Environmentally sound manufacturing and polymer industry for the 21st century

Life cycle assessments to protect global environment and to control waste in the polymer industry are reviewed. It focused on 1) the environmentally sound technology, 2) the energy conservation, and 3) recycling of industrial products. The competitiveness of a nation depends on how to balance between economic development of sustainable growth and responsible care of global environment in borderless economy. It fully depends on the development of both the environmentally sound manufacturing and the effective products recycling technologies. Current environmental issues of the Japanese chemical industries as well as Toray's performance and new products development for environment business are reviewed; 1) Energy conservation and technology of Japanese manufacturing industry. 2) Development of environmentally sound technology. 3) Effective products recycling technologies, and 4) Sustainable growth of the new chemical age. The future issues of life cycle assessment and environmental protection in manufacturing industries are discussed.     

The Cradle-to-Cradle Life Cycle Assessment of Polyethylene terephthalate: Environmental Perspective

Over the last several years, the number of concepts and technologies enabling the production of environmentally friendly products (including materials, consumables, and services) has expanded. One of these ways is cradle-to-cradle (C2C) certified^TM. Life cycle assessment (LCA) technique is used to highlight the advantages of C2C and recycling as a method for reducing plastic pollution and fossil depletion by indicating the research limitations and gaps from an environmental perspective. Also, it estimates the resources requirements and focuses on sound products and processes. The C2C life cycle measurements for petroleum-based poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles, with an emphasis on different end-of-life options for recycling, were taken for mainland China, in brief. It is considered that the product is manufactured through the extraction of crude oil into ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. The CML analysis method was used in the LCIA for the selected midpoint impact categories. LCA of the product has shown a drastic aftermath in terms of environmental impacts and energy use. But the estimation of these consequences is always dependent on the system and boundary conditions that were evaluated throughout the study. The impacts that burden the environment are with the extraction of raw material, resin, and final product production. Minor influences occurred due to the waste recycling process. This suggests that waste degradation is the key process to reduce the environmental impacts of the production systems. Lowering a product’s environmental impact can be accomplished in a number of ways, including reducing the amount of materials used or choosing materials with a minimal environmental impact during manufacture processes.     

Two Decades of Laccases: Advancing Sustainability in the Chemical Industry

Given the current state of environmental affairs and that our future on this planet as we know it is in jeopardy, research and development into greener and more sustainable technologies within the chemical and forest products industries is at its peak. Given the global scale of these industries, the need for environmentally benign practices is propelling new green processes. These challenges are also impacting academic research and our reagents of interest are laccases. These enzymes are employed in a variety of biotechnological applications due to their native function as catalytic oxidants. They are about as green as it gets when it comes to chemical processes, requiring O₂ as their only co‐substrate and producing H₂O as the sole by‐product. The following account will review our twenty year journey on the use of these enzymes within our research group, from their initial use in biobleaching of kraft pulps and for fiber modification within the pulp and paper industry, to their current application as green catalytic oxidants in the field of synthetic organic chemistry.     

The technological and economic management of the environmental variable in the pharmaceutical–chemical industry

Industrial risks increate with technological progress. The study of potential risks is routine in the pharmaceutical–chemical industry. Here, like in other industrial activities, a risk coefficient is introduced that varies within space time limits.A control system of environmental safety and health monitoring processes should be based on the data obtained from Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP).The space variable influences the chemical risk coefficient that applies to the whole the production cycle (including waste recycling). For the sake of prevention, many enterprises have adopted the integrated management system, which is now moving to an additional required feature: environment and health protection and safety assurance inside and outside the industrial area (in compliance with UNI, ISO 14000 and OHSAS 18001standards).Our goal is to examine the technological–scientific–environmental changes in the pharmaceutical–chemical sector in order to asses the new extent of chemical regarding management systems.This will entail a cultural change that will call for the necessary economic strategies for industries to implement the appropriate environmental–technological programs.     

Recent progress of photo‐resin for rapid prototyping, “resin for stereolithography”

A main goal for manufacturing systems is to shorten lead‐time for the development of new products. An important challenge is to make sound decisions at early stages of product development where committed costs are low which leads us to obtain a lower total cost. This could mean that incurred costs are higher in the beginning where more work has to be done in terms of learning the market, developing the product and the production system. An important feature is to avoid changes at later stages where the incurred costs are high. The stereolithography using photo curable liquid resin is important for the manufacturing. The technology based on the stereolithography has been widely accepted due to the phenomena of spreading “Information Technology (IT)” and three‐dimensional computer aided design (3D CAD) system. The stereolithography technique has become very popular in the field of automotive, home‐electronics industries. In this paper the photo curable liquid resins for the stereolithography system are reviewed.     

