Issue 6, 2002

Sustainable development: efficiency and recycling in chemicals manufacturing

Abstract

Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Sustainable Development has been increasingly accepted as a way to run businesses by balancing economic, environmental and societal responsibilities. Important aspects of environmental responsibility are the utilisation of natural resources and the disposal of wastes. These are addressed here.

Manufacturing processes and integrated manufacturing chains applied in the petrochemical industry are analysed in terms of feed, energy and chemicals that are consumed. Several chemical intermediates and polymers with large consumption of energy and/or chemicals are readily identified. These may be prime candidates for process improvement efforts.

Two indices are proposed for the preliminary evaluation of the recycle options of major polymers. They allow discrimination between materials that need to be reused, those that can also be depolymerised and those for which pyrolysis/gasification or incineration with energy recovery are also responsible options.

Graphical abstract: Sustainable development: efficiency and recycling in chemicals manufacturing

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Aug 2002
First published
08 Oct 2002

Green Chem., 2002,4, 546-550

Sustainable development: efficiency and recycling in chemicals manufacturing

J. Lange, Green Chem., 2002, 4, 546 DOI: 10.1039/B207546F

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