than depleting
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Global evolution of Green
Chemistry and Engineering
Practices
1960s and 1970s: The evolution of green
chemistry and engineering practices can be
traced back to the 1960s when environmental
activist Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring”
which brought attention of the public towards
environmental impact caused by the use of
pesticides. The 1960s saw an increased
attention towards environment quality with
Citizen‟s Advisory Committee on Environmental
Quality and a cabinet level Environmental
Quality council being established in United
States in 1969 followed by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. The 1960s
and 1970s saw an increase in environmental
statutes and regulations resulting in increased
restrictions on chemical use, increased testing of
chemicals for hazard determination. This
resulted in increased awareness and knowledge
of the types and degrees of hazards associated
with various chemicals.
1980s: The growing awareness and knowledge
pertaining to environmental impact resulted in an
increase in public demand in 1980s for more
information regarding the chemicals. For
instance EPCRA (Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act) was passed
which made public relevant data on chemicals
being released to air, water and land by the
industry. This led to an increase in pressure on
the industry to not only reduce the release of
toxic chemicals to the environment but also
reduce the overall use of hazardous chemicals.
The EPA recognized the importance of pollution
prevention over end-to-end pipeline treatment
control leading to establishment of Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxics in the late
1980s.
In 1985, Responsible Care a global voluntary
initiative by the Chemical industry was launched
with focus on improving performance,
communication and accountability. The initiative
aims at continuous improvement in health,
safety and environmental performance products
and processes and helps in development and
application of sustainable chemistry. The
initiative is managed at the global level by
International Council of Chemical Associations
(ICCA) and runs in 52 countries accounting for
90% of global chemical production.
1990s: The 1990s saw an increased focus on
Green Chemistry. Pollution Prevention Act was
passed in 1990 by the US government which
emphasized on pollution reduction by improved
design involving cost-effective changes in
products, processes, use of raw materials, and
recycling instead of post-production treatment
and disposal. To aid its implementation the EPA
shifted from the typical monitoring and
controlling approach to actually implementing a
green chemistry program. In 1991, the Pollution
Prevention and Toxics office of EPA launched a
research grant program encouraging redesign of
existing chemical products and processes to
reduce impacts on human health and the
environment. In association with the U.S.
National Science Foundation (NSF) EPA
provided funds for research in green chemistry
in the early 1990s. The annual Presidential
Green Chemistry Challenge Awards introduced
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in 1996 brought the academic and industrial
green chemistry success stories to the forefront.
The Awards program and the technologies it
showcases have now become key learnings
both for the academia and for the industries. A
key highlight for green chemistry in the 1990s
was the laying down of the 12 principles of
Green Chemistry by Paul Anastas and Jon
Warner in 1998. These principles provide a
framework to the companies for implementing
the green chemistry and engineering practices.
2000s: Till the late 1990s a number of chemical
companies had limited commitment to
sustainability. Very few companies were willing
to commit beyond “green painting” which implied
commitment from them was limited to
communication and image. However in 2000s,
with increasing pressures on chemical industry
due to requirement in reduction of greenhouse
gases, environmental issues and health of public
at large, green chemistry and engineering
practices witnessed a growing importance.
Advancements in biotechnology have created
new processes for the manipulation of
organisms (bacteria, yeasts, and algae) to
produce industrially useful compounds with
maximum efficiency and minimum waste. At the
same time, the rising prices of petroleum which
is essential both as process energy source and
as a raw material for a number of chemical
processes has developed interest and
investment in finding alternative, renewable
feedstocks. Over the years, product traceability
has become a key feature in chemical industry
where on case to case basis companies are
establishing the material and energy
consumption, carbon and water footprint and
waste generation. In 2006 REACH Legislation
was enacted by European Union (EU) and which
was put into phased implementation since 2007.
According to the legislation substances
manufactured/imported over 1 ton per year in
EU need to be registered with European
Chemical Agency (ECHA) by EU manufacturers
and importers. These substances would be
evaluated by ECHA and their environmental and
health impact would be assessed. Based on the
impact a list of Substances of Very High
Concern (SVHC) would be developed and would
not be allowed in the EU unless granted an
authorization. The ECHA would also determine
substances whose use would be restricted or
banned. The legislation has far reaching
consequences impacting industries such as
chemical industry, textiles, tyres, toys and
electronics.
2010 Onwards: The industry has witnessed an
increase in collaborations amongst the various
stakeholders of the value chain are for
implementation green chemistry and
engineering practices. Some of the examples
are:
1. The Rhodia-GranBio partnership: Rhodia
has partnered with GranBio, a Brazilian
biotechnology company for production of bio
n-butanol, made from sugar cane straw and
bagasse.
2. ACS GCI Industrial Roundtables: American
Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute
(ACS GCI) organizes various industrial
roundtable conferences to encourage the
industrial implementation of green chemistry
and engineering practices. The institute
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started pharmaceutical roundtable in 2005
(key members: Eli Lilly, GSK, Merck and
Pfizer), formulator‟s roundtable in 2009 (key
members: Amway, Novozymes, Ecolab,
Florida Chemical and J&J consumer) and
chemical manufacturer‟s roundtable in 2010
(key members: Arizona Chemical, Dupont,
Pennakem, Sigma Aldrich)5.
3. Axelera: Axelera is cluster which brings
together leaders from industry, research and
academia from the Rhone-Alpes region. The
key focus areas are use of bio-resources,
developing clean processes, material
recyclability and conservation of natural
resources. Started in 2005, the cluster has
more than 250 members6. Some of the key
members are Rhodia, Michelin, Arkema,
Total and Schneider electric.
4. LAZORR: LAZORR is a collaborative
platform between six large Indian
pharmaceutical companies, Lupin,
Aurobindo, Zydus, Orchid, Ranbaxy and Dr.
Reddy‟s (LAZORR). Established in 2010 the
platform brings in together the best practices
implemented by the companies resulting in
cost reductions and implementation of green
practices.
Apart from the collaborations a number of
publicly available tools like life cycle
assessment, iSUSTAIN, EcoScale and
sustainability footprint tools have been
developed which aid in implementation of green
chemistry and engineering practices.
Post 2010, the key landmark in Green Chemistry
has been the implementation of California Safer
Consumer Product Law. Effective from October
1 2013, the law aims at reducing the toxic
chemicals in consumer goods, create new
business opportunities in green chemistry and
reduce the burden of consumers in deciding
which product to buy or not. 1,200 chemicals
have been identified as toxic by Department of
Toxic Substances Control. Some of the
chemicals are formaldehyde, aluminum,
benzene, phthalates and parabens. 200
products will be identified having such chemicals
out of which five priority products would be
finalized and would be reformulated and
replaced by safer alternatives7.
Going forward there will be three major themes
driving green chemistry and engineering. They
are:
1. Waste minimization in chemical
production processes
2. Replacement of hazardous chemicals in
finished products with less toxic
alternatives
3. Shift towards renewable feedstocks
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The Global Green Chemistry
Opportunity
According to industry estimates, the global
green chemistry industry which stood at USD
2.8 billion in 2011 is expected to grow at a
CAGR of 48.5% and reach USD 98.5 billion by
20208. The estimated direct and indirect savings
would be USD 65.5 billion by 20209. The key
industries where green chemistry applications
are expected in the next decade are
pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, plastics,
textiles, paints and coatings, paper and pulp,
agrochemicals, adhesives, nanotechnologies
and fuel and renewable energy technologies.
The key growth regions for green chemicals are
Asia Pacific, Western Europe and North America
(Refer figure 4 and figure 5).
Figure 4: Global Green Chemistry Industry8
Figure 5: Global Green Chemicals Market by Regions: 2011-202010
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Metrics for Green Chemistry and
Engineering
Even though the above mentioned principles
define green chemistry and engineering
practices, key metrics are required which would
help the companies to evaluate their current
performance with respect to green practices.
The metrics would help the companies to
identify the necessary actions required for
transition to green practices and the benefits
obtained from implementation of green
practices. Four key metrics can be identified
from the principles of green chemistry and green
engineering. The metrics are: Material efficiency,
Energy efficiency, Reduced hazards and Holistic
design (Refer figure 6).
Material Efficiency
In order to reduce the increasing dependence on
petrochemical resources and to reduce the
amount of wastes generated it is imperative for
Chemical Industry to seek material efficiency in
their processes. Some of the possible ways of
achieving material efficiency are:
Emphasis on recycling and subsequent
utilization of the recycled products as
inputs
Minimizing material diversity so as to
increase the chances of re-use at the
end of life cycle
Redesigning of chemical processes
based on the output requirements
Use of bio-based chemicals
Avoiding chemical derivatives
Atom economy (mass of input reactants
incorporated into the desired product) and
environmental e–factor (amount of waste
generated per unit of product) help in measuring
the material efficiency of a process. Some of the
companies who have successfully implemented
green chemistry and engineering practices and
achieved improvements in their material
Figure 6: Green Chemistry and Engineering metrics11
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efficiency are Pfizer, Dr. Reddy‟s, Aurobindo,
Solvay, Dupont and Mylan.
Mylan Case Study: Improved yield through
Green Process12
Mylan replaced the conventional technology of
manufacture of amines by reduction of nitro
compounds in presence of Raney Nickel catalyst
and high pressure hydrogen gas to a patented
recycling solution. It utilized a proprietary
reducing agent and catalyst and a patented
recycling process to develop green amines.
The new process provides a number of
advantages over the conventional process of
reduction. The advantages are:
1. Cleaner product: New process produces
white to off-white amines while the
conventional process produced brown
colored amines
2. Material handling efficiency: New
process utilizes safe raw materials
compared to the conventional process
which uses hazardous materials like
Raney Nickel. Also it does not use any
acid or alkali which can be hazardous.
Compared to the conventional process
which uses two solvents, the new
process uses water as a reaction
medium eliminating the need of harmful
solvents. While the conventional
process generates harmful effluents
containing spent solvents the mother
liquor in new process can be recycled
800 times.
3. Energy efficiency: The conventional
process operates at high pressure while
the new process operates at
atmospheric pressure and nominal pH
and temperature.
The commercial application of the new process
has resulted in achievement of 95% yield
compared to 85% in the conventional process.
The e-factor achieved has been as low as 2.98.
Also the sludge obtained from the process is
sold to cement industries thus resulting in
effective management of waste as well (Refer
figure 7 and 8).
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Figure 7: Conventional Technology for Reduction
Figure 8: The Green Technology for Reduction
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Energy Efficiency
Chemical companies can achieve energy
efficiencies in their process by modifying the
existing processes or technologies. Some of the
possible ways to improving the energy efficiency
are:
Use of energy efficient equipments
Use of microreactors over the batch
reactors
Use of microwave technologies
Carrying out reactions at room
temperature and pressure
Designing energy efficient strategies for
separation and purification of materials
Developing sustainable solutions like
using waste heat as a means of process
steam
It is not necessary to always make huge
investments to achieve energy efficiency. There
have been instances where even good
housekeeping activities have resulted in a
substantial amount of energy and monetary
savings. A number of companies like Dow
Chemicals; Tata Chemicals; Neville Chemicals;
Clorox; Asian Chemicals, Thailand have
successfully implemented projects to achieve
energy efficiency in their plant operations.
Asian Chemicals Company Ltd, Thailand,
Case Study: Energy efficiency by new
technologies and good housekeeping13
Asian Chemicals Company Ltd. located in Bang
Pakong, Thailand manufactures chemicals like
copper sulfate, copper oxide, copper chloride
and etching solutions. In order to improve its
energy efficiency the company participated in
GERIAP project. Several energy conservation
options were generated out of which six options
were implemented (Refer Table 2).
The implementation of energy conservation
options had significant benefits. The total
investment required was ~USD 73,000 with
annual savings of USD 20,000. The total
payback period was 3.5 years. In terms of
greenhouse gas emissions the annual reduction
was of 288 tons of CO2 was achieved.