非胺类CO2吸收剂的研究进展

针对CO₂所带来的全球气候变化问题,本文综述了可用于捕集CO₂的非胺类吸收剂类型,认为氨基酸盐、氨基酸-碳酸钾体系、离子液体、生物型吸收剂、钙基吸收剂分别具有较高的CO₂循环吸收负荷、低毒性、热稳定性好、较优的生物相容性、钙源易获取的优势,可以弥补胺类吸收剂在吸收-解吸CO₂时腐蚀性强、再生能耗高、对环境产生二次污染等方面的不足。氨基酸盐、氨基酸-碳酸钾体系可应用于具有一定规模的CO₂捕集工业中;离子液体可应用于精准、绿色环保去除CO₂工业中;生物型吸收剂可用于规模小、CO₂浓度低的工业中;钙基吸收剂可运用于CO₂浓度高的工业中。上述吸收剂皆具有一定的工业前景。     

Global competition: Towards continual improvement on catalysis in chemical intermediates production

The outlook for the future growth of Japanese petrochemical business can be expressed as “distressful” especially when considering business characteristics and global competition. For Japanese companies, the most critical issue is whether petrochemistry can support industrial production of a wide range of chemical products. Business, production, and technology development must all be executed with exceptionally qualitative strategies and rationalization. Technology development of catalysis, which is the key technology for petrochemistry, must also be correlated with such strategies.     

Essay Review

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry is a typically research-intensive, first world-industry. This article seeks to explain why it has been so difficult for late industrialised nations to reproduce the networks of innovation on which the design and manufacturing of new drugs has historically based, and why alternative concepts are needed in order to understand the dynamics of science-based industries in emerging countries. The article analyses the development of the Spanish antibiotics industry, built after the World War II under the strong influence of the new international order and Spain's political framework, academic traditions and business groups. Focusing on the long-term relationships established between two Spanish companies (Antibióticos SA and Compañia Española de Penicilina y Antibióticos, CEPA), their American technological partners (Schenley and Merck), and their social and scientific environment, the article identifies networks of opportunity as the key institutional arrangement of this new industry in Spain. Opportunity (as opposed to innovation) networks are thus proposed to conceptualise the development of technologically complex industries in the European periphery.     

废旧塑料改性再生的研究进展

塑料制品作为一种全球范围内广泛使用的商品,几乎已经渗透到了人类生活中的各个方面.同时,快速累积的废旧塑料对陆地和海洋环境产生了一系列的负面影响.值得注意的是,废旧塑料具有资源和废物双重属性.废旧塑料的回收品质和数量的提高,对于资源的高效利用、可持续发展和环境保护具有重大意义.本文介绍了废旧塑料常用的分选方法,综述了近年...     

三苯类废气污染及从业人员健康状况调查

为了开展国内精细化工产品生产使用中三苯(苯、甲苯、二甲苯)类废气排放和从业人员健康状况调查研究,为精细化工三苯类废气的治理提供政策依据和管理支持,促进精细化工行业的可持续发展,通过查阅大量相关文献资料,对国内相关企业三苯类废气的污染情况及从业人员健康状况进行调研。结果表明,所调研的皮具、地板、涂料、化工、陶瓷等行业都存在三苯类废气严重污染现象,对从业人员的健康也造成不同程度的损害,因此应加强对三苯类废气污染的治理工作。     

Catalytic reactions in ionic liquids

The chemical industry is under considerable pressure to replace many of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are currently used as solvents in organic synthesis. The toxic and/or hazardous properties of many solvents, notably chlorinated hydrocarbons, combined with serious environmental issues, such as atmospheric emissions and contamination of aqueous effluents is making their use prohibitive. This is an important driving force in the quest for novel reaction media. Curzons and coworkers, for example, recently noted that rigorous management of solvent use is likely to result in the greatest improvement towards greener processes for the manufacture of pharmaceutical intermediates. The current emphasis on novel reaction media is also motivated by the need for efficient methods for recycling homogeneous catalysts. The key to waste minimisation in chemicals manufacture is the widespread substitution of classical 'stoichiometric' syntheses by atom efficient, catalytic alternatives. In the context of homogeneous catalysis, efficient recycling of the catalyst is a conditio sine qua non for economically and environmentally attractive processes. Motivated by one or both of the above issues much attention has been devoted to homogeneous catalysis in aqueous biphasic and fluorous biphasic systems as well as in supercritical carbon dioxide. Similarly, the use of ionic liquids as novel reaction media may offer a convenient solution to both the solvent emission and the catalyst recycling problem.     

Recycling Technique in Preparative Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

A theoretical and practical study of recycling technique is developped for preparative liquid chromatography. The optimal cycle number, n_opt, is determined for the separation of two solutes in such a way that the resolution between the second peak of cycle (n-1) and the first one of cycle n is equal to the resolution between the peaks of cycle n. A simple relationship is propounded to determine n_opt which only depends on retention volumes and external volume, but it does not depend on band spreading. With this recycling technique it is shown that the maximum injection volume under optimal recycling conditions is greater than n_opt times the maximum injection volume for one cycle. So the use of recycling can be opportune and beneficial to increase the throughput in preparative liquid chromatography.     

