1. Being a part of IGCW will ensure expanded visibility to your niche expertise to over 4000 focused visitors who are expected to be a part of this convention. These visitors will not only be from industry but also from related non-industry sectors.

2. There will be a choice of more than 60 Green Exhibitors through whom you can partner and synergize the implementation of Green Chemistry.

3. IGCW is the perfect platform to position green chemistry for engineering focus, services, products, technologies and solutions to top decision makers and global leaders in the field of green chemistry.

4. Not only in India, but globally it will prove to be the most tangible and direct visibility with a chance to convey your vision and values on Industrial Green Chemistry and Sustainability.

5. As a part of this movement, you will not only gain respect for your organization in the world of your vendors but also ensure your customers for commitment towards overall sustainability.

With the IGCW Symposium, Expo, Awards and Seminars, you’ll be a part of the world’s best scientific researchers, industry leaders and colleagues. Mark your calendar – 4th, 5th, and 6th December, 2011 at the InterContinental The Lalit, Mumbai, INDIA.

We’ll see you there!

Even the companies want to do their bit to save the environment by trying new ideas, new concepts and innovations related to environmental domains. There may be challenges in the form of space constraints in their existing set-up, competition from Chinese manufacturers, customers demanding “greener products & processes” and increasingly tightening environmental discharge norms. But there is a solution -  “Green Chemistry”.

Science has the potential to address all these challenges together by providing various products and services, that can directly or indirectly help the industry to expand, and simultaneously reduce its environmental footprint. It is a revolution that includes everyone – from start-ups to large companies, research institutes, academic institutes and consultants, leading the charge. They may be based in India as well as across US & Europe. But the aim is to make people aware about green chemistry, green engineering & sustainability. And this is where we come back to India and its huge potential market for such products.

The IGCW 2011 – Expo is one such extraordinary opportunity for such companies offering Green Chemistry & Green Engineering based products and services, to reach out to the senior decision makers of over 300 pharmacy & fine chemical companies, and explore new business opportunities. It is an opportunity to reach out to a global audience, with world class solutions.

This month, Mr. Nitesh Mehta, Convener of IGCW 2011 and Founder Director of Newreka, will be attending the ‘Pharma ChemOutsourcing‘ and ‘Sustainable Chemistry Summit‘. We look forward to meeting you at these events to share information about Newreka’s services and the Industrial Green Chemistry World 2011. To meet Mr. Mehta at these events, you can contact him at nitesh.mehta@newreka.co.in. We request you to suggest a specific time slot for you and your team to meet us.

InformEx is one of the first Industrial conventions offering platform to ‘green’ initiatives in the Chemical Industry. Over 17 chemical companies are showcasing their ‘green’ technologies, products and services. Newreka is one of the exhibitors at the Green Pavilion. The Green Pavilion will bring together companies with an innovative eye for green chemistry and process technologies that have sustainability applications for the specialty chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

On 9th of February Newreka presents the ‘Breakfast Briefing’ To share with the visitors about the ‘Recycle at Source’ solutions, which are economical and environmentally competitive. The pharmaceutical and allied companies will be especially focused upon, as they have very high E-factor.

Newreka’s effort to promote a preventive approach for revisiting the concept of ‘waste’, as opposed to a remedial approach, doesn’t end here! The next step will be the IGCW Industrial Exhibition 2011. This will be one-of-a-kind of an industrial event, where stakeholders of the chemical industry will come together to explore the possibilities of industrializing green chemistry & green engineering technologies for their products, services & streams. It is a global platform initiated by the Green ChemisTree Foundation, a philanthropic expression founded by Newreka Green Synth Technologies Pvt. Ltd. for promoting Green Chemistry and Engineering (GC&E) practices. It is a perfect platform for chemical companies to showcase their products & processes, inspire and be insapired to go green with their processes.

Please visit www.IndustrialGreenChem.com to confirm your participation!

So, this group from a corporate firm was my ‘target’ for the day. Here they were, stuffed in the bus for a CSR Sunday with the grumpiest of faces, and here I was trying my best to tell them what wonders awaited them at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai. This odd group of 9 young professionals belonged to an architectural firm who were sent to the jungles to learn how nature works and so that they could imbibe natural designs into their concrete creations. That is the least they owed to society…according to their boss.