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IGC&E Report
Focus area Clean production
technique
Financial benefits Environmental benefits
Steam system –
boiler,
Replacement of
inefficient and
unsafe boiler with
a new boiler
New technology/
Equipment
Investment: USD 55,000
Cost Savings: USD 7,600
Payback period: 7.2 year
Fuel Oil Saving: 38,000 l/yr
GHG emission reduction: 114t
CO2/yr
Steam system –
Boiler, Installation
of insulated
storage tank for
collecting steam
condensate water
for reuse as boiler
pre-heated feed
water
New technology/
Equipment
Investment: USD 17,000
Cost Savings: USD 3,317
Payback period: 5.1 year
Fuel Oil Saving: 16,500 l/yr
GHG emission reduction: 50t
CO2/yr
Water savings: 2,700 m3/yr
Steam system –
Distribution,
Replacement of
damaged steam
traps
Good
Housekeeping
Investment: USD 400
Cost Savings: USD 6,500
Payback period: 23 days
Fuel Oil Saving: 32,000 l/yr
GHG emission reduction: 97t
CO2/yr
Steam system –
Distribution,
Steam leak survey
and repair of
leaking joints
and pipes
Good
Housekeeping
Investment: USD 30
Cost Savings: USD 270
Payback period: 44 days
Fuel Oil Saving: 1,300 l/yr
GHG emission reduction: 4t
CO2/yr
Compressed air
System, Replace or
repair pipe and
filter connections
to avoid
compressed air
leakage
Good
Housekeeping
Investment: USD 150
Cost Savings: USD 2.200
Payback period: 25 days
Electricity savings:
32,000 kWh/yr
GHG emission reduction: 20t
CO2/yr
Cooling Tower,
Install temperature
Production
process/
Investment: USD 165
Cost Savings: USD 280
Electricity savings:
4,000 kWh/yr
Table 2: Energy Efficiency at Asian Chemicals
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Reduced Hazards
According to green chemistry and engineering,
systems are to be designed such that the
emphasis is on avoiding the hazards instead of
controlling them. This involves changing of
technology, processes, and raw materials to
reduce the number of hazardous operations
carried out in the plant and the amount of
hazardous materials generated. Some of the
possible strategies for reducing the hazards are:
Building sustainable recycling solutions
Zero liquid discharge techniques
COD reduction techniques
Solvent recovery techniques
Developing solvent free processes
A number of companies like ITC, Pfizer, Merck,
Hyosung, Praj Industries and Nowra chemicals,
have successfully reduced the amounts of
hazardous wastes generated in their plants.
Hyosung Ebara Case Study: Reduction of
Nitrous Oxide Emissions14
Nitrous Oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas.
Thought the total industrial emissions are low, its
impact is very high. The gas has more than 300
times the ability to trap heat in the atmosphere
as compared to carbon dioxide. The
manufacture of caprolactum, a major raw
material for nylon fibers results in nitrous oxide
emissions. Hyosung Ebara Engineering Co. Ltd.
(HECC), a Korean Chemical company proposed
nitrous oxide emissions abatement project to
Capra, a South Korean caprolactum
manufacturer and is partly owned by the
Hyosung group.
Pilot Studies: In 2009 HECC started with pilot
tests on different nitrous oxide abatement
systems to evaluate their performance. A larger
pilot test was conducted in 2010 resulted in
development of tertiary abatement systems for
two caprolactum plants in Ulsan, which was
financed by Hyosung.
Process: The tertiary abatement systems work
by heating the tail gas to the optimum reaction
temperature, passing it through CRI Catalyst
Company‟s (CRI) C-NAT catalyst in a lateral
flow reactor and releasing the cooled products to
atmosphere. The nitrous oxide generated breaks
down into nitrogen and oxygen without leaving
any undesirable by-products. The process uses
a special ceramic material to absorb heat from
the cooling process and transfer it to the
incoming gas, which helps to minimize energy
consumption. The lateral flow reactor is also
compact compared with other similar reactors
and does not create a large pressure drop
resulting in improved energy efficiency. Another
advantage is that the C-NAT catalyst does not
require reducing agents such as methane which
lowers down the operating costs.
Commercialization: The process was
commercialized in the two plants in 2011.
Nitrous oxide destruction rates of about 91% for
Plant 1 and 92.5% for Plant 2 were reported,
higher than the 90% design specification. The
emissions reduction were verified through the
CDM, which helped Hyosung and Capro to sell
certified emission reduction, or carbon credits to
companies in Kyoto Protocol countries. Also the
validation process was transparent, as the
documents were publicly available from the
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IGC&E Report
(United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change) UNFCCC website. The annual
reductions of carbon dioxide equivalent
emissions across the two plants were 660,000
tonnes. In monetary aspects at certified
emission reduction credit price of USD 10 per
tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, the company
generated additional revenue of about USD 6.6
million a year.
Holistic Design
The true benefits of implementation of green
chemistry and practices cannot be achieved in
isolation. While material efficiency, energy
efficiency, wastes and hazards reduction can be
achieved separately or in combination, the
chemical industry to truly implement green
chemistry has to change its approach from gate-
to-gate (company‟s procurement process to
manufacturing to the dispatch of finished product
to customer) to cradle to cradle (the process
from raw material extraction to manufacturing,
consumption and finally recycling the used
product).
The cradle to cradle design (also called
regenerative design) is a paradigm shift in
industrial production. It involves design and
manufacturing processes shifting from the
traditional linear approach towards closed
cycles. It involves choosing materials and
processes such that the products become
nutrients at the end of their life cycle. It is a
philosophy which involves a biomimetic
approach to design of the systems.
The holistic design concept challenges the
existing concept of wastes. Each and every
object we deal with can be redesigned as
nutrients for biological or technical cycles. This
opens up a new dimension where products and
processes do not need to be regulated by law
anymore, in order to reduce environmental
impacts. The model is implemented in a number
of companies, mostly in European Union, China
and United States.
It is not easy for companies to develop products
and process based on holistic design in a short
span of time. However the key thing is to build a
culture in the organizations to shift towards
cradle to cradle design with emphasis in terms
of resources and moral support for research and
development activities to develop products on
commercial scale based on holistic design.
NatureWorks LLC Case Study: Cradle to
Cradle approach in polymer manufacture15
NatureWorks LLC is one of the world‟s largest
manufacturers and suppliers of biopolymers for
customers in plastics and fibers market. The
company's products are used in the production
of rigid and flexible packaging, food service
ware, semi-durable products, fibers and
nonwovens. The polymer called Ingeo uses
renewable biobased material like corn or sugar
cane from which lactic acids are produced via a
patent-protected fermentation technology. The
lactic acids are in turn used to manufacture
polymers. Apart from the advantage of non-
reliance on fossil fuels as a feedstock, another
advantage for NatureWorks is that it can base its
production on a variety of different plants. The
environmental impact is a significant reduction in
the carbon footprint of any plastic product made
from Ingeo. For example, the manufacturing of
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IGC&E Report
Ingeo emits 60 per cent less CO2 than PET
(Polyethylene Terethalate), and the production
process consumes 50% less non-renewable
energy as compared to PET. The company has
set targets of 75% and 55% respectively. As a
part of holistic design involving cradle to cradle
approach, NatureWorks is also able to turn
many products made of Ingeo back into lactic
acid from which new polymers can be made,
and the company is working on a take-back
system for more durable plastic products. For
instance at the UNFCCC's COP15 (15th
Conference of the Parties) in Copenhagen,
NatureWorks worked with a Belgian carpet
producer for carpeting the conference. All
carpets were taken back and depolymerized
back into lactic acid. In terms of monetary
benefits, over the past few years NatureWorks
has seen a growth in product demands of
annual 25-30%. For its customers the benefits
are in the form of price stability, as the polymers
are not based on petroleum, and in the form of
lower environmental impact and more positive
consumer image due to environmental
performance.
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IGC&E Report
SECTION 4
Barriers in implementation
of Green chemistry and
engineering practices
Financing barriers
Economic feasibility
barriers
Technology barriers
Regulatory barriers
Awareness barriers
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IGC&E Report
Barriers in implementation of
Green Chemistry and
Engineering Practices
Green chemistry has been in practice in some
way or the other in last seventy five years. Over
the years because of regulatory pressures by
the domestic governments and those of
exporting countries, increasing pressure by non-
government organizations, customers
preference of green products and rising fear and
instances of bad press have resulted in rise in
implementation of green chemistry practices in
the industry. Companies like Nike and Unilever
have not only made their process green but
have also ensured that their suppliers also
implement green chemistry practices. However,
the industry still faces some key barriers which
impede the implementation of green chemistry
practices in the industry on a large scale.
Financing barriers Access to Capital: One of the key barriers in
implementation of green chemistry is the access
to capital. While green chemistry initiatives may
get seed money / financing to demonstrate the
proof of concept, the challenge lies ahead. The
first challenge is to switch from the proof of
concept (i.e. the laboratory scale) to the pilot
scale; and the other is to shift from pilot scale to
the commercial scale. Thus the industry faces
two pitfalls in making transition from the
laboratory scale to commercial level.
The technologies and the chemistries involved in
transition to green practices are often perceived
to be risky as compared to traditional chemistry
by the investors leading to their unwillingness to
fund such projects. Due to the nature of the
projects, many times, there is not enough
information or data available to make
comparisons, and there is not much past
experience available for project financers to do
due-diligence and risk assessment. Compared
to the small companies big companies with deep
pockets are able to afford the risks involved,
have better credit worthiness and thus have
easier access to capital. Given that more than
90% of companies globally fall under small to
medium scale; it is the SME segment which
actually requires the funding.
Some of the possible ways to overcome the
funding barriers (highlighted in figure 9) are:
1. The companies can benefit from
Government of India‟s Credit Guarantee
Fund Scheme for MSMEs (Micro and
Small and Medium Enterprises). Under
the scheme the MSMEs can get loan
from the banks up to INR 100 lakhs
without any collateral. The government
provides the guarantee cover for the
loan which ranges from 75% to 80%
depending on the loan amount.
2. While it is hard to overcome the
perceived risks involved with a new
technology, the government can
mandate the banks to provide lending to
the chemical industry at lower interest
rates for green projects. For instance, in
the realty space if the developer can
display the green certificate for his
building, then his customers can get
home loan from the bank at lower
interest rates.
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IGC&E Report
3. Chemical companies should also carry
out life cycle analysis of the existing
process/product with the newer one.
The comparison and the potential
benefits associated with the green
processes/products can be quantified
and can therefore help in reducing the
risk perceived by the financial
institutions and investors to some
extent.
4. If possible by involving the investors in
the project right from the laboratory
scale it can help them better understand
the potential long term benefits
associated with green chemistry and
engineering practices and can help
them make informed decisions while
deciding whether to fund a project or
not.
Economic Feasibility barrier
Tied up capital: Chemical enterprises are
essentially capital intensive and have large
capital investments in existing plant setup thus
making it difficult to abandon the existing
investments. The cost of shutting down the
operations in an existing and comparatively
inefficient plant can be very high and it can leave
enterprises without any resources available for
reinvesting in new technologies and processes.
Building up new infrastructure is usually
expensive and the high upfront costs pose a
significant barrier in implementation of green
chemical processes. Often the existing plants
meet the environmental norms and generate
emissions within the specified limits. Hence
there is no incentive for switching to green
practices at the expense of existing investments.
Exhibit 116
explains why inspite of the
advantages provided by micro-reactors the
industry has not been able to implement them in
practice.
Some of the possible strategies to overcome the
reluctance of the companies to relinquish their
existing setup are
Figure 9: Financing barriers
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IGC&E Report
Pigovian Tax: Government should
impose strict regulations for companies
to shift to green practices. The
government should impose taxes on the
companies following polluting chemistry.
Also it should be ensured that these
policies are actually practiced and do
not remain merely in principle.
