Green chemistry celebrates 25 years of progress

Abstract

For chemists and chemical engineers, it’s not easy being green. It’s a creative challenge to choose safer reagents and solvents, design more efficient catalysts, develop cleaner chemical manufacturing processes, use biobased materials when possible, and find better ways to dispose of or recycle waste. Being green is also a challenge for educators, who are working to modernize curriculum materials for training the next generation of chemists. For a quarter-century, since the concept of green chemistry was formally introduced, the chemistry community has been chipping away at these challenges. Hundreds of scientists and engineers gathered to celebrate their progress last month in Portland, Ore., one of the world’s most environmentally conscious cities, at the annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference (GC&E). It was a milestone event, marking 25 years since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established its Green Chemistry Program and the 20th year of the conference, which is organized by