How do you select the “greenest” technology? Development of guidance for the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

There is widespread interest in government and industry in green chemistry and green technology. For truly “green” processes to be developed, scientists must take a concurrent, integrated approach that considers chemistry and technology. While it is vital to understand those things traditionally considered in technology selection such as operational, quality, and cost differences, it is equally vital to understand the associated environmental and safety issues that are inherent to the chosen technology. This is a major challenge and there is a clear need for guidance in this area. This paper proposes the concept of a “Clean/Green Technology Guide” as an expert system that would provide scientists and engineers with comparative environmental and safety performance information on available technologies for commonly performed unit operations in the pharmaceutical industry. At this stage, the framework has been developed to demonstrate the concept, using a metric set based on the concepts of sustainable development. This framework is used to evaluate the alternatives on a case-scenario basis, and will compare traditional and emerging technologies. A life-cycle approach is also used in the evaluation of the alternatives. This approach is illustrated by comparing batch, mini-, and microreactors.