With strict regulations in countries like
USA, Europe and Japan the companies
would not be able to export their
products if their manufacturing
processes do not follow the required
green practices. Hence, chemical
companies, especially the small sized
companies should be educated that
even though switching over to green
practices may require an initial capital
burden, but in the longer run green
chemistry is essential to avoid the threat
to long term survival.
Scale up Issues: Any product or a process
should meet two criteria – economic
performance and environmental performance.
Human health and environmental benefits are
not sufficient for a company to implement green
chemistry and engineering practices. The
product or process should result in potential cost
savings for the companies. Though technologies
are available, the companies are facing
challenges in scaling up to the commercial level.
Often the cost effectiveness is not there making
it difficult to achieve breakeven. It becomes
difficult to strike a balance between delivery
timelines, cost and green philosophy.
The companies which are succeeding are the
ones which are bringing to market the high
margin speciality chemicals. However the
transition in case of commodity chemicals is
difficult and they are unable to compete with the
products made from the fossil fuels. Often the
large companies can afford the risks involved
and can manage with initial losses but the small
sized industries find it difficult to transition even
though the technology is available.
Some of the possible ways for overcoming the
scale up barrier (highlighted in figure 10) are:
Vendor client collaboration:
Collaboration with the vendor can help
in overcoming the scale up issues. If the
vendor owns the pilot plant the client
would feel more comfortable, and by
watching the performance of the pilot
plant would add to confidence of the
client in its potential success on the
commercial level. The vendor must
hand hold the client at the scale up time.
Cost and benefits sharing with the
vendor would enhance the confidence
and trust amongst both the vendor and
the client and can help in scaling up of
the green chemistry practices.
Incorporation of green chemistry and
engineering principles right from the
design stage
An important dimension of economic feasibility is
affordability. If affordability becomes the crux of
the whole situation, it is possible to implement
the green chemistry practices. For instance, DG
sets are one the significant pollution
contributors. Fuel cells are a greener alternative
to DG sets. The technology is available and
however due to high capital costs it is not
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IGC&E Report
affordable in India. On the other hand the fuels
cells are extensively used in Japan. Thus we
see that science is ready but the industry and
the society is not. Even though the technology
may be available it is not affordable. Hence it is
critical to develop an ecosystem so that science
can be converted to affordable technology;
otherwise the science will remain where it is.
Technology Barriers
Transition towards sustainable chemistry:
The chemistry we understand and study is
inherently unsustainable. Most of the named
reactions which are carried out in the industry
were developed in 19th and early 20
th century
when the concepts of sustainability were not
there and fossil fuels were present in
abundance. However over the period of time
there has not been any transition in the
chemistry which is taught in the schools or
colleges. There is a lack of understanding on the
people who are developing the technologies of
what it takes to succeed in the business. For
example, even though new technologies like
microreactors or continuous flow reactors are
coming up the chemists are not trained to use
them. Inspite of the technology availability most
of them still rely on batch chemical operations
and find it difficult to handle controlling heat and
mass transfer inside the reactor.
Availability of knowledge: Availability of the
knowledge is another barrier which the industry
faces. The industry is more comfortable with the
conventional chemistry involving petrochemical
sources. On the other hand, the molecules
obtained from the bio-feedstock are highly
functionalized. Working with the biological
molecule requires working in an opposite
direction. Currently we do not have the
chemistry and the chemical technology to work
with such molecules as a result there are only
few raw materials that can be generated from
bio-renewable sources.
The possible strategies (highlighted in figure 11)
to overcome the barriers are:
Education and training
o Alter the academic curriculum
starting from the schools to
undergraduate to postgraduate
institutions to incorporate green
chemistry and engineering practices
o Develop green chemistry centers of
excellence. For instance GSK
supports center of excellence based
at University of Nottingham, and is
planning to form collaboration with
Sao Paulo Research Foundation in
Figure 10:
Economic Feasibility barriers
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Brazil. Some of the universities and
agencies actively working in the field
of green chemistry are University of
York, Warner Babcock Institute for
Green Chemistry, University of
Massachusetts, American Chemical
Society and U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
o Provide adequate financial and
technical aid for green chemistry
o Organize training programs,
workshops and symposia for
industry and academia
o Assess educational and training
programs to gauge their
effectiveness
Emphasis of the academia should be on
developing the applied knowledge
instead of maintaining the focus on
theoretical knowledge. This would help
in successful transition of the theoretical
knowledge to the actual industry
implementation.
Develop multidisciplinary teams to bring
together the chemists, toxicologists,
business and economic experts which
help in developing technologies and
processes that are non-toxic and
sustaining.
Investment in R&D activities to build
knowledge and technology to develop
sustainable raw materials. Public private
partnership funding of consortia
consisting of industry and academia like
the Innovative Medicines Initiative in the
European Union can be a possible
solution for funding the research and
development projects.
Industrial round tables: Interaction within
and across industry sectors can help at
various levels of management can help
the companies overcome the technology
Figure 11: Technology barriers
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IGC&E Report
availability barrier. Instead of competing
with each other, by building up
collaborative platform companies can
learn from the best practices prevalent
in other companies. Such platforms
build trust amongst the companies
resulting in sharing of knowledge and
expertise which is important for
dissemination of green chemistry and
engineering practices resulting in
development of greener processes and
products cost efficiently. Exhibit 216,17
describes LAZORR, a collaborative
platform amongst 6 leading Indian
pharmaceutical companies.
Intellectual Property (IP): Another barrier faced
in the availability of technology is the intellectual
property barrier. Even though the industrial
researches have resulted in development of new
reactions or greener routes for a chemical, the
knowledge is not available readily amongst the
chemistry in the industry. The firms which
develop it often protect it as an intellectual
property to achieve competitive advantage
resulting in low transmission of knowledge and
technology within the industry.
To overcome the barrier, universities and the
publicly funded agencies should be encouraged
to generate the IP by providing funds and should
be allowed to own the IP. This would make them
an ideal place to generate low cost IP. The IPs
generated can be sold or co-owned by the
companies leading to benefit sharing at a
reasonable cost. Exhibit 316
describes the
Bayhdole Act implemented in United States
which helped in overcoming the intellectual
property barrier.
Regulatory Barrier
Risk Control vs. Risk Prevention: Most of the
environmental, health and safety regulations
focus on reducing the risk by reductions in
exposure. Thus many enterprises have to spend
on regulatory mandated and expensive end-of-
pipe technologies instead of investing in R&D in
developing safer products and safer processes.
The focus on risk control rather than risk
prevention is an important barrier resulting in
little incentive for companies to invest in green
chemistry practices.
Sector Specific Regulations: There are
barriers that emerge due to sector specific
regulations. For example in USA, if a
pharmaceutical company wants to change
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certain portion of its manufacturing process, it
must undergo a time-consuming and expensive
recertification process with the US FDA (Food
and Drug administration). If a company develops
a safer pesticide produced in less hazardous
and environment friendly manner, it has to
undergo a process of certification with EPA
under TSCA. While the intent of the regulations
is to provide protection, however they
themselves become an impediment in
implementation of green chemistry and
engineering practices.
The possible strategies (highlighted in figure 12)
to overcome the barriers are
Regulations aimed at risk prevention
should be developed as compared to
risk control.
The government should also revisit their
existing policies, make them favourable
for green practices implementation so
as to promote alternate green chemical
products and processes (Refer figure
13).
o Through the PAT (Perform, Achieve
and Trade) scheme under the purview
of Ministry of Power, companies in
e
energy intensive industries can gain
from reduction in overall energy
expenses and if they are surplus can
trade Energy Saving Certificates
(ESCerts). Thus, through the PAT
scheme the government can reward
the achievers while impose penalties
to the under achievers. For companies
into self-generation, Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy has mandated
companies to meet certain portion of
energy requirement through
renewable sources through the
Figure 12: Regulatory barriers
Figure 13: Government policies – Key to successful implementation of green practices16
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IGC&E Report
Renewable Purchase Obligation
(RPO) Mechanism.
o Considering green chemistry and
engineering implementation as part of
corporate social responsibility can
encourage companies for developing
and implementing green practices.
Awareness Barriers In the companies people working in sales,
marketing and operations have little or no
understanding of green chemistry practices and
potential benefits associated with it. Many have
no idea that science of green chemistry is
available and can have important benefits.
There is a notion that all environment friendly
changes are expensive and not worthwhile to
implement. Another issue faced by the
companies is the focus of individual divisions on
the impact of green chemistry and engineering
practices on their division‟s bottom line even if
the end results benefits the overall organization.
These barriers can be overcome by following
strategies (highlighted in figure 14):
Ensuring commitment towards green
chemistry right at the highest
management level. The top down
approach, along with provision of
adequate resources and moral support
is important to ensure that green
chemistry and engineering gets top
priority.
Support from key decision makers for
implementation of green chemistry and
engineering practices
Regular training programs along with
understanding of life cycle benefits by
implementation of green chemistry and
engineering practices can help the
companies to increase the significance
of green chemistry and engineering
practices amongst the non R&D people
of the organization.
As an organization, companies should
have a common environmental goal.
Figure 14: Awareness barriers
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Changing the traditional accounting
process of CAPEX (capital expenditure)
and OPEX (operating expense) and
activity based accounting. A more
holistic view of the costs involved by
analysing the life cycle costs should be
carried out which is however not
incorporated in most of the economic
and financial analysis.
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Tools for implementing
Green Chemistry
Life Cycle Analysis
iSUSTAINTM
EcoScale
SECTION 5
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IGC&E Report
Tools for implementing Green
Chemistry
Various tools have been developed by the
industry and academia which aid in
implementation of green chemistry and
engineering practices. These tools help the
companies to compare various
processes/products and help companies in
quantifying the benefits obtained from green
chemistry and engineering practices. Some of
the important tools are life cycle analysis,
iSUSTAINTM
green chemistry index and
EcoScale.
Life Cycle Analysis
Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a tool to evaluate the
environmental impacts associated with all
stages of a product‟s life from cradle-to-grave
(i.e. starting from raw material extraction to
disposal or recycling), taking into consideration
that all the stages are interdependent and one
operation leads to another. Thus it helps in
estimating the cumulative environmental impact
resulting from all stages of the product life cycle.
There are different versions of life-cycle analysis
like cradle-to-gate, gate-to-gate, cradle-to-grave
and cradle-to-cradle.
Life cycle analysis consists of four components
1. Goal Definition and Scope: In the first step
the company has to define and describe
the product, process or activity which is to
be evaluated. It involves establishment of
system boundaries and impact categories
(environmental impacts) which are to be
evaluated. It also involves clearly defining
the assumptions and limitations associated
with the assessment process.
2. Life Cycle Inventory: It involves identifying
and quantifying energy, water and
materials usage and environmental
releases (e.g. air emissions, solid waste
disposals, waste water discharges) for
each life cycle stage.
3. Impact assessment: It involves applying
science based models to assess the
potential impact by the environmental
releases on human life and the ecosystem.
4. Interpretation: The results of inventory
analysis and impact assessment are
evaluated to select the desired product,
process or technology with clear
understanding of the sensitivity of the
results to the assumptions which have
been made.
Green Chemistry and engineering practices aim
at achieving environmental improvements at
every stage of the life cycle of the product or a
process, however the principles are qualitative in
nature. Hence it becomes difficult to prioritize
when companies are trying to implement one or
more of the principles of green chemistry and
engineering to a particular product or a process.
Life cycle analysis provides the quantitative
analysis and helps the company to understand
the key focus areas.
Life cycle analysis can help a company in
understanding a product‟s carbon and water
footprint and the amount of wastes it generates.
It helps a company not only in comparing two
products but also helps a company in realizing
unintended consequences associated with a
particular technology or a process. The life cycle
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analysis therefore helps a company understand
the potential dangers and opportunities and
supports in better informed decision making. By
comprehensive understanding of the
environmental impacts it also helps the
companies to avoid shifting environmental
problems from one form to another. For
instance, if there are two options it may be
possible that option 1 may be generating more
solid wastes compared to option 2. Thus option
2 would be preferred in a single-view approach.