But as I had foreseen, the frowns began to soften as the bus entered the gates and by the time we got off the vehicle, I could even detect some faint smiles. A few yards into the trail and I had their complete attention. I explained to them, at length, the inspiring concept of Bio-mimickry. I started out with pointing to them the variety of foliage that the rains had brought forth, painting the forest with a palette full of different green shades. There were new leaves and creepers all over, fungus and mushrooms sprouting on all that was decaying, lichen patches on rocks & barks, barks covered with shimmering moss, stooping ferns all along the slopes, trickling water, animated streams, & all very gripping.

All these seemed to cash on the pouring rains and make most of the season. To related it all from Bio-mimicry’s perspective: This seasonal expression, demonstrates nature as an opportunistic. A typical set-up where challenge is flipped into an opportunity & a seasoned occasion (in this case- rain) is fully resourced as an opportunity.

In a tropical deciduous forest, the vegetation is in constant endeavor towards conserving water, their leaves shed when the season is hot and dry. The availability of sunlight & water allows all species in the jungle floor to grow densely. At a time when they can harvest water, their broad and leathery, leaves have drip tips, the monsoon sprouts retain water and provide nutrients post their life-span and infinite microbes speeds up the degradation process which requires water & anaerobic conditions to disintegrate. The tree trunks are huge, their roots grow deep and wide to obtain as much water and
nutrients as possible. The trees tend to be shorter while their canopies are smaller. All these mechanisms together contribute in forwarding the larger purpose of re-generation.

I told them that, like this forest’s ecosystem, they could also take on architectural challenges and bring about structures that would benefit the whole community. The shine in their eyes was evidence of the idea bulbs lighting up inside their heads. As they excitedly started discussing Bio-mimicry design ideas amongst themselves, I bade a quiet goodbye, and faded into the green background waiting to convert the next bunch of non – enthusiasts.

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!

Since Dr. John Warner would be with us on our industrial green chemistry workshop, we are fortunate enough to know a lot about his background, theories, principles,etc. Thus, we came across this touching and interesting story narrated by Dr. John Warner where he has stressed, “The key to quality chemistry education is not teaching the right answers, but teaching how to ask the right questions.”  Read more:

I do not know who said it first. I have  heard this statement several times from instructors and colleagues throughout the years. I myself have said it several times. ‘The key to quality chemistry education is not teaching the right answers, but teaching how to ask the right questions.’ Now, almost 25 years after first calling myself ‘a chemist’ I believe this more than ever.

I started out as an undergraduate chemistry student doing hands on research at my university. I was what they called a ‘lab rat’… a ‘research animal’. You know the type, spending more than 60 hours a week in the lab. I published 5 papers as an undergraduate student. I spoke at American Chemical Society National Meetings. I prided myself in my research prowess and productivity. I used to set up 7 or 8 reactions simultaneously. I would work most, if not all, of my reactions up… Isolate and characterize most of my products… I counted in my old laboratory notebooks that I synthesized over 150 compounds as an undergraduate. A large metropolitan area newspaper did a big story on me when I graduated. They called me one of the region’s ‘best and brightest’ college graduates. My graduate school career continued this productive trend. I started doing research in my first semester. I passed all of my cumulative exams in the first round. I was in a rush to pass into ‘candidacy’ and more importantly, to get into the lab… Of course, the purpose was to make more compounds. I remember my graduate school days with such fondness. I would get into the lab before the sun came up. I would leave, come back, leave and come back throughout the day, and night, working around the clock. My life and daily activities were aligned to reflux times. Meals, shopping and entertainment were scheduled around the thermodynamics of molecular synthesis. I published more than a dozen papers as a graduate student. I do not have an exact count, but I probably made over 1000 compounds.

I graduated and got a job in industry. I wanted to prove my self-worth. The metric I knew and embraced was measured in 12 dram to 10 dram glass vials with carefully written labels and correlated spectra and analyses. I synthesized more and more new compounds. I put methyl groups and ethyl groups in places where they had never been. This was my pathway to success. And I did it well. I got a bunch of patents. I cranked out countless compounds. I was so very proud of myself.  Not only was I making complicated new molecules, whose syntheses were challenging and difficult, but a lot of the compounds that I made actually did what I wanted them to do! I was successful at making stuff and more importantly, I was ‘asking the right questions’!

