Singapore-based Sustainable Chemistry for the Textile Industry (SCTI), an alliance of six major producers of leather and textile chemicals promoting sustainable chemistry in the industry, has joined forces with the chemical industry’s Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative. They said that they will “collaborate in driving convergence in standards and methodologies and inspire industry action for a better future”.
ECHA has published its fifth triennial report on the use of alternatives to testing on animals for REACH. Based on data from 12,439 registered substances up until 31 July 2022, it concluded that progress is being made and alternatives are widely used when assessing the safety of chemical substances.
Georg Winkler, a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, and Alexander Kei, a partner at the firm, explore how sustainability can secure the competitiveness of Europe’s chemical industry*
In the 20 years to 2020, the European chemical industry delivered strong financial performance, providing total return to shareholders (TRS) similar to its North American peers and higher than Asian peers. However, since 2020, chemical companies in Europe have fallen behind their global competitors.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a ban on most uses of methylene chloride (or dichloromethane) under the Toxic Substances Control Act, on the grounds that exposure can lead to severe health impacts. This makes it the second chemical, after asbestos, to undergo risk management under the reformed process created by the 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.
Evonik has reached a settlement with the US EPA for exceeding permitted emission limits of ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol at its speciality surfactants facility in Reserve, Louisiana. Both are regulated as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) under the Clean Air Act.
This followed an inspection on 18 April 2033 and an information request on 27 September, which concluded that emissions had exceeded the permitted levels. Evonik shut down the operations from 18 November until 3 February 2023, when it installed a temporary flare that can remove 98% or more of HAP emissions.
The use of renewable carbon from wood to produce biobased products will have a crucial role, argues Martin Ledwon, VP of sustainability at UPM Biorefining
Paul Vanden Branden, director and product manager at laboratory equipment supplier SciMed, examines the potential of supercritical CO2 to supplant environmentally harmful solvent in extractions and separations
The environmental and financial challenges associated with widely used organic solvents are severe. To reach sustainability goals, laboratories around the world must wean themselves off these long relied-upon hydrocarbons and pursue greener alternatives.