However by LCA it can be possible that overall
emissions and waste generated by option 2 are
much more than option 1. Under such instances,
therefore option 1 is the better solution. Exhibit
418
describes the sustainability footprint tool
implemented by Dow Chemicals. Companies
can develop their own sustainability footprint
tools which can help them in life cycle analysis,
identify areas of improvements and evaluate
impacts of green practices implementation.
Apart from Dow Chemicals the major companies
performing LCA are BASF, DuPont, Eastman
Chemicals, GE, P&G and Unilevers.
Eastman Chemical Company Case Study:
Environmental impact assessment
through Life Cycle Analysis19
Eastman Chemical Company performed life
cycle analysis to assess the environmental
impact of its Tritan copolyester which is used to
manufacture sports bottles. A Tritan bottle was
compared with 18/8 stainless steel and
aluminum in three key areas of energy use,
greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalent) and
Smog formation potential (NOx equivalent). The
cradle to grave analysis for 500 ml bottles
(without caps) was undertaken.
For all the three options material production
required the greatest amount of energy.
Amongst the three Tritan copolyester required
the least as the steel and aluminum bottles had
decorative exterior coatings while the aluminum
bottles had interior coatings as well. Fuel related
emissions were responsible for the largest
portion of Greenhouse gas emissions and smog
potential but were found to be least (40-50%) of
that in stainless steel and aluminum bottles.
Thus Life cycle analysis clearly indicates
sustainable advantages of the Tritan copolyester
compared to stainless steel or aluminum (Refer
table 3 and figure 15).
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Parameter Tritan copolyester Stainless steel Aluminum
Energy use
(million Btu/1,000 bottles)
9.5 13 17
GHG emissions
(lb CO2 basis/1000 bottles)
1,400 2,400 2,900
Smog formation
(lb NOx basis/1000 bottles)
4.4 7.9 7.2
Table 3: Lifecycle analysis of Eastman Tritan copolyester, Stainless Steel and Aluminum
Figure 15: Comparison of Eastman Tritan copolyester, Stainless Steel and Aluminum
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iSUSTAINTM
The iSUSTAINTM
Green Chemistry Index is a
tool consisting of sustainability metrics based
twelve principles of green chemistry and some
of the factors taken into consideration are waste
generation, energy usage, atom economy,
health and environmental impact of raw
materials and products and safety of processing
steps. The tool provides a methodology to
generate sustainability based score for chemical
products and processes. The quantitative
assessment helps the chemical manufacturers
and the consumers to track their progress in
developing greener products over a period of
time and assess the sustainability of their
products.
The iSUSTAINTM
tool was developed with two
objectives
1. To provide a measure of sustainability of
products/processes so as to develop an
initial sustainability baseline and provide
guidance for process improvements
2. To help scientific community get
familiarized with twelve principles of
green chemistry and aid the scientists
getting an understanding of the factors
under their control that can impact the
overall sustainability of their process
To use the iSUSTAINTM
tool the user has to
generate a scenario. The scenario contains the
information about the materials going into a
process, the products and waste streams
coming out of the process and the conditions or
the parameters used in various process steps;
providing a gate to gate assessment. The tool
helps the user to perform what-if analysis by
allowing the user to generate multiple scenarios
for same product/process, thereby helping the
user to evaluate the impact of various scenarios
on the overall sustainability score. The tool is
different from life cycle analysis. The tool
provides evaluation of a product/process using
readily available information, hence taking lesser
time than a full life cycle analysis.
The iSUSTAINTM
Green Chemistry Index has
been developed through an alliance between
Cytec Industries Inc., a speciality chemicals and
materials company; Sopheon, a software and
service provider for product life cycle
management and Beyond Benign, a non-profit
organization in the field of green chemistry
education and training. The tool is available for
the academic community while the industry
users have to pay a small subscription fee.
Since March 2010 when the tool was made
available to the public to the end of 2010 over
750 users including industry, government and
academia have used the tool developing over
1,000 scenarios using 440 substances from
material database of 5,500 substances20
.
EcoScale
EcoScale is a semi-quantitative tool which is
used to evaluate the effectiveness of an organic
reaction based on economic and ecological
parameters. It takes into account cost, yield,
safety, technical-setup and ease of
workup/purification aspects while evaluating a
chemical reaction. The evaluation starts by
giving a value of 100 to an ideal reaction and
then subtracting penalty points to the
parameters for non-ideal conditions. According
to research paper on the EcoScale, the ideal
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reaction can be defined as “Compound A
(substrate) undergoes a reaction with (or in
presence of) inexpensive compound B to give
desired compound C in 100% yield at room
temperature with minimal risk for the operator
and minimal impact for the environment21
”.
The analysis can be modified by chemists by
assigning different relative penalty points
depending on the importance of different
parameters. The tool provides a quick evaluation
of the greenness of the reactions, help
comparing different synthesis routes of the same
product and helps in identifying the areas of
improvement.
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SECTION 6
Strategies for
implementing green
chemistry and engineering
Immediate term
Short term
Medium term
Long term
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IGC&E Report
Strategy Implementation time Resources required Associated risks
Immediate 1 to 6 months Very low Very low
Short term 6 months to 2 years Low to medium Low to medium
Medium term 2 years to 4 years High High
Long term 4 years to 10 years Very high Very high
Strategies for implementing
Green Chemistry and
Engineering
Based on the implementation time, resources
involved and associated implementation risks
green chemistry strategies can be categorized
into four types: Immediate term implementation
strategies, short term implementation strategies,
medium term implementation strategies and
long term implementation strategies (Refer table
4).
Immediate Term Implementation
Strategies
On an immediate basis the industry should look
for possible ways to optimize their current
business practices as shifting to new routes of
synthesis by using greener raw materials or by
changing the processes not only investment in
terms of time and money, but also requires
efforts in developing an understanding of the
advantages of new means and all possible risks
and hazards they involve. Some of the possible
implementation strategies which can be
undertaken on an immediate basis are:
Sustainable recycling solutions
Chemical process occurs in a series of steps,
and each process generates an effluent stream
comprising of various used chemicals. The final
effluent stream obtained from the chemical
process is a combination of effluent streams
from various steps consisting of a number of
chemicals. Such heavy effluent load is non-
biodegradable and consists of organic
impurities, acids, alkalis, toxic metals and
carcinogenic materials. Because of the
complexities involved in treating the effluents
generated from the industries many times the
treatment is bypassed and the effluents are
directly discharged in water bodies. With
increasing business activities the quantity of
wastes generated also increases, making it
difficult for the effluent treatment plants to treat
the effluent load. Thus the focus of industries
should be to develop recycling solutions which
can help the companies to shift from dirty and
dangerous chemistry to greener practices.
Exhibit 5 describes the advantages of
Table 4: Strategies for Green Chemistry Implementation22
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sustainable recycling solutions.
Some of the companies who have successfully
implemented sustainable recycling solutions are
Dow Chemicals, Solvay, BASF, Kanoria
Chemicals, Dr. Reddy‟s and SMS Pharma. Case
studies 1 and 2 in the annexure demonstrate the
benefits obtained by companies by
implementing sustainable recycling solutions.
Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)
The conventional wastewater treatment
processes do not remove salinity in the treated
effluent. Discharging the saline waste water
pollutes the ground and surface waters, also
impacting the nutrient value of the soil. In order
to overcome the scarcity of water, impact of
saline water discharge and regulatory pressures
associated, zero liquid discharge solutions have
been developed which mean zero discharge of
wastewater from industries. It involves advanced
wastewater treatment technologies to recycle
recover and re-use the „treated‟ wastewater,
ensuring bare minimum discharge of wastewater
to the environment. Exhibit 6 describes the key
advantages and industrial applications of Zero
Liquid Discharge.
Case study 3 in the annexure explain detailed
benefits of employing ZLD technology in a textile
dyeing common effluent treatment plant and
pulp and paper company respectively.
The Business Case for ZLD: The yarn
production in India stands at 6.8 million tons. As
per industry estimates, almost 30% of the yarn
produced is directly exported. The rest 4.76
million tons is processed into fabric. Taking the
economic parameters from the Arulpuram case
study, following are the assumptions made:
1. Water used for dyeing: 60 liters per kg
of fabric
2. Savings of recovered water: Rs 70 per
kL
3. Cost of zero liquid discharge: Rs 3 per
kg of dyed fabric
Although the water recovery in the case study
has been as high as 98%, however even by
considering water recovery of as low as 90% it
can be found that savings of almost 78 paisa per
kg of dyed fabric can be obtained. The overall
benefits for the industry can be as high as Rs
370 crore.
COD reduction
Industrial wastewater containing organic and
inorganic impurities are toxic and can‟t undergo
direct biological treatment. The industrial
wastewater resulting from the spills, leaks,
product washings and effluents discharged from
the chemical plants differ in characteristics
amongst themselves and from the domestic
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wastewater. Some of the key waste generating
sectors are pharma, agro and pigment
industries. In order to meet the specifications for
discharge or for recycling the industrial effluents
have to be treated. Exhibit 7 describes the key
industrial applications of COD reduction
techniques.
Various methods have been developed to
reduce the COD of the industrial waste water.
COD can be reduced by using H2O2, subcritical
water oxidation, thermal-liquid phase oxidation,
isolated bacteria and using adsorbents like
activated carbon, fly ash and neem leaves.
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Solvent disposal strategy Developed economies India
Sell-off used solvent Low High
Incineration Considerable Low
Reprocessing/Recycling Moderate to high Low to moderate
Losses Low to moderate High
Short Term Implementation
Strategies
Solvents along with water typically constitute
almost 80% of the process mass and contribute
15-25% of the manufacturing costs. In an API
unit the number of solvents ranges from 10-50
with the number of used solvent stream being
more than 100 in number. Compared to other
countries the spent solvents are usually
discarded or sold-off as a waste and there is
almost negligible recycling of the used solvents23
(Refer table 5).
On a short term basis the companies should
look for how they can change their chemistry so
that they can maximize the efficiency of their
consumption of solvents, reagents and
surfactants. This helps companies to reduce the
amount of wastes generated, improve their
material efficiency and reduce the costs
involved. Some of the implementation strategies
are:
Solvent recovery practice
The chemical industry, specifically the
pharmaceutical industry heavily uses large
quantities of organic solvents in a great number
of manufacturing steps which include chemical
synthesis, fermentation, extraction, formulation
and finishing of products. They are used as
reaction media and for products extraction in the
pharmaceutical, specialty chemicals and
fragrance industries. Except few cases, the
solvents used do not participate in the reaction.
At the end of the process, the solvents are
usually contaminated and cannot be reused.
Hence the practice is to dispose them and use
fresh solvents. This makes solvent recovery an
important means to implement green and
sustainable chemistry and engineering. Exhibit 8
describes the harmful impact of the traditional
solvents used.
Some of the companies who have implemented
solvent recovery practices are Pfizer, Bristol
Myers Squibb, Merck, and GSK. Case study 4 in
Annexure explains the benefits of solvent
recovery process employed by Bristol Myers
Squibb in recovering THF solvent.
Table 5: Comparison of solvent disposal strategies23
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The Business Case for Solvent Recovery:
The Indian Pharma industry currently stands at
USD 32 billion. Considering the API industry as
30% of the total industry and solvent cost as
20% of the total API synthesis cost, the total
solvent consumed is USD 1.92 billion. Assuming
50% solvent recovery (similar to Bristol Myers
case study) savings by solvent recovery stand
approximately around USD 0.96 billion.
Assuming disposal cost as 10% of the total
solvent cost, the total savings are approximately
around USD 1.05 billion. Taking CAGR of 14%
for the pharmaceutical industry and considering
the solvent recovery to continue at 50%; by
FY17 the industry can save almost USD 1.78
billion.
