Ten years ago, the UN announced that the human race had reached a tipping point. 2007 marked the year that more than 50 % of the world’s population lived in cities. Today, that proportion is far higher…

Trends such as population growth, climate change, urbanisation, resource scarcity, conservation of energy and water, and reduction of waste and toxicity have led to the development of sustainable practices in industry, education and society. The desire to improve ways of living, the need for performance materials, and the urgency to close the gap between developed and emerging nations have propelled creative and innovative solutions based on green and sustainable chemistry to the forefront. This article provides an overview of the main impacts of green chemistry on industry, academia and society in the USA in the past ten years, as well as a summary of the drivers and barriers associated with the adoption of green chemistry practices. It also describes how researchers, policy makers, educators, investors and industries can work together to “build innovative solutions that transform and strengthen the chemical enterprise” (1) while addressing environmental and social challenges. The goal of this article is to understand why green chemistry is still primarily viewed as Joel Tickner, Director of Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3), University of Massachusetts, Lowell, USA, puts it: as “an environmental activity rather than one that, as experience shows, yields economic benefit, and it has yet to be integrated into the fabric of the chemical enterprise, educational systems, or government programs” (1).

The post Highlights of the Impacts of Green and Sustainable Chemistry on Industry, Academia and Society in the USA appeared first on Johnson Matthey Technology Review.

Introduction “Sustainability Calling” is focused on the definition of new paradigms to define a new concept of sustainability. Pierre Massotte has worked for IBM in Quality Assurance and then Advanced Technologies. He spent several years in IBM’s research and development laboratories in the USA, then became Scientific Director in EMEA Manufacturing to improve the competitiveness…

The post “Sustainability Calling: Underpinning Technologies” appeared first on Johnson Matthey Technology Review.

This themed issue focuses on ‘Sustainable Industry’ from the perspective of research advances and technological solutions. Starting with a high level policy context, it is clear that the roles and responsibilities of industry are broader than technology and go way beyond what happens within industry. People have been thinking about the issues and options encompassed…

The post Guest Editorial: Industry and Sustainability appeared first on Johnson Matthey Technology Review.

Implementing an environmental management system can be challenging for small businesses. ISO’s new handbook has been designed to assist SMEs in improving their environmental performance using ISO 14001.

With energy one of the most critical challenges facing the international community, the revision of ISO 50001 on energy management systems was given a major boost at the recently concluded Clean Energy…

This paper reviews the use and relation of the word ‘ptène’ to osmium. While Smithson Tennant discovered osmium in platinum ore in 1804, the French chemists Antoine-François Fourcroy and Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin simultaneously identified in a platinum residue a metal they called ‘ptène’. This name was most probably attributed to a mixture of platinoids (excluding platinum), mainly osmium and iridium. Nevertheless, Fourcroy later considered that ‘ptène’ was the name they attributed to osmium.

The post Osmium vs. ‘Ptène’: The Naming of the Densest Metal appeared first on Johnson Matthey Technology Review.

The remarkable benefits associated with the attraction of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-containing nanomicelles to metal nanoparticles in water allows for varying types of important catalysis to be done under very mild and green conditions.

The post The ‘Nano-to-Nano’ Effect Applied to Organic Synthesis in Water appeared first on Johnson Matthey Technology Review.

Revision is ongoing for ISO 22000 on food safety management systems, which has just reached the Draft International Standard (DIS) stage. The revised standard will incorporate a new core structure as well…