The Elsevier Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge is open to individuals or organisations operating in the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors from all countries. Projects can be in any field of Green or Sustainable Chemistry so long as they are applicable for use in developing countries.
Projects which are within their early stage are preferred. The winning project in the Elsevier Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge will receive a single payment of € 50,000; the winner of the second prize will receive a single payment of € 25,000.
Five candidates will be selected by the judges and invited to the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference, to defend their proposals. The opening address will be given by Barbara Hendricks, Federal Environment Minister of Germany.
Project Criteria
Projects will be reviewed against the following criteria:
- Be replicable, scalable, sustainable and set a benchmark for innovation
- Have practical applicability
- Be suitable for use in developing countries
- Have at least one of the following objectives:
- Reduce or eliminate the use or generation of one or more hazardous substance
- Provide a more sustainable method for using resources, during the design, manufacture or application of a chemical product
- Present a new business model fitting into the criteria of green and sustainable chemistry.
Green & Sustainable Chemistry
As the world’s population edges towards 9 billion, the strain on the planet’s resources is steadily increasing. In both the developed and developing world there is a growing demand for better food, more manufactured goods and improved access to utilities such as clean water and electricity. These are needs that can only be met by intensifying production in all areas of industry, thus increasing the need for raw materials.
In addition to the rapidly expanding demands on the world’s finite resources, a byproduct of increasing productivity is the production of unwanted chemicals which, when released into the environment, are often harmful. Since publication of the Bruntland report 30 years ago, it has become clear that increasing productivity without reducing the output of pollutants has serious consequences for the planet.
Chemists have a major role to play in ensuring a continued supply of the fertilizer, medicines and other chemicals needed to support the world’s population. It is also their responsibility to design processes that reduce or eliminate the production of unwanted or hazardous chemicals that can potentially damage the environment.
In 2012, as an extension of Millennium goals for the years up to 2015, the United Nations agreed to develop a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Among the goals proposed are:
- by 2030 enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technologies, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, and advanced and cleaner fossil fuel technologies, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technologies.
- by 2020 achieve environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle in accordance with agreed international frameworks and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.
- Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
The Elsevier Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge aims to contribute to these sustainable development goals by helping countries to develop sustainable and environmentally sound chemical processes.