Alternate Solvents
Over the last few years the solvent market has
seen an increase in usage in industries like
aerosols, pharmaceuticals, printer inks, cleaners
and paints and coatings. Traditionally the
solvents used are derived from crude oil and
result in high levels of toxic emissions in the
atmosphere. The increasing usage of the
solvents along with strict environmental
regulations to lower the VOC (Volatile Organic
Compounds) has resulted in growth of
biosolvents (greener alternatives). According to
a research the green solvent market is expected
to reach USD 6.5 billion by 2018 at a CAGR of
almost 8.5% (Refer figure 16)24
.
The green solvent market is segmented based
on applications such as adhesives, cosmetics,
pharmaceuticals, paints and coatings.
Depending on product type, green solvents are
categorized as soy methyl esters, lactate esters,
specific fatty acid esters, D-Limonene, and
polyhydroxyalkanoates. The soy methyl esters
derived from soyabean oil, a biodegradable
alternative can replace almost 500 pounds of
traditional chlorinated and petroleum solvents.
Ethyl lactate, another green solvent has
replaced solvents like NMP, toluene, acetone
and xylene. Exhibit 9 describes the key
advantages of green solvents.
Some of the companies who have successfully
switched to green solvents are Pennakem, Zeon
Corporation, Dow Chemicals, Lyondellbasell
Industries, Bioamber, Cargill and Ashland. Case
study 5 in the Annexure describes the benefits
obtained by Pennakem LLC by switching to
green solvent 2-MeTHF over the Chemical THF.
Figure 16: Global Green Solvent
Industry24
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Biocatalysts
Biocatalysis is the use of isolated enzymes or
whole cells for synthetic transformation.
Enzymes are catalytic proteins that catalyze
reactions in the living organisms. Enzymes are
highly efficient catalysts resulting in rate
enhancement25
of reaction to about 106 to 10
17.
Enzymes have a very good selectivity i.e. ability
to work with a single compound resulting in high
yield of a specific product. Compared to
chemical catalysts biocatalysts require milder
reaction conditions (pH range of 5-8 and
temperature range of 20-40oC)
26. Biocatalysts
are more efficient (lower concentration of
enzymes are needed), can be easily modified to
increase their selectivity, stability and activity.
Traditionally biocatalysts have been used in
production of alcohol and cheese, however
recently they are being increasingly used in the
pharmaceutical, agricultural and food industries.
The use of biocatalysts can therefore help the
chemical companies to improve their yield and
reduce the wastes generated. Exhibit 10
highlights the advantages obtained from use of
biocatalysts.
Some of the companies which have used the
biocatalysis route are Buckman International,
Pfizer, BASF, Codexis, Elevance, iSoy
Technologies and Lilly Research Laboratories.
Another key application of enzymes has been in
carrying out enzymatic bio-transformation. Large
percentage of Agrochemicals and
Pharmaceutical products, which were earlier
being used in Racemic form are increasingly
being replaced by their more active and safer
single isomers. Currently most of these products
are produced through synthesis route and in
racemic form and then optically active isomers
are separated through chemical resolution
process. After this, desirable isomer is taken
forward as product but undesirable isomer is a
waste product as many of undesirable isomers
are not able to get racemized back on account
of their thermal stability characteristics.
This way, huge load comes to the environment
and significant extra costs are incurred
additionally for resolution, racemization of
undesirable isomer both in capital expenditure
for creating extra hardware and operating
expenses due to double raw material
consumption, extra energy, manpower and for
waste disposal. It makes the whole operation
extra Dirty, Dangerous and Demanding.
Greener technology is being developed for
targeted production of desirable isomer by using
enzymatic biotransformation. This is more useful
when the final product has multiple chiral
centres and end product is of very selective set
of chiral centres.
Huge reduction on environment load, raw
material consumptions, energy consumptions
and lesser hardware requirement makes the
process much cleaner, leaner and hence
greener. Companies like Provivi, Codexis,
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Additive Potential Impact
Surfactants Incomplete biodegradation in soil/water, formation of harmful compounds
Increased diffusion of environmental contaminants Chelates Eutrophication
Discharge of heavy metal ions – Mercury, nickel, cadmium, lead Reagents Poor atom economy (50%)
Toxic and hazardous generation
Amano are doing pioneering work in this
direction
Alternate Additives –Surfactants, chelates
and Reagents
Traditional surfactants used in soaps and
detergents, personal care products; lubricants,
textile processing, and wastewater treatment are
derived from petroleum feedstock. The
commonly used chelates like EDTA
(ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid) and NTA
(nitrilotriacetic acid) are derived from
aminocarboxylic acids; while STPP (sodium
tripolyphosphate) is derived from phosphates
and phosphonates and are known to have
serious detrimental impact on the environment
and human health. Similarly the traditional
stoichiometric reagents are also a source of
toxic and hazardous wastes (Refer table 6).
The harmful impact of the traditional surfactants,
chelates and reagents is shifting the focus of
towards designing greener, biological substrates
derived alternatives. For instance the green
surfactant market in the Asia-Pacific Region
which stood at USD 590 million in 2011 is
expected to grow to USD 1,075 million by 2018
at CAGR of 8.9%27
.
Personal care companies like Johnson &
Johnson and P&G today are rapidly switching to
greener alternatives. Other companies which
have successfully demonstrated the use of
green additives are Lubrizol, Akzonobel,
Novartis, Arkema and Colonial Chemicals. Case
study 6 describes the successful implementation
of greener alternatives at Dr. Reddy‟s
Laboratories.
Table 6: Potential impact of traditional surfactants, chelates and reagents
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Medium Term Implementation
Strategies
In the medium term companies should look for
bringing a change in engineering aspects. New
aspects of chemistry and chemical engineering
like micro-reactor technologies, micro-wave
engineering (based on flow chemistry) are
gaining prominence. While shifting to solvent
recovery processes and green solvents can help
companies in reducing the costs and wastes
generated, companies should eventually shift
towards developing solvent free processes.
Some of the medium term implementation
strategies are
Microreactor Technology
Microreactors are miniature reactors in which
chemical reactions take place. A microreactor
consists of thousands of continuous small-
diameter tubes with overall volume of a few
liters, compared to conventional vessel which
can be as large as 10,000 liters. Usually the
microreactors have a channel diameter of 50-
500 microns and channel lengths of 1-10mm2
.
Exhibit 11 describes the advantages of
microreactor technology.
Pharmaceuticals, textiles, energy, automotive,
aerospace, electronics, process-technology and
material industry are some of the sectors where
microreactors are used in manufacturing
processes. Case study 7 in the annexure
illustrates the potential benefits of microreactors
over the conventional batch reactor technology.
The Business Case for Microreactor
Technology: Assuming the blending level for
biodiesel to be 5%, the biodiesel consumption in
India stands at 3 million tons. Assuming that
10% of the production would be switched from
conventional batch process to the continuous
process by microreactor technology, 0.3 million
tons biodiesel production would be through
microreactor technology. Considering the
performance parameters similar to CSIR case
study the reductions in manufacturing costs can
be approximately Rs 5.5 per kg of biodiesel
produced. This can result in total savings of Rs
165 crore. Assuming CAGR of 7% for biodiesel,
same as that of diesel, and taking 10%
production by microreactor technology the
potential savings achieved can be almost Rs
215 crore by FY17.
Microwave Chemistry and Engineering
Microwave chemistry involves use of microwave
radiations to carry out chemical reactions.
Microwaves act as high frequency electric fields
and heat any material containing mobile electric
charges such as polar molecules in a solvent or
conducting ions in a solid. This involves agitation
of polar molecules or ions that oscillate under
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the effect of an oscillating electric or magnetic
field. Under the presence of an oscillating field,
the particles try to orient themselves or be in
phase with the field. But due to inter-particle
interaction and electrical resistance the motion
of these particles gets restricted resulting in
random motion generating heat. Different
materials have different response to
microwaves, some are transparent to them (e.g.
sulphur), some reflect them (e.g. copper) and
some absorb them (e.g. water). Microwave
chemistry is used in organic synthesis at
elevated pressures or in dry media, synthesis of
organometallic and coordination compounds,
synthesis of ceramic products and have
applications in polymer chemistry. Exhibit 12
describes the advantages from implementation
of microwave chemistry and engineering
practices.
Microwave chemistry finds applications in
pharmaceutical industry, food processing,
polymer synthesis, chemical synthesis and
extraction, nanoparticle synthesis and
biochemical and drying activities.
Organic solvent free process
While chemical companies can shift to green
solvents to implement green chemistry the
greenest route is to eliminate the commonly
used organic solvents which are toxic and
generate hazardous wastes. A number of
industrial reactions are carried out in gas phase
or without adding any organic solvent. Solid-
state synthetic approaches for instance do not
involve solvents. In many of the solvent free
reactions one of the reagents is a liquid and
often acts as a solvent resulting in
homogeneous reaction solution. In some solvent
free reactions there can be a liquid (like water)
formed during the reaction and acts as a solvent
by assisting the reaction at the interface
between the reagents. Use of ionic liquids can
also help in eliminating the organic solvents.
However currently the ionic liquids have limited
industrial applicability. BASF is one of the major
contributors to success story in Ionic Liquids.
Exhibit 13 describes the advantages of solvent
free process over traditional chemistries.
Solvent free process finds wide application in
paints and polycarbonate production. Some of
the companies which have switched to solvent
free processes are Eastman Chemicals, GVD
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Corporation, Nextec Applications and Sulzer
Chemtech.
Supercritical fluids
Another green chemistry technique which is
increasingly being used is the use of
supercritical fluids. Supercritical fluid is a
substance at a temperature and pressure above
its critical point such that no distinct liquid and
gas phase exist. It can effuse through solids like
a gas and dissolve materials like a liquid. An
advantage with supercritical fluids is that close
to the critical point, small changes in pressure
and temperature can result in large changes in
density as a result of which many properties of
supercritical fluids can be altered as per
requirements (e.g. dissolving power is pressure
dependent). Exhibit 14 describes the
advantages of supercritical CO2, a commonly
used supercritical fluid.
Some of the industry applications are coffee
decaffeination, hops extraction, essential oil pro
production, waste extraction/recycling, analytical
instrumentations, homogeneous and
heterogeneous catalytic reactions and
Biocatalysis.
.
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Long Term Implementation
Strategies
In a long term Chemical companies should look
for developing new green routes of chemical
synthesis. This involves shifting dependence
form fossil fuels to renewable resources, and
biomass as feedstock to develop biochemicals.
Companies should also look for possible
opportunities of developing symbiotic
relationships with other industrial partners and
stakeholders, thereby controlling their
environmental footprint and raw material and
waste disposal costs incurred. Biomimicry is
another means by which companies can
develop green products replicating the
properties of nature.
Bio-based Chemicals
The bio-based chemical market estimated at
USD 78 billion in 2012 is expected to grow to
USD 198 billion by 2017, at a CAGR of 20.5%
(Refer figure 17)28
.
Bio-based fine chemicals are projected to
increase from 20% market penetration in 2010
to nearly 35% by 2025. Bio-based speciality
chemicals are projected to rise from 20% to 30%
by 2025, polymers from 5% to 15% by 2025
while commodity chemicals are projected to
move from 2% to 6% of markets by 2025 (Refer
figure 18)28
.
Among the renewable chemicals ethanol is a
well-established commercial product with strong
presence in USA and Brazil with growth
opportunities in Europe and Asia (especially
India and China). The biopolymer market is
expected to have a CAGR of 22.7% and the
sales are expected to rise from USD 3 billion in
2009 to USD 8 billion in 2015. Starch plastics
have the highest share of 38% amongst the
biopolymers while PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoates)
is expected to have the highest CAGR of over
40%. With developments in bio-transformation
technologies, bio-catalysis, genomics and
metabolic engineering it is anticipated that bio-
based chemicals will form almost 50% of the
chemicals market by 2050 29
(Refer Table 7 for
Figure 17: Global bio-based chemical market
Figure 18: Global penetration of
bio-based chemicals
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IGC&E Report
key growth drivers, key challenges and possible
solutions to overcome them for bio-based
chemicals).