Green process chemistry in the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

Key factors for deriving environmentally sustainable processes in the synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates and products are discussed. The selection and use of solvents is emphasized as regards methods to minimize environmental impact. Case studies of successful process development to attain improved green processes are included.     

Seeking direct cathode regeneration for more efficient lithium-ion battery recycling

As lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) continue to expand their applications, an effective and economic end-of-life strategy urgently demanded the development of closed-loop manufacturing and the improvement of resource sustainability in the LIB industry. Compared with conventional hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical recycling methods, the direct recycling process is capable of rejuvenating both spent electrodes while avoiding intensive energy and chemical usages, which significantly reduces the cost and secondary wastes. This short review analyzes the recent progress in direct recycling of LIB cathodes with some highlights in the challenges and limitations of materials properties and resource sustainability. It also presents an outlook on the next-generation recycling of spent LIBs with higher environmental benefits and economic returns.     

Nanoarchitectonic‐Based Material Platforms for Environmental and Bioprocessing Applications

The challenges of pollution, environmental science, and energy consumption have become global issues of broad societal importance. In order to address these challenges, novel functional systems and advanced materials are needed to achieve high efficiency, low emission, and environmentally friendly performance. A promising approach involves nanostructure‐level controls of functional material design through a novel concept, nanoarchitectonics. In this account article, we summarize nanoarchitectonic approaches to create nanoscale platform structures that are potentially useful for environmentally green and bioprocessing applications. The introduced platforms are roughly classified into (i) membrane platforms and (ii) nanostructured platforms. The examples are discussed together with the relevant chemical processes, environmental sensing, bio‐related interaction analyses, materials for environmental remediation, non‐precious metal catalysts, and facile separation for biomedical uses.     

Towards Total Quality Management of Chinese Medicinal Herbal Products:A Case Study of Danshen (Radix Salvia Miltiorrhiza)

The global trend of favoring therapeutic treatment and health keeping with natural medicine and dietary supplement/neutraceuticals provides golden opportunity for the re-birth of CM (Chinese Medicine) and its integration into the mainstream health care system worldwide. To develop a scientifically sound and technology-based CM industry in order to compete favorably in the world market, one needs to modernize the entire process of CM manufacturing from raw material supply to downstream product preparations. High quality and contaminant-free raw material produced under GAP (Good Agriculture Practice) guidelines is the first step leading eventually to the production of quality and safe CM products through a series of quality guidelines including GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) for chemical analysis,GcLP (Good Clinical Laboratory Practice) for clinical testing, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) for product manufacturing, and finally GSP (Good Sales Practice) for business transactions. These 5 P's in essence constitute the TQM (Total Quality Management) system for product development.     

Electron beam curing — taking good ideas to the manufacturing floor

Acsion is exploiting several emerging electron beam EB applications ranging from composite curing and repair to viscose manufacturing. EB curing of composite structures offers several advantages: significantly reduced curing times; improvements in part quality and performance; reduced environmental and health concerns; improvements in material handling; and reduced overall manufacturing costs compared to thermal curing. The aerospace industry is developing EB technology in all of their market sectors, including military aviation and space products. Some specific products include cryogenic fuel tanks, improved canopy frames for jet aircraft, and the all-composite military aircraft. This paper discusses each of these opportunities.     

Slowing the fast fashion industry: An all-round perspective

The fashion sector contributes significantly to global environmental pollution. Clothing manufacturing and transportation produce a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Recent research has shown that nowadays, the number of consumers that are more willing to pay higher prices for clothes with high sustainability content is growing. This paper provides a broad framework of current trends in the fashion, textile, and garment industry, highlighting circular and slow fashion values that companies and policymakers should address in the coming years to maintain their competitiveness in the market and promote sustainable development. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles is expected to help fashion enterprises achieve more circular, sustainable, and resilient value chains. Notably, encouraging natural and recycled textiles, design for reuse and recycling, second-hand retail and repair, and product-as-a-service models, particularly for items with high turnover rates, have been highlighted as critical factors for reducing the fashion industry's environmental implications.     

Photocatalysis as an Effective Tool for Upcycling Polymers into Value-Added Molecules

Shaping a sustainable future is closely tied to the development of advanced plastic recycling technologies. As global recycling rates remain low, the lion's share of post-consumer plastics is either incinerated or disposed of in landfills. This unbalanced plastic waste management not only poses severe environmental risks, but also entails an irrevocable loss of chemical resources that are embedded in synthetic polymers. To give plastic waste a new life, a series of photocatalytic methods has recently been reported that convert polymers directly into value-added organic molecules. These approaches operate at ambient temperature, show high reactivity/selectivity, and provide alternative reaction pathways as compared to thermal depolymerizations. This Minireview highlights the scientific breakthroughs in upcycling polymers through state-of-the-art photocatalysis under environmentally benign conditions.