TY - JOUR

T1 - Digitalization paving the ways for sustainable chemistry

T2 - switching on more green lights

AU - Zuin Zeidler, Vânia

PY - 2024/6/14

Y1 - 2024/6/14

N2 - The world is facing an interconnected crisis caused by a variety of factors including climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and chemical waste. One of most prominent factors is the exploitation of limited resources to convert them into chemical products based on the traditional linear approach. This has been provocatively described as rubbish chemistry, a "bad, old-school" system that needs to be revised globally. Representing one of the largest and most complex industrial sectors around the globe and accounting for $4 trillion USD in sales in 2019, the chemical industry generates fundamental components to produce agrochemicals, plastics, paints, adhesives, coatings, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. However, most of these chemicals are made using oil and natural gas, corresponding to 99% of the feedstocks for downstream organic chemical production. Over 80% of the producing companies assert that sustainability has become as important to them as revenue growth, and both increasingly depend on recent advancements in digitalization.

AB - The world is facing an interconnected crisis caused by a variety of factors including climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and chemical waste. One of most prominent factors is the exploitation of limited resources to convert them into chemical products based on the traditional linear approach. This has been provocatively described as rubbish chemistry, a "bad, old-school" system that needs to be revised globally. Representing one of the largest and most complex industrial sectors around the globe and accounting for $4 trillion USD in sales in 2019, the chemical industry generates fundamental components to produce agrochemicals, plastics, paints, adhesives, coatings, electronics, and pharmaceuticals. However, most of these chemicals are made using oil and natural gas, corresponding to 99% of the feedstocks for downstream organic chemical production. Over 80% of the producing companies assert that sustainability has become as important to them as revenue growth, and both increasingly depend on recent advancements in digitalization.

KW - Chemistry

KW - Sustainability Governance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196137924&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1126/science.adq3537

DO - 10.1126/science.adq3537

M3 - Comments / Debate / Reports

C2 - 38870287

AN - SCOPUS:85196137924

VL - 384

JO - Science (New York, N.Y.)

JF - Science (New York, N.Y.)

SN - 0036-8075

IS - 6701

M1 - adq3537

ER -