A number of companies are developing green
processes to manufacture bio-based chemicals.
France based Roquette has the largest bio-
refinery in the world, Rennovia is producing bio-
based intermediates for polyamide 6,6 and
polyols, Vencorex in France has world‟s first bio-
sourced isocyanates for polyurethane, Lanxess
Elastomers sells world‟s first bio-based
polyamides.
The academia has also been quite active in
developing bio-based chemicals. Osaka
University has developed routes to produce
monomers from the plant oil. University of
Bologna has developed phenols from natural
resources which could replace bisphenol A in
epoxy coatings. Institute of Chemical and
Engineering Sciences has developed routes to
manufacture green polyamides with adipic acid
from biomass. Case study 8 in the Annexure
illustrates the benefits of bio-chemicals.
The Business Case for Bio-ethanol in India:
Petrol demand in India is estimated to be 28,000
million liters. Assuming ethanol blending to
remain at 5% the demand of ethanol is 1,400
million liters. The manufacturing cost of petrol for
oil manufacturers is Rs 45 per liter. The
production cost for bio-ethanol manufacturers is
Rs 37/liter. The oil manufacturing companies are
planning to buy bio-ethanol for Rs 40/liter. This
leads to potential saving of Rs 0.25/liter for oil
manufacturing companies leading to total
savings of Rs 700 crore. The profits for the bio-
ethanol manufacturers is Rs 420 cr. Taking 11%
CAGR in petrol demand, oil manufacturing
companies can save up to Rs 1050 crore in
FY17 while ethanol manufactures can make
profits of 640 crore.
Biomimicry
Biomimicry involves developing sustainable
solutions by studying nature‟s best ideas and
then imitating them to develop designs and
process to resolve the human problems. It
Key Growth Drivers Key Challenges Possible Solutions
Rising oil prices and associated volatilities
Focus on environment footprint reduction
Growing customer demand for green products
Advances in biotechnology and biomass conversion technologies
Avoid dependence on politically unstable nations for feedstock
Irregularities in crop yield, quality and supply
Unproven and complex technologies
Scale up issues
Monitoring of product quality and process efficiency
Cost efficiency
Funding issues
Food vs. fuel conflict
Strategic alliances amongst stakeholders
Feedstock guarantee Technology Funding availability Access to distribution
channels and markets
Government support
R&D investment
Table 7: Key growth drivers, challenges and possible solutions for Bio-based chemicals28
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involves the creation of new, life-friendly
technologies based on the learnings obtained
from nature. The nature‟s chemistry follows a
particular set of principles: it is essentially water-
based; uses self-assembly at ambient
conditions, subset of elements in the periodic
table, renewable feedstock, and freely available
natural energy sources. Thus, we can see that
nature‟s chemistry creates conditions conducive
to life.
A lot of research has been going on in the field
of biomimicry. Today the scientists are able to
develop self-healing plastics based on the
body‟s ability to heal itself of cuts and wounds.
The applications involve making lighter, fuel
efficient and safer cars, planes and spacecrafts.
Another example is of artificial photosynthesis
where in sunlight can be used to split water into
hydrogen and oxygen for use as clean fuels for
vehicles. Successful implementation can not
only reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere but also
provide an efficient, self-charging and less
expensive way to create and store energy for
home and industrial systems. Exhibit 1530
describes the advantages and possible
opportunities associated with Biomimicry.
Some of the companies who are actively
working in the field of Biomimicry are Proctor
and Gamble, InterfaceFLOR, PAX Scientific and
Qualcomm.
Industrial Ecology
Industrial ecology is a multi-disciplinary
approach that combines different aspects of
engineering, economics, sociology, toxicology
and natural sciences. It is an ecosystem
artificially setup in which various stakeholders
(Industries, Government bodies, educational
institutes, NGOs and society) come together and
develop a symbiotic system where the entities
through the dependence on outputs and by-
products generated by other members of the
ecosystem achieve material and energy
efficiency and reduction in wastes generated.
Apart from depending on other partners for raw
materials, companies also have the opportunity
to look for possible ways of converting the
wastes generated from their processes into
useful products which can be used for their own
operations. By developing a complete chain of
green chemical processes in different sectors,
Industrial ecology helps in establishing a viable
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and sustainable looping system. Exhibit 16
describes the various advantages chemical
companies can achieve from Industrial ecology
Case study 9 in the Annexure explains the
Kalundborg Industrial Park and the benefits the
participating companies got by industrial
symbiosis.
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SECTION 7
The Way Ahead
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The Way Ahead
Green Chemistry and engineering helps the
companies to design new products and
processes with sustainability as the core
principle. This helps the companies not only in
improving their top and bottom line but also
helps them to differentiate themselves and gain
competitive advantage.
However, the industry cannot implement the
green chemistry and engineering practices in
isolation. It is imperative to build a collaborative
ecosystem in which the academia, industry,
government and regulatory bodies come
together and create opportunities for the
industry, academia and the Entrepreneurs to
test, scale-up and commercialize their ideas in
the domain of green chemistry practices. Ideas
or concepts with potential to solve challenges
faced by the industry in the domain of green
chemistry should be nurtured and adequate
support should be provided for scale-up and
commercialization. This would encourage
creation of inventions and innovations in the field
of green chemistry.
Instead of being mandated by the government
and the regulatory restrictions, the industry
should take initiatives in implementation of green
practices. The companies should develop their
own footprint tools to perform a 3D (Dirty,
Dangerous and Demanding) audit of their
existing products. This would help the
companies to perform an environmental MIS of
their current products and process, evaluate the
potential impacts of their products, and based on
that develop possible strategies and actions to
develop greener products and processes.
Figure 19: The Ecosystem for the Green Future
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Going forward, the green chemistry provides
market opportunity of USD 98 billion globally for
the chemical industry. By implementing green
chemistry practices companies stand to gain by
first mover advantage leading to increased
revenues and profits and long term business
opportunities. However the barriers faced by the
industry in green chemistry implementation
highlight the fact that although the science is
ready, the industry is not. This makes the role of
academia, government, regulatory bodies, and
above all mindset of industry players off-key
importance in successful implementation of
green chemistry. Refer figure 19 for possible
ecosystem for successful implementation of
green chemistry and engineering practices.
Green Chemistry and engineering combines
together company profits, human health and
ecological well-being right from the stage of
product design and manufacturing. It has the
potential to overcome the challenges faced by
the chemical industry and can help in long term
sustenance of the business. It therefore, is the
way ahead for the chemical industry.
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SECTION 8
Annexure
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Case Studies
Case Study 1: Kanoria Chemicals –
Recycling Solution for water
consumption reduction31
Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Limited (KCI) is
a manufacturer of chemical intermediates in
India. The company has two plants, one at
Ankleshwar, Gujarat, which manufactures
alcohol and alcohol based intermediates and the
second plant at Vishakapatnam, which
manufactures formaldehyde and hexamine.
Reduction in water consumption by recycling:
The Ankleshwar plant launched a “waste to
wealth” program with the objective of recovery of
recyclable water from distillery effluents. KCI
went for reverse osmosis technology to achieve
maximum recycle and minimum possible
disposal. At the point of time when the decision
was taken, the technology was never been used
for treatment of industrial effluents in India. Pilot
plant trials were taken conducted in 2002-03.
The reverse osmosis plant for recovery of clean
water from the distillery effluent was
commercialized and installed in 2003-04. The
technology resulted in recycling of 330 m3/day of
clean water from distillery effluent back to the
process, resulting in a saving of identical
quantity of fresh water consumption. The
success of RO technology treatment of distillery
effluent encouraged the company to install
another RO plant to recycle effluents generated
from the chemical plants. This resulted in an
additional savings of 200 m3/day of water. Total
almost 65-70% of recovered water was recycled
back to the manufacturing process.
Power generation: During the treatment of
distillery effluent bio-gas is generated which,
after the removal of H2S can be used for power
generation. H2S is removed with the help of
"Thiopaq" scrubber technology supplied by
Paques Bio-system of the Netherlands resulting
in reduction in sulphur emission into the
atmosphere from 900 kg to 9 kg per day. The
electricity generated reduced the company‟s
demand of electricity from the state electricity
board from 3,000 KVA to 1,000 KVA.
Sustainable decomposition: KCI started with a
bio-compost manufacturing facility on a trial
basis on a 7 acre land. Encouraged by the
results, KCI shifted this facility to a 60 acres
land, 20 kilometres away from the plant. Thus
the use of distillery waste in bio-compost results
in recycling of nutrients available in the
molasses back to the soil, and reduces the
dependence on chemical fertilizers.
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Case Study 2: SMS Pharma – 100%
Atom efficiency through green
synthesis route32 SMS Pharma is world‟s largest exporter of
ranitidine. Even though the company had
reduced its manufacturing process from 11
steps to 4 steps with elimination of hydrogen
sulphide emissions the company was facing the
issue with methyl mercaptan emissions which
get generated in the coupling reaction in which
ranitidine base in generated. Changing to a
radically alternate synthesis route was not
possible due to regulatory complexities and high
costs associated with changing the Drug Master
File. Hence the company developed an
innovative two-step process in which methyl
mercaptan was converted to useful dimethyl
sulphoxide (DMSO). The first step involved
absorption of methyl mercaptan in aqueous
sodium hydroxide to form sodium methyl
mercaptide which is used in agrochemical
industry as a raw material. In the next step
methylation was carried out with dimethyl
sulphate to from dimethyl sulphide which was
then oxidized with hydrogen peroxide to form
DMSO. The DMSO formed is used back in the
process and the catalyst used is recyclable. The
company achieved an atom efficiency of 100%
by following the green route of synthesis.
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S.No. Parameter Recovered Glauber salt
1 Purity (%) as sodium sulphate@105oC 98.5%
2 TH as CaCO3 (mg/l) Nil
Case Study 3: Arulpuram CETP
(Common Effluent Treatment Plant)
– ZLD solution for water and salt
recycling33
The Arulpuram common effluent treatment plant
in Tirupur, Tamilnadu is a textile dyeing CETP
being setup by 15 member units. The CETP has
a design capacity of 5,500 m3/day and is
currently operating successfully under ZLD
mode at 70% of design capacity. The technology
has been approved by Anna University and has
been evaluated by Department of Science and
Technology. The broad technology adopted by
the effluent treatment plant consists of a pre-
treatment system followed by water recovery
system using reverse osmosis and reject
management system using evaporators (Refer
figure 20).
The key benefits of the ZLD project are recycling
of more than 98% of water and reuse of more
than 90% of the salt (Refer table 8 and table 9).
Figure 20: Arulpuram CETP
Table 8: Performance parameters of Arulpuram CETP
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S.No. Parameter Units Influent Recovered
water
Brine Solution
(MVR
concentrate)
1 pH@25oC 9.0 7.0 5.5
2 TDS mg/l 6,744 170 103,972
3 Chloride as Cl- mg/l 734 34 11,976
4 Sulphates as SO42-
mg/l 3,142 19 56,459
5 BOD@20oC mg/l 251 BDL NA
6 COD mg/l 1,034 BDL 1,820
7 TH as CaCO3 mg/l 111 BDL 129
8 Total alkalinity as
CaCO3
mg/l 1,538 48 178
Note 1: BDL – Below Detection Limit
Table 9: Performance parameters of Arulpuram CETP
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Case Study 4: Bristol-Myers Squibb
– Solvent recovery34
Bristol-Myers Squibb carries out constant
volume distillation in synthesis of an oncology
drug. In order to recover THF which is used as a
solvent, Bristol-Myers Squibb went for
integrating the pervaporation technology with
constant volume distillation operation. The
earlier CVD process required 13.9 kg of THF/kg
API (7.85 kg THF as entrainer/kg API) and
generated 9.2 kg waste/kg API. With the
integrated CVD-PV approach Bristol Myers
achieved 56% reduction in THF (100% reduction
in entrainer) and 93% reduction in wastes
generated (Refer figure 21).
