The concept of sustainable chemistry: Key drivers for the transition towards sustainable development

Blum, Christopher Thomas; Bunke, Dirk; Hungsberg, Maximilian; Roelofs, E.M.G.; Joas, Anke; Joas, Reinhard; Blepp, Markus; Stolzenberg, Hans-Christian

doi:10.1016/j.scp.2017.01.001

Cited by 104 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Chemicals policy should strive for substances that are as inherently safe as possible. This is a goal of the Concept of Sustainable Chemistry [41][42][43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How should we deal with the interfaces between chemicals, product and waste legislation?

Friege¹,

Kummer²,

Steinhäuser³

et al. 2019

Environ Sci Eur

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Background: In the 7th Environment Action Programme, the European Commission targets two essential goals in the handling of substances and materials known by the buzzwords "non-toxic environment" and "circular economy". There are numerous interfaces in product, waste and chemicals legislation in these two areas. This leads to conflicting objectives, e.g. with regard to the classification of waste in analogy to chemicals as well as at the border between waste and secondary raw materials that are further processed into products. Results:We investigate how these conflicting objectives can be mitigated or resolved. In our view, it is necessary to provide operators in the waste management sector with considerably more information on the composition of used products than before; this should include not only hazardous substances but also materials that interfere with the recycling process as well as recyclable or valuable materials. Waste management legislation largely follows risk considerations-a 1:1 transfer of hazard classifications of chemicals and products to waste management would be counterproductive to achieving the Commission's objectives. In the case of contaminated secondary raw materials, their input into products can be justified in specific cases. However, this requires a risk assessment that includes in particular physicochemical factors, patterns of utilisation and controlled collection routes. Internationally recognised lists of secondary materials are an important condition for determining end-of-waste status and thus for increasing material recycling. Conclusions:A common guiding principle for chemicals policy and waste management is urgently needed. © The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creat iveco mmons .org/licen ses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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“…Chemicals policy should strive for substances that are as inherently safe as possible. This is a goal of the Concept of Sustainable Chemistry [41][42][43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How should we deal with the interfaces between chemicals, product and waste legislation?

Friege¹,

Kummer²,

Steinhäuser³

et al. 2019

Environ Sci Eur

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“…A special challenge for the latter is to appropriately consider all life cycle stages of a given product when, for example, characterising exposure to air pollutants [29,30] or to chemicals in consumer products [31][32][33]. Other European strategies include moving towards a bio-based and circular economy, promoting sustainable chemistry and a non-toxic environment by 2050, and creating a protecting Europe [34][35][36][37][38]. All these strategies represent additional challenges for providing adequate exposure information.…”

Section: The European Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building a European exposure science strategy

Fantke

Goetz

Schlüter

et al. 2019

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Exposure information is a critical element in various regulatory and non-regulatory frameworks in Europe and elsewhere. Exposure science supports to ensure safe environments, reduce human health risks, and foster a sustainable future. However, increasing diversity in regulations and the lack of a professional identity as exposure scientists currently hamper developing the field and uptake into European policy. In response, we discuss trends, and identify three key needs for advancing and harmonizing exposure science and its application in Europe. We provide overarching building blocks and define six long-term activities to address the identified key needs, and to iteratively improve guidelines, tools, data, and education. More specifically, we propose creating European networks to maximize synergies with adjacent fields and identify funding opportunities, building common exposure assessment approaches across regulations, providing tiered education and training programmes, developing an aligned and integrated exposure assessment framework, offering best practices guidance, and launching an exposure information exchange platform. Dedicated working groups will further specify these activities in a consistent action plan. Together, these elements form the foundation for establishing goals and an action roadmap for successfully developing and implementing a 'European Exposure Science Strategy' 2020-2030, which is aligned with advances in science and technology.

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“…It is increasingly recognized that a more holistic approach to the use and stewardship of chemicals throughout their entire societal life cycles is essential. For example, the term “sustainable chemistry”, as distinct from “green chemistry” and “operational safe use” criteria , has been proposed by the German Federal Environment Agency to address increased resource efficiency, safer and less polluting substances, innovations beyond sector borders, improved performance, and increased added value.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Additive sustainability footprint: Rationale and pilot evaluation of a tool for assessing the sustainable use of PVC additives

Everard

Blume

2019

Vinyl Additive Technology

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PVC compounds contain additives necessary for processing and stability, and to modify the plastic's properties. The Europe-wide VinylPlus ® voluntary commitment includes a challenge to make progress toward sustainable use of additives. Additive Sustainability Footprint (ASF) was developed to assess sustainable use of additives across the whole societal life cycles of finished PVC articles, taking a risk-based approach rather than simplistic hazard assessment. ASF addresses impacts across six life cycle assessment (LCA) stages established by ISO Standard 14040, using the four System Conditions (sustainability principles) developed by The Natural Step (TNS) covering social as well as environmental factors. For each LCA stage/System Condition combination, seven generically similar questions cover negative impacts (many covered by existing tools and regulations) but also the additive's positive contributions to the sustainability of finished articles. Positive contributions include ethical sourcing, longevity of service life, low maintenance inputs, and recyclability. Answers to questions determine a score, which can be combined across the life cycle and with other additives. Testing on a generic EU PVC window profile supported ASF development and demonstrated applicability and potential benefits including use for sensitivity analysis of alternative additives from different geopolitical regions or from recycled as opposed to virgin sources.

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The concept of sustainable chemistry: Key drivers for the transition towards sustainable development

Cited by 104 publications

References 11 publications

How should we deal with the interfaces between chemicals, product and waste legislation?

How should we deal with the interfaces between chemicals, product and waste legislation?

Building a European exposure science strategy

Additive sustainability footprint: Rationale and pilot evaluation of a tool for assessing the sustainable use of PVC additives

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