Green and Sustainable Chemistry

On the evening of Thursday 24 February 2022 RSC Belgium opened its 2022 programme with a webinar talk from RSC President Professor Tom Welton OBE on Green and Sustainable Chemistry.

In the presentation Tom discussed the development of the complimentary ideas of Green Chemistry and Sustainable Chemistry. He showed how regulation has led to innovation, how ideas of the scale of anthropogenic impacts on the environment have changed, and how Green Chemistry and Sustainable Chemistry relate to each other.

From a Belgian perspective it was interesting that Tom highlighted the Solvay process to produce Soda-Ash as one of the first examples of  sustainable chemistry. In 1861, Belgian industrial chemist Ernest Solvay turned his attention to the expensive and highly polluting existing process to produce this precursor to soap. Solvay's process was more economical and with its recycling of ammonia, less polluting. The Solvay's constructed a plant in Couillet, today a suburb of Charleroi, and when on to build up an immense fortune based on chemistry.

Tom argued that sustainable chemistry is vital to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and that the future for chemistry lay in 'Safe and Sustainable by Design chemicals'.

Professor Tom Welton OBE FRSC CChem FCGI is Professor of Sustainable Chemistry at Imperial College London. He served as Head of Imperial’s Department of Chemistry from 2007 to 2014 and as Dean of the Faculty of Natural Science from 2015 to 2019. He is a Fellow and the current President of the Royal Society of Chemistry and previously connected with RSC Belgium during our 2021 AGM. Tom's research focuses on sustainable chemistry, with particular focus on ionic liquids and on solvent effects on chemical reactions. 

You can relive the full webinar below or via the RSC Belgium YouTube Channel.

Chemists own the Future!

“The future belongs to chemistry and chemists” that was the inspiring message given by Dr. Mike Pitts (below, left) of the UK’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to a packed house of members and Friends at our meeting on 15 May at the British School of Brussels. Mike outlined the major societal challenges facing our world today and in the near future. He then showed how chemistry has a vital role to play in providing solutions to these issues – but also how the success of these solutions depends on a change of mindset in manufacturing and society in general.

In the near future – say by 2050 - we will need to enable 9.5bn people to live well within the resources of a single planet. This is a significant challenge.

By 2050 we will also have three billion new middle class in the developing world all looking to embrace the ‘western’ consumer lifestyle. In addition we will all be living longer with huge implications for how we manage chronic diseases. As Mike put it: “By 2050 in the UK, on the current model for care of the ageing population, all 18 year olds will have to become care nurses by law!” He also pointed out that the majority of babies born today in the EU will live past 100 and the first person to live to 150 has most probably already been born.

At the same time we tend to take our modern technology for granted. A modern smartphone contains a great range of elements that we have only recently begun to exploit. The amounts are small per application but very widespread in use. There are now more mobile phones on the planet than people and each one contains half the periodic table: around 40 elements.

Chemical solution?

The key to a sustainable future is to base our thinking around resource and energy efficiency. Mike showed how by closing the loop in manufacturing we can minimise waste and maximise reuse and recycling and therefore help provide the goods and services that our growing population need.

This will need a significant mindset change. “Chemists are trained to make ‘white powders and clear liquids’” he pointed out, but consumers don’t really purchase products any more they purchase effects or services. This change in perception can help drive forward the materials cycle to minimise waste.

Most importantly we have a generation growing up now with an inherent understanding of sustainability and a desire to see a more resource efficient world claims Mike. He believes that the process industries will need to engage widely with other disciplines as they realise our importance and the importance of chemistry in general.

Mike was a very entertaining and inspiring speaker and there was a very lively discussion after his presentation. How do we make the products and services that we need truly sustainable? And what is chemistry’s role in ensuring this happens? Questions we all need to ponder deeply.

Mike left us with a great quote from a leading UK designer and sustainability expert that we should all be shouting from the rooftops: “Chemists own the future!”

Sustainability expert

Dr. Mike Pitts is an expert in chemical aspects of sustainability. Before joining the TSB, he was Sustainability Manager with the Chemical Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network (CIKTN) leading the development of CIKTN’s Sustainable Design Guide.

Mike is an organic chemist by training (BSc, University of Loughborough and PhD, University of Exeter) and worked as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Vienna. He is great enthusiast for chemistry and a trustee of the excellent Catalyst Science Discovery Centre in Widnes.

Crowds and Prizes at Emsley talk

Dr John Emsley's lecture on 'A Healthy, Wealthy, Sustainable World' through chemistry attracted well over 70 members and friends to the British School of Brussels on the evening of Monday 19 September. The event was also the venue for presentation of prizes to students who scored well in the section's recent Chemistry Challenge competition.

John Emsley (right) is a champion of chemistry and his talk was based around his new book of the same name that was specifically written for International Year of Chemistry 2011 and describes the importance of chemistry in everyday life, the benefits that chemical science currently brings to society, and how this can continue on a truly sustainable basis.

