Trash Talk!
What a waste!
At our organisation, we’re always trying to find ways of interesting the youth towards the topic of Green Chemistry. Only if the youth of a nation understand our mission, will it be successful. But, a little complicated that the subject is, getting youngsters enthused proves a tad tough So we got talking to some college students one of these days about our ideologies. These were third year BSc students from a Mumbai college. Admittedly, the session got a little too technical for them and I could see some of the students stifling yawns. One even got to the extent of commenting out loud, “What a waste!”
“Yes”, I said and startled all. They expected a chastisement of sorts but I’d found my turning point there. “It is a waste. If you take no message back, the session will have gone waste. All the precious resources – your time, my effort – everything wasted. It will have polluted our moods in the process and your HOD’s disappointment would be the byproduct. The other alternative is for us to make this session fruitful and negate waste, get a zero e-factor!”
My point had hit home. The whole of the last hour’s presentations fell into perspective. Then questions flew thick and fast from students.
“What exactly is e-waste?” one asked.
I flipped back a few slides and explained. “E-factor is the amount of waste generated per kilogram of final product or the measure of environmental impact of the waste in your production processes.”
“But how is it of any concern to us?” another shot back.
“It concerns you in every living moment you spend on this planet. Every thing you use in the course of your modern life has repercussions on the environment, which has an immediate bearing on your life. The more you pollute, the more polluted things nature will give you. For every bit of plastic waste you generate, you’ll get one toxic fruit, vegetable or meat in the bargain. Now if that doesn’t alarm you, I don’t know what else will.”
“But what is the solution?” questioned one of the back benchers.
“Green chemistry! Just so we don’t have to deal with wastes and break out heads over trying to treat and recycle it, we should stop generating waste.”
“Is that possible?” the back-bencher asked, now riveted.
“Yes. That’s exactly what green chemistry is all about. We formulate solutions in a way that there are little or no by-products. And if there are by-products, we ensure, they are completely bio-degradable. Simply put, we remove the root of the problem!”
I could hear murmurs of approval from the class. I could see realisation in their eyes. And I knew, the session had not gone ‘waste’. Green Chemistry was working here too!
Have you ever faced such an ‘environmental moment of truth’? Tell me about it!
Is the Indian chemical industry green enough?
In olden days, lives were simple, people were few and so was the need for chemical products. Consequently, the volume of production was low and hence there was no awareness about chemical wastes or their hazardous effects.
But as years passed by, the population grew exponentially and the requirements for chemicals increased. At the same time, the waste generated through these production activities shot through the roof.
Ways and means for reduction or recycle of waste were generated but no methods were devised to reduce it. Instead of going back to the basic principles of chemistry and reinventing natural processes, manufacturers and researchers went on devising various new treatments for waste and disposal methods. This, according to me, was one of the most disastrous decisions of modern science. It will take us years to recover from this.
But thankfully, the chemical industry has woken up to the need for waste reduction and management, and India is taking positive steps towards a more sustainable manufacturing process with the help of companies like Newreka. We need to develop new processes without compromising on quality and cost by revisiting the age-old processes. The new processes or technologies should be economically and environmentally much more competitive than the conventional processes or technologies that are being used now. The concept of Green Chemistry is one such process which help companies do justice to Mother Nature.
When the chemical products are designed keeping in mind the principles of green chemistry and E-factor, the enormous amounts of waste produced by the industry can be kept under control. The green chemistry-based solutions should be applied to synthesis and catalysis to recycle the entire reaction and extraction medium in the system. This is otherwise disposed off after primary/secondary treatment as effluent and is the biggest source of water pollution. Let’s move towards a greener and sustainable chemistry and change the way the traditional chemistry was following for the good.
