United States Government Accountability Office Center for Science, Technology, and Engineering Natural Resources and Environment Report to Congressional Requesters February 2018 TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT Chemical Innovation Technologies to Make Processes and Products More Sustainable GAO-18-307 The cover image displays a word cloud generated from the transcript of the meeting we convened with 24 experts in the field of sustainable chemistry. The size of the words in the cloud corresponds to the frequency with which each word appeared in the transcript. In most cases, similar words—such as singular and plural versions of the same word— were combined into a single term. Words that were unrelated to the topic of sustainable chemistry were removed. The images around the periphery are stylized representations of chemical molecules that seek to illustrate a new conceptual framework, whereby molecules can be transformed to provide better performance; however, they are not intended to represent specific chemical compounds. TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT Highlights of GAO-18-307, a report to congressional requesters Chemical Innovation February 2018 Technologies to Make Processes and Products More Sustainable Why GAO did this study What GAO found Chemistry contributes to virtually every Stakeholders lack agreement on how to define sustainable chemistry and how to aspect of modern life and the chemical measure or assess the sustainability of chemical processes and products; these industry supports more than 25 percent differences hinder the development and adoption of more sustainable chemistry of the gross domestic product of the technologies. However, based on a review of the literature and stakeholder United States. While these are positive interviews, GAO identified several common themes underlying what sustainable contributions, chemical production can chemistry strives to achieve, including: have negative health and environmental · improve the efficiency with which natural resources—including energy, consequences. Mitigating these water, and materials—are used to meet human needs for chemical potential consequences requires products while avoiding environmental harm; thoughtful design and evaluation of the · reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances in the life cycle effects of chemical processes design, manufacture, and use of chemical products; and products. · protect and benefit the economy, people, and the environment using GAO was asked to conduct a technology innovative chemical tranformations; assessment to explore, among other · things, the opportunities, challenges, consider all life cycle stages including manufacture, use, and disposal (see and federal roles in sustainable figure) when evaluating the environmental impact of a product; and chemistry. This report discusses (1) how · minimize the use of non-renewable resources. stakeholders define and assess Life cycle of chemical processes and products sustainable chemistry; (2) available or developing technologies to make chemical processes and products more sustainable; and (3) how the federal government, industry and others contribute to the development and use of such technologies. GAO selected for assessment three technology categories—catalysts, solvents, and continuous processing; interviewed stakeholders from various fields, such as government, industry, and academia; convened a meeting of experts on sustainable chemistry technologies and approaches; and surveyed a non-generalizable sample of chemical companies. GAO is not making recommendations in this report, but is identifying strategic implications. View GAO-18-307. For more information, contact Timothy M. Persons at (202) 512- 6412, [email protected] or John Neumann at (202) 512-3841, [email protected]. United States Government Accountability Office GAO identified three categories of more sustainable chemistry technologies— catalysts, solvents, and continuous processing—that demonstrate both progress and potential. · Catalysts reduce the energy input required for a chemical process and allow for more efficient use of materials. Stakeholders suggested future research be directed at developing less toxic or renewable catalysts, including those that are metal-free or those from earth-abundant metals such as iron. · Solvents are used in many chemical processes but can create waste issues and be toxic. Alternatives include solvents from renewable, non-petroleum raw materials and solvents such as water that are less hazardous to human health and the environment, among other qualities. · An alternative to traditional batch processing is continuous processing, in which materials react as they flow along a system of channels, pipes, or tubes. Compared to batch processing, continuous processing uses materials more efficiently, generates less waste, and has a smaller physical footprint. The federal government and other stakeholders play several roles, sometimes in collaboration, to advance the development and use of more sustainable chemistry technologies. The federal government has supported research, provided technical assistance, and offered certification programs, while stakeholders have integrated sustainable chemistry principles into educational programs and addressed chemicals of concern in consumer products. While switching to more sustainable options entails challenges, this field has the potential to inspire new products and processes, create jobs, and enhance benefits to human health and the environment. Stakeholders identified strategic implications of sustainable chemistry and offered a range of potential options to address challenges and realize the full potential of these technologies, including the following: · Breakthrough technologies in sustainable chemistry could transform how the industry thinks about performance, function, and synthesis. Sustainable chemistry creates opportunities to use a different conceptual framework that allows industry to create molecules with better performance. · The establishment of an organized constituency, with the involvement of both industry and government, could help make sustainable chemistry a priority. An industry consortium, working in partnership with a key supporter at the federal level, could lead to an effective national initiative or strategy. · A national initiative that considers sustainable chemistry in a systematic manner could be useful. Such an effort could encourage collaborations among industry, academia and the government, similar to other national technology Initiatives. · There are opportunities for the federal government to address industry- wide challenges. Federal attention that facilitates development of standard tools for assessment and a robust definition could help clarify relevant participants in the field and improve information available for decision- makers at all levels. According to stakeholders, transitioning toward the use of more sustainable chemistry technologies will require national leadership and industry, government, and other stakeholders to work together. United States Government Accountability Office This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from GAO. 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Table of Contents Letter ................................................................................................................................... 1 1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Sustainability and the chemical industry ........................................................................... 4 1.2 Federal government agencies and other stakeholders ..................................................... 9 1.3 Legal framework .............................................................................................................. 11 1.4 Supply, demand, and economics ..................................................................................... 12 1.5 The sustainability of catalysts .......................................................................................... 14 1.6 The sustainability of solvents .......................................................................................... 16 1.7 The sustainability of batch processing ............................................................................ 19 2 Stakeholders vary in how they define and assess the sustainability of chemical processes and products .................................................................................................... 20 2.1 Stakeholder definitions of sustainable chemistry vary ................................................... 20 2.2 Stakeholders vary in the approaches they use for assessing the sustainability of chemical processes and products................................................................................. 21 2.3 Companies vary in which environmental and health factors they consider most important to optimize .................................................................................................. 29 2.4 Stakeholders cite the importance of a standard definition and metrics for sustainability35 3 Technologies to make catalysts more sustainable .......................................................