“The world stands at a crossroads,” said John. “But what route to the future should we take?” A route to a sustainable society beckons John suggests, but requires a significant shift from a material world founded on fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, to one where materials are derived from biomass. “A great deal of emphasis on sustainability is solely on energy and fuels, but there is much more to it,” explained John. “And chemistry is vital to enable the transition to a bio-based society.”

Student prizes
But a key requirement to do this is more young people studying science and engineering. “Chemistry and the other sciences rely heavily on young people with vision and energy. This is the vital resource that we need to tap into if society wants a truly sustainable future,” John concluded.

RSC Belgium is playing its part in engaging with school students through a variety of initiatives including its recent Chemistry Challenge competition. This tough paper-based test of knowledge and initiative was devised by Rita Woodward and split into three sections: a chemistry multiple choice paper, structured questions on chemistry, and a 'Thinking Matters' paper that was not chemistry based.

Prizes were awarded to top performers in each section with the winners drawn from the British School of Brussels (BSB), International School of Brussels (ISB), St. Johns International School and the European Schools at Ixelles and Uccle. Some of the winners recieved their cash prizes and cerificates from section chair Prof. Bob Crichton at the John Emsley lecture (see above).

Keith Price Prize
The best overall entry in the two chemistry sections was from Krithika Swaminathan (pictured left) a studnet at at St. Johns school. Krithika will be the first recipient of the Keith Price Prize established in memory of one of RSC Belgium's founding members who died earlier this year.

Krithika and her family have recently left Belgium for Michigan in the USA, but the section hopes to keep in touch with her. Well done to Krithika and all the students who entered our 2011 Chemistry Challenge!

Look out for the 2012 edition!

A Healthy, Wealthy, Sustainable World

The world stands at a crossroads. What route to the future should we take? Dr John Emsley is a well-known champion of chemistry and works to help people get a better appreciation of the role of chemistry in daily life and its essential contribution to a future sustainable world.

John will be in Brussels on the evening of 19 September to talk about his latest book – ‘A Healthy, Wealthy, Sustainable World’. His latest work was specifically written for International Year of Chemistry 2011 and describes the importance of chemistry in everyday life, the benefits that chemical science currently brings to society, and how this can continue on a truly sustainable basis.

The route to a sustainable city beckons, but what effect will this have on chemistry, which seems to be so dependant on fossil resources? Its products are part of everyday life, and without them we could regress to the world of earlier generations when lives were blighted by disease, famine, dirt and pain.

What?
Dr. John Emsley on "A Healthy, Wealthy, Sustainable World"

When?
Monday September 19th at 19:45 for 20:00

Where?
The Brel Theatre at the British School of Brussels, Leuvensesteenweg 19, 3080 Tervuren.

Drinks and nibbles will be available after the lecture and there will be an opportunity to meet and talk with John.

Entrance: Adults €5, bona fide students free, payable at the door. Registration is not essential but if you do intend to come please email RSC Belgium with the number in your party, so we can make sure we have an adequate stock of refreshments on hand.

Dr. Emsley's talk will be based on his latest book ‘A Healthy, Wealthy Sustainable World’, which is published by the RSC.

About John
Dr John Emsley is the author of a series of highly readable best-selling popular science books about everyday chemistry. He has also published in national newspapers and magazines, and he has written chemistry text books and booklets for industry. Following his PhD research at Manchester University, John pursued an academic career in the University of London, before becoming science writer in residence at Imperial College London and then the University of Cambridge where he was science writer in residence. In addition to his popular books and articles he has also authored over 110 original research papers.

Big Day Out at Dow

Glorious sunshine welcomed RSC Belgium members to the Dow Terneuzen plant on Saturday 21 May. They joined some 800 other interested members of the public who visited one of Europe's biggest chemical complexes during this open doors event.

Our visit started with registration at the plant entrance, including a fine bag of Dow goodies, before transfer to the Communications Centre and the opportunity to see a range of interactive exibits focusing on sustainable chemistry and applications in the home, work and play.


There was also a bouncy castle for the kids and some excellent Dutch coffee and top-notch buns.


RSC member and Dow employee Carolyn Ribes (below, right) was our guide for a specially arranged anglophone coach tour of the huge plant at 11:00. The Terneuzen complex is massive covering some 440 hectares - equivalent apparently to 650 football pitches. The site's polyurethane plant is the largest in Europe.


Ecological site
Carolyn described Dow Terneuzen as being "like a city" with its own fire and ambulance service, restaurants and many other services. But Dow also takes its ecological responsibilities very seriously too. Next to the site is a Natura 2000 site of special ecological importance and, uniquely in Europe, the site takes the waste water from the neighbouring town of Terneuzen, cleans it and uses it for process water before cleaning it again and passing it into the River Schelde - an excellent innovation that is a benchmark for future non-competitive water use.


After the coach tour some mebers of the RSC party retired to the Brasserie Westbeer overlooking the Schelde in Terneuzen for a harty lunch. Some members of the RSC group (including Carolyn and her husband Al - also a Dow employee) are pictured outside the restaurant with the Dow plant in the background.