Green Chemistry
The chemicals industry suffers from a poor reputation due to peoples’ belief that chemicals are bad for your health.
It is true that the chemical industry uses and produces some chemicals that are toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative and that most chemicals have never been properly registered because they arrived on the market before 1981 when the current regulations came into force (an issue recently addressed by The European Commission by introducing the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) legislation).
However, it is also the case that the development of chemical products over the past 100 years has made important contributions to people’s quality of life and the economy: most of the materials and technical advances that modern life is based on, from pharmaceuticals to silicon chips to cosmetics and clothes dyes, all rely on chemistry.
Indeed, many of the solutions required to help us adapt to a more sustainable lifestyle are coming from the chemicals industry – solar panels, fuel cells and catalytic converters to name but a few. There are sizeable opportunities for companies that develop innovative alternatives or new technologies that serve to reduce environmental impacts or benefit the environment.
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