Figure 21: Performance comparison of Current and New process
treatment
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Case Study 5: Pennakem LLC –Use of
Green Solvent34
Pennakem, a speciality chemical company
based in USA initiated and developed the
market for ecoMeTHF (2-MeTHF) as a greener
alternative to petroleum-derived ethers and
volatile chlorinated solvents. Pennakem‟s
proprietary technology produces ecoMeTHF with
hydrogen from natural gas and water as the
solvent. The manufacturing process involves
corn cobs waste as raw material. The corn cobs
are cyclized to furfural in aqueous solution.
Furfural is further dehydrogenated to make
ecoMeTHF.
ecoMeTHF can reduce process mass intensity
(PMI, i.e. mass used in process with respect to
mass of desired product generated) to facilitate
greener processes in chemical manufacturing.
The advantages achieved by using ecoMeTHF
are
1. Higher reaction yields (reducing PMI for
organometallics by 15–30 percent)
2. Increased solubility of organometallic
reagents (reducing PMI by 30–50
percent)
3. Higher extraction yields during workup
(reducing PMI by 15–30 percent)
4. One-pot reactions due to cleaner
reactions, increased solvent stability,
and easy phase separation (reducing
PMI by 50 percent)
5. Elimination of hydrophobic cosolvents
(reducing PMI by 30 percent)
By using ecoMeTHF almost 30,000 metric tons
of THF per year can be eliminated along with
30,000 metric tons of hydrophobic cosolvents
from Grignard workups. Usually THF and
cosolvent mixtures are incinerated, hence using
ecoMeTHF reduces carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions by 90%. Apart from this 2-MeTHF is
east to dry and recycle due to its rich azeotrope
with water (10.6%) and simple distillation at
atmospheric pressure. Almost 70% of energy
savings can be achieved with respect to THF.
ecoMeTHF is found to be 30 times more
environment friendly than chemical THF (Refer
figure 2235
and table 10).
Figure 22: Total cycle emissions comparison
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Solvent Chemical THF ecoMeTHF
Total air emissions, kg/kg 5.52 0.16
CO2 emissions, kg/kg 5.46 0.15
Total water emissions, kg/kg 0.13 0.03
Total soil emissions, kg/kg 0.002 0.002
Total emissions, kg/kg 5.65 0.19
Table 10: Emissions comparison of Chemical THF and ecoMeTHF
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Case Study 6: Dr. Reddy’s
Laboratories –Eco-friendly and cost
effective sulfoxidation through
green reagents16
The synthesis of sulfoxides from sulfides has
been widely explored and numerous oxidants
have been developed to achieve a facile,
efficient and selective sulfoxidation. However,
most of the reagents require controlled reaction
conditions including the quantity of oxidants
because of the formation of sulfones as side
products. In particular, controlling the oxidation
of sulfides to avoid formation of sulfones has
been difficult since the first oxidation to the
sulfoxides requires relatively high energy. One
of the oxidants, m-chloroperbenzoic acid
(MCPBA) has been intensively used in the
synthesis of prazole derivatives.
Under the traditional approach, the sulfide
intermediate is oxidized by using MCPBA to
manufacture Rabreprazole. The yield of the
MCPBA mediated oxidation of sulfide
intermediate to manufacture Rabeprazole is not
more than 50% and also involves cumbersome
isolation. MCPBA mediated oxidation step is
most environmentally unfriendly in the synthesis
of Rabeprazole. By addition of one oxygen to
the sulfide, more than ten times of m-
chlorobenzoic acid is generated as a waste.
Definitively this transformation is certainly not
green and the reagent itself is expensive,
hazardous and shock sensitive.
To overcome the harmful impacts of the
traditional approach, Dr. Reddy‟s has developed
a new green approach in which oxidation of
sulfide intermediate involves the aqueous media
and eco-friendly reagent sodium hypochlorite
(NaOCl). The method is efficient, versatile, and
produces sulfoxides under mild conditions.
These reactions have also been developed with
a large variety of substrates like other prazole
congers‟ precursor. Sodium hypochlorite is a
common and comparatively lesser expensive
reagent. It also affords high yields of sulfoxides
and the over oxidized product sulfone is
minimized in the transformation. The only by-
product generated in sodium chloride.
In the new process the yield of the sulfoxidation
of sulfide intermediate to manufacture
Rabeprazole increases from 45% to 76%. The
method produces environmentally acceptable
sodium chloride salt. The stage cycle also get
reduced to 24 hours from 72 hours. The weight
by weight loading of oxidizing agent NaOCl in
the reaction is almost five times less than that of
MCPBA. The process is both eco-friendly and
cost effective.
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Biodiesel production
parameters
Batch plant Microreactor
plant
Comparison of microreactor
plant w.r.t. batch plant
Plant output (tons/yr) 20,000 20,000
Reactor volume (m3) 10 2.4 x 10
-3 4167x smaller
Plant footprint (m2) 149 60 60% smaller
Surface area to volume ratio
(m2/m
3)
14.9 2.5 x 104 1678x higher
Productivity (kg/h/m3) 250 10.4 x 10
5 4167x higher
Energy input
(kJ per kg)
7.1 0.4 18x lower
Mass transfer
coefficient kla (s-1
)
10-2
-10 10-100 104 higher
Heat transfer
coefficient (kJ/m3)
628 2.86x106 4554x higher
Mixing efficiency (Re) 7x105 10 7x10
4 higher
Capital cost
(R million)
8.60 6.50 24.4% saving
Manufacturing costs (R/L) 6.60 5.87 11.1% saving
Case Study 7: CSIR Biosciences –
Microreactor technology for bio-
diesel production36
CSIR Biosciences was working on production of
biodiesel from different sources of vegetable oil
like soya, sunflower, canola, jatropha, palm, and
peanut. The reactions involving production of
bio-diesel were scaled to the plant level from the
laboratory level using the traditional batch
technology of stirred tank, jacketed reactors.
The agro-processing and chemical technologies
group was looking for using the microreactor
technology for commercial production of
biodiesel. A laboratory scale experiment was
successfully conducted followed with
construction of pilot unit and commercialization
of the process.
The process involved using sunflower and soya
as the oil sources in a base catalyzed trans-
esterification reaction with methanol. Different
kinds of microreactors were evaluated to
measure reaction performance with regards to
conversion, selectivity and productivity. The
reactor with optimum performance was selected.
The process was optimized followed with study
of downstream processing. Reaction kinetics as
well as key process parameters were also
evaluated. The trans-esterification reaction takes
almost three hours to complete in a stirred tank
batch reactor. On the other hand the time
required by using microreactor was less than a
second. The reaction rate increased by 10,800
times by using microreactor, implying improved
reaction efficiencies by using microreactor
(Refer table 11).
Table 11: Batch vs. Microreactor performance for biodiesel production
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Parameter Sorona Nylon 6,6 Nylon 6
Non-renewable energy consumption
(MJ/kg polymer)
83.8 138.62 120.5
Greenhouse gas emissions
(kg CO2 equivalents/kg polymer)
3.38 7.9 9.1
Case Study 8: Dupont, Tate & Lyle –
Bio-based thermoplastic polymer37
Dupont manufactures Sorona, a renewable
sourced thermoplastic polymer which is
commercially used in carpet and apparel
manufacturing. Sorona consists of 37%
renewable plant based ingredients (28% bio-
based carbon) by weight. The corn feedstock is
converted to glucose at the Tate & Lyle corn wet
mill. The glucose is converted to form bio 1,3-
propanediol (PDO) by using a proprietary
fermentation process followed with cleaning and
distillation. The Bio-PDO then goes through
continuous polymerization operation to produce
Sorona polymer. The polymer is extruded into
multiple strands, cooled and passed through a
pelletizer to manufacture small sized pieces.
The production of Bio-PDO consumes up to
40% less energy and reduces greenhouse gas
emissions by more than 40% compared to
petroleum-based PDO. By using Bio-PDO as a
monomer in production of Sorona, Dupont is
able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
63% compared to petroleum-based nylon-6.
Sorona manufacturing also reduces the use of
non-renewable energy resources by 30% (Refer
table 12).
Table 12: Performance comparison of Sorona, Nylon 6,6 and Nylon 6
Parameter Sorona Nylon 6,6 Nylon 6
Non-renewable energy consumption
(MJ/kg polymer)
83.8 138.62 120.5
Greenhouse gas emissions
(kg CO2 equivalents/kg polymer)
3.38 7.9 9.1
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Case Study 9: Kalundborg
Industrial Park – Symbiotic
relationship for reduced external
dependence38,39
Kalundborg is an industrial eco-park in
Denmark. The project began in 1972 and by
1995 estimated savings were around USD 10
million a year. The project involved nine core
stakeholders of the Kalundborg area
1. Novo Nordisk, pharmaceutical
manufacturer
2. Novozymes, enzyme manufacturer
3. Gyproc, plasterboard manufacturer
4. Kalundborg Municipality
5. Dong Energy, Asnaes Power Station
6. RGS 90, soil remediation and recovery
company
7. Statoil, oil refinery
8. Kara/Novoren, waste treatment
company
9. Industrial Symbiosis Institute
The stakeholders exchange materials and
energy such that by-products from one business
can be used as low-cost inputs by the others.
For instance the Asnaes power plant which
operates at 40% thermal efficiency generates
heat, which is used as process steam by StatOil,
Novo Nordisk and Novozymes. The same steam
was used in homes in Kalundborg for central
heating. In return treated wastewater from the
Statoil Refinery is used as cooling water by the
Asnaes power station.
The power station produces other valuable by-
products. For instance it produces almost
170,000 tons of fly ash per year which is used in
cement manufacturing and road building.
Gyproc uses the power plant's fly ash to obtain
gypsum, a by-product obtained from the
chemical desulphurization of flue gases. Gyproc
purchases about 80,000 tons of fly ash each
year accounting for almost 66% of its annual
requirements. Surplus gas from the Statoil
refinery which was earlier flared off is now
delivered to the power station and to Gyproc as
a low-cost energy source. Novo Nordisk's by-
products are used by the farmers as fertilizers.
Around 1.5 million m3 of fertilizers are delivered
annually to the farmers free of charge. Apart
from this, Novozymes produces bio-mass which
is processed to develop a fertilizer branded as
NovoGro which is inturn distributed to the local
farmers. The waste collection company
Kara/Noveren collects used plasterboards and
provides them to Gyproc for reuse replacing
tons of natural gypsum which would have been
imported. RGS 90 treats oil and chemically
polluted soil through a bio remediation process
that uses Novozymes sludge bi-product as a key
nutrient. Post treatment, the clean soil is used as
filling material for construction activities in the
area.
Inbicon a technology company is putting up a
bio-ethanol plant. The bio-ethanol plant will
operate on straw, a by-product of the agricultural
activities in the region, thus creating another
symbiotic relationship (Refer table 13 and table
14).
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Annual resource savings through interchanges
Location Resource Savings
Statoil Water 1.2 million m3
Asnaes Coal 30,000 tons
Novo Nordisk Oil 19,000 tons
- Fertilizer Equivalent to 800 tons Nitrogen and 400 tons phosphorus
- Sulphur 2,800 tons
- Gypsum 80,000 tons
Wastes avoided through interchanges
Location Waste Avoided
Asnaes (Landfill) Fly ash and clinker 200,000 tons
Asnaes (Landfill) Scrubber sludge 80,000 tons
Statoil (Air) Sulphur 2,800 tons
Novo Nordisk (Landfill or sea) Water treatment sludge 1 million m3
- Sulphur dioxide 2,000 tons
- Carbon dioxide 1,30,000 tons
Collaboration amongst the various stake holders
of the eco-system resulting in innovative
solutions applicable to the local area, along with
emphasis on recycling, degradation and
commercial “afterlife” of the product and bi-
products has resulted in development of a
symbiotic relationship for the city of Kalundborg.
This holistic approach has not only reduced the
dependencies on external resources but has
also reduced the waste emissions in the
environment and improved material and energy
efficiencies for all the stakeholders, thereby
creating a sustainable solution.
Table 13: Benefits from Kalundborg Industrial Ecopark
Parameter Sorona Nylon 6,6 Nylon 6
Non-renewable energy consumption
(MJ/kg polymer)
83.8 138.62 120.5
Greenhouse gas emissions
(kg CO2 equivalents/kg polymer)
3.38 7.9 9.1
Table 14: Benefits from Kalundborg Industrial Ecopark
Parameter Sorona Nylon 6,6 Nylon 6
Non-renewable energy consumption
(MJ/kg polymer)
83.8 138.62 120.5
Greenhouse gas emissions
(kg CO2 equivalents/kg polymer)
3.38 7.9 9.1
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SECTION 8
References
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References 1. FICCI India Chem Report 2013
2. Industrial Symbiosis and Green
Chemistry, James Clark
3. Fundamentals of Green Chemistry:
Efficiency in Reaction Design, Roger A.
Sheldon
4. Indicative approximation by Newreka
5. ACS Green Chemistry Institute Round
Tables, Dr. Bogdan Comanita
6. Axelera Director Virginie Pevere,
Grenoble Isere Report, June 2012
7. California‟s Green Chemistry law goes
into effect, Green Biz website,
September 2013
8. Pike Research Report on Green
Chemistry: Green Chemicals set to soar
to $98.5 billion by 2020
9. Pike Research Report on Green
Chemistry: Green Chemicals will save
Industry %65.5 billion by 2020
10. The Business Case for Green and
Sustainable Chemistry, Ecochem
11. Dow‟s pillars of sustainable and green
economy
12. Environmental Benign Synthesis of
Amine Intermediate, Mylan Case Study,
Implementation of Newreka‟s proprietary
Recycle@SourceTM
Solution
13. ACC Company Case Study, Green
Industry Platform
14. Carbon Credit Case Study, Sell website
15. Green Business Model Innovation –
Business Case Study Compendium,
Eco-Innovera publications
16. Primary Research by Tata Strategic
Management Group
17. Strong Combination Pill, Business
Today, January 2012
18. Dow Chemical Sustainability Footprint
Tool, Sustainable Brands, November
2012
19. Preliminary Life Cycle Assessment of
popular materials for reusable sports
bottles Case Study, Eastman Chemicals
20. EPA Green Chemistry Nomination Table
21. Ecoscale, a semi-quantitative tool to
select an organic preparation based on
economical and ecological parameters
by Koen Van Aken, Lucjan Strekowski,
Luc Patiny
22. Realities and Opportunities in
Industrialization of Green Chemistry,
Nitesh Mehta
23. Analysis by Equinox
24. Pigment & Resin Technology, Volume
42, Issue 6
25. Enzymatic Reaction Mechanisms by
Perry A. Frey, Adrian D. Hegeman
26. Biocatalysis by Tyler Johannes, Michael
R. Simurdiak, Huimin Zhao
27. Frost & Sullivan Report on Strategic
Analysis of APAC Green Surfactants
Market
28. Bio-based chemicals: In need of
innovative strategies, Chemical Weekly,
February 28, 2012
29. Markets and Markets Report on
Renewable Chemicals Market
30. Executive Summary on Global
Biomimicry Efforts: An Economic Game
Changer, San Diego Zoo website
31. Kanoria Chemicals company Website
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32. Regulators urged to frame guidelines to
tackle VOC emissions to combat odour
issues, Chemical Weekly, September
17, 2013
33. Zero Liquid Discharge Facility in Textile
Dyeing Effluents at Tirupur, Sajid
Hussain
34. Solvent Recovery Strategies for the
Sustainable Design of APIs, Mariano J.
Savelski, C.Stewart Slater
35. Low Carbon Footprint Solvents for the
fine chemicals industry, Speciality
Chemicals Magazine, March 2013
36. Microreactors – A marvel of modern
manufacturing technology: Biodiesel
Case Study, S.R.Buddoo,
N.Siyakatshana, B.Pongoma
37. Dupont website
38. Kalundborg Industrial Park Case Study,
International Institute for Sustainable
Development
39. Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis Case
Study, Robert Suarez, June 2012
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SECTION 9
Quotes
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The Expert Comments
“Green chemistry and engineering has been variously defined and is largely misunderstood as a result. It is, at the very least, a way of thinking about chemistry and engineering through the application of design principles that drive us towards more sustainable actions and outcomes. It is the practice of chemistry and engineering as though the world‟s future is at stake.”
DAVID CONSTABLE, Director ACS – Green Chemistry Institute, USA
"In today‟s age of rapid industrialization, sustainable development is certainly the need of the hour for businesses and governments at large. The Chemical industry has a major role to play in this scenario, by taking up the challenge of being innovative in order to meet future demands, while maintaining necessary balance in the environment - all in a commercially viable manner.
LANXESS‟ cutting-edge technologies and processes aim at reducing energy consumption, safeguarding natural resources and developing commercially viable solutions at the same time. LANXESS‟ „Green‟ Chemistry reduces the environmental footprint at every stage of the value chain – right from raw materials to the final product. We continue to systematically expand our research and development activities in order to meet these objectives. In doing so, we have set ourselves specific, time-bound, measurable goals. In fact, a number of LANXESS‟ production sites across the globe are already running on a climate-neutral basis using renewable energy sources while LANXESS products are also helping to drive the sustainable energy revolution."
Dr. JOERG STRASSBURGER, Country Representative and Managing Director, Lanxess India Private Limited
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“We at Godrej are committed to the green and sustainability principles even before CSR and Green became buzzword in the industry. We pioneered the concept of Vegetable oil based soap and as a group we support large mangroves area which demonstrates the commitment towards nature. On product front, GIL- chemicals is increasingly participating in driving the usage of oleo chemicals & surfactants which are eco -friendly & green. On manufacturing front ,at Godrej Industries (chemicals division), we are committed to become Carbon Neutral, Water positive, reduce specific energy consumption by 30%, increase renewable energy use to 30% and zero waste to landfill. Green makes perfect business sense. Conserving natural resources has always paid us back and this is important element in driving our business decisions.”
NITIN NABAR, Executive Director & President (Chemicals), Godrej Industries Limited
“Within the industry the focus is going to be on four key steps which industry could undertake: Measure and grow in carbon sensitive way, continuously look at water intensity and end use water footprint, improve energy efficiency and focus on waste reduction.
Green Chemistry has a central role and acts as a remedial for the four critical components of environmental sustainability”
R. MUKUNDAN, Managing Director, TATA Chemicals Limited
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“In my view, best-in-class standards of safety and sustainability in our manufacturing sector will determine our country‟s global competitiveness and will emerge as a key differentiator in this decade and the next, much as the pursuit of quality was a couple of decades ago. As a company looks at green manufacturing processes, optimal use of resources and reduction of waste (be it energy or raw materials) are important considerations in addition to increasing efficiencies and profitability. It is important to evaluate technologies and solutions for responsible management of waste and remediation of any hazardous waste or by products. Many industries in India are reaping the benefits of science powered innovations that help reduce wastage and facilitate manufacturing processes and products that are environment friendly. For example, DuPont™ PrimaGreen EcoScour® solution for the textiles knit processing industry helps reduce water consumption by 20 percent and caustic usage by 30 percent in pretreatment process Similarly, DuPont‟s advanced polymer Sorona® PTT, a renewably sourced fiber that uses Bio-PDO® as a key ingredient, helps reduce energy consumption by 30 percent and releases 63 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to the production of nylon 6.”
Dr. RAJEEV VAIDYA, President – South Asia & ASEAN, DuPont
“The manufacturing sector in India has come of age and is looking beyond profitability. The social and environmental concerns are growing and the resurgent Indian Chemical Industry is gearing up to meet the new global challenges. There is a need to leverage manufacturing competitiveness through innovative and sustainable chemistry which encompasses what we call today the Green Chemistry. Sustainable solutions through green chemistry can be achieved only if we apply them to whole life cycle of the product starting from feedstock, designing, manufacturing and usage pattern. We can no longer trade off the environmental concerns for short term objectives. The manufacturers and users, both have an equal responsibility to make a commitment towards conservation of environment & resources through Green Chemistry”.
RAKESH BHARTIA, CEO, Indian Glycols
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"Green Chemistry is a subject that deals prevention of waste in any activity around us by design. Outcome of this discipline can be realized if there are skilled in art manpower, impulsive yet well-defined opportunities and rewarding challenges which would essentially make us to sustain and save our environment."
Dr. RAKESHWAR BANDICHHOR, Director, API – R&D, Dr. Reddy‟s Laboratories Ltd
“Ignoring the effort to turn green would cost much more than the cost of turning green”
SATISH KHANNA, Founder LAZORR Initiative, Ex-Group President,
LUPIN
“Change and Innovation have been historically the key indicators of where the chemical industry has moved. The industry‟s evolving inner mind has helped address many of our world‟s problems as well improve quality of life on the planet and will continue to do so. The chemical sciences and engineering have been in constant pursuit of finding innovative ways to ensure that engineering and manufacturing is designed for sustainability. While the industry has brought new products into the market, they have also established a key indicator of sustainable growth – responsibly, to proactively address the many issues and concerns about safety and environmental degradation associated with it. To my mind this has been the result of the emergence of green chemistry.
Having said this, I strongly believe that the next era for the industry will be that of sustainable chemistry – chemistry that looks beyond only one science. It will be a catalyst for change, an innovative problem-solver and a long-term solutionist to global sustainability challenges.”
VIPUL SHAH, President – CEO & Chairman, Dow Chemical International Private Limited
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SECTION 10
About Tata Strategic
About IGCW
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About Tata Strategic
Our Offerings
Founded in 1991 as a division of Tata
Industries Ltd, Tata Strategic Management
Group is the largest Indian own management
consulting firm. It has a 70 member strong
consulting team supported by a panel of
domain experts. Tata Strategic has undertaken
500+ engagements, with over 100 clients,
across countries and sectors.
It has a growing client base outside India with
increasing presence outside the Tata Group. A
majority of revenues now come from outside
the group and more than 20% revenues from
clients outside India.
Tata Strategic offers a comprehensive range of
solutions covering Direction Setting, Driving
Strategic Initiatives and Implementation
Support
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Report co-authored by Pulkit Agarwal, Associate Consultant ([email protected])
Tata Strategic Contacts
Manish Panchal
Practice Head – Chemicals, Logistics and Energy
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +91 22 6637 6713
Charu Kapoor
Engagement Manager – Chemicals
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +91 22 6637 6756
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About IGCW
Green ChemisTree Foundation, a not-for-profit,
organization based out of India, has created a
platform called “Industrial Green Chemistry
World (IGCW)” to facilitate promote green
chemistry practices. IGCW2013 – Convention &
Ecosystem, being organised by Green
ChemisTree Foundation, on 6th, 7
th & 8
th
December‟2013 at Mumbai, India includes the
following dimensions:
1. IGCW- Symposium: to educate senior
decision makers from over 300 pharma,
specialty & fine chemical companies
about the value of Green Chemistry and
empower them to adopt Green
Chemistry.
2. IGCW-Expo: an exhibition exclusive for
Green Chemistry Solution providers to
showcase their products & services.
3. 180o Seminar: Technical seminars to
educate chemists & chemical engineers
from industry on topics like Green
Catalysts, Green Solvents, Green
Processes and Green Engineering.
4. Workshop Academia - Industry
Interaction: a platform for
academic/research institutes to
proactively market their “ready to
commercialise” technologies to the
industry.
5. Workshop for Students & Teachers:
Workshop to educate teachers &
students on Green Chemistry.
6. Conference for Pollution Control
Board Officials: to educate regulatory
bodies about Green Chemistry and
empower them to be facilitators in
implementation of Green Chemistry in
the industry.
7. Conference on Industrial Green
Chemistry in Pharma Industry: to
identify barriers in implementation of
Green Chemistry in the pharma industry
and create possibilities to overcome
them.
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