It’s funny how things hit you. I prided myself as being ‘a family guy’ through all of this. I identified myself first and foremost a member of a large family. My mom had 10 brothers and sisters. I grew up with 35 cousins all within a few miles of my house. Nearly all of my relatives entered the full time workforce immediately from high school, getting jobs and starting families by the time they were 25. I was no exception. My oldest daughter, Joanna was born in my third year of graduate school. My first son, Tom was born just after I started my job in industry. Son number two, John, was born a couple years later. But my son John was born with a serious liver disease. It was called Billiary Atresia. This is one of those diseases that no one quite knows what the cause is. John was born perfectly healthy and normal, but within a week after birth he began to show signs of jaundice. His billiary system was not functional, in fact, it wasn’t even there! No bile secretions [necessary for adequate nutritional uptake] could pass from his liver to his GI tract. A surgical procedure called a ‘Kasai Junction’ was performed on him in order to artificially connect his liver to his small intestines. This ‘fix’ remained functional for a few months as we waited and waited on a liver transplant list. My son spent an enormous amount of time in the hospital. I stayed over night with him quite a bit. At this time I had several scientists reporting to me in my industrial job. I kept a laptop computer with me, to monitor the progress of ‘my people’ at work and to keep track of the molecules they were making and testing. I remember going back and forth between excel spreadsheet files in the wee hours of the night. One file showed my son’s blood electrolyte levels and another file showed performance results of a series of compounds that were synthesized at work. By this time in my career I figure I must have synthesized over 2500 compounds.

This story doesn’t have a happy ending. My son died after receiving his liver transplant. I can’t begin to describe the anguish that followed. Lying awake at night, I would wonder ‘what causes this kind of thing to happen? Could it possibly be that some chemical that I had previously worked with might have had something to do with this?’ I understand that the physiological causes for this disease are complicated—and it is very likely that my son’s illness and subsequent death had nothing to do with anything that I ever interacted with in the lab. But a father can come up with a great deal of methods to apply self blame when an infant son dies. I began to think more and more about this situation. I had prided myself with my ability to make compounds. I prided myself on my ability to solve complicated scientific problems. I prided myself on the ability ‘to ask myself the right questions’. At no time in my chemistry education could I remember learning about toxicity or environmental impact of chemistry or chemicals. Sure I was constantly reminded about safe lab techniques and proper waste disposal protocols. But this was handled as a ‘housekeeping’ part of chemistry, like taking out the trash at home and filling out tax forms, something you had to do… but in the background.

I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to study with a few of the most brilliant chemists I have ever known. And these people were of the most compassionate of human beings. I do not fault the education that I received or the people who educated me. ‘We’ as a science have somehow followed a path and got to the point where ‘making stuff’ is the focus of what we do. The ‘right questions’ involve theingenuity of chemical synthesis and design. Issues such as toxicity and environmental impact… Well, the EH&S people and the industrial engineers can handle that stuff! I think the most important question, the right question that has not been asked, a simple little question
really…. ‘Why?’

Isn’t it funny that the people society entrusts with the job of inventing the next generation’s materials and products are not taught how to make these materials safely? Isn’t it strange that a really good chemist can develop dozens of synthetic schemes to prepare new and different molecules, but it is unlikely that they can assess, at any level, the relative risks of their methods and materials to human health and the environment? Why is this acceptable? My guess is that chemical risk is very different from almost any other type of risk we might expose ourselves to. On occasion I try to do some cooking in the kitchen. Talk about risk! I use a knife to cut up my food. There is a good chance that I will cut myself! But I accept this risk because the function of the knife is to cut. Cut food, cut me. The risk and function are intimately connected. Same with the stove. It gets hot. I might burn the food. I might burn myself. But that is what the stove is supposed to do, heat things up. Again, the function and the risk are closely related. Chemistry is different. Lets say that I want to synthesize a red dye. I know that I will want to assemble a planar system with a few conjugated double bonds. I will want to have an electron donating group on one side, and an electron withdrawing group on the other side. If I put this molecule together correctly, it will have appreciable broad absorbance around 500 to 600 nm, and I will have a red dye. If the molecule that I make happens to also be carcinogenic, it will have nothing to do with the fact that it is red. The ability of the molecule to be red has no relationship with it being carcinogenic. The risk and function are not intimately connected. It is unlikely that there is some hidden scientific truth that states that all red molecules must be carcinogenic. I, as a synthetic organic chemist, know how to make a red molecule, but I do not know what makes a molecule carcinogenic.

We need to re-evaluate the ‘machinery of chemistry’. We need to take a look at our relationship with the community we serve. We need to think about how we teach chemistry to future chemists and to the general community. I do not expect that we can convert all practicing chemists to fully functioning toxicologists. There is still a lot we do not know about mechanisms of toxicity. But we do know some things. And if we want to learn more, then we need to be placing a stronger emphasis on this. We need to link the function of making molecules with a better assessment of their risk. Maybe we need to ask ourselves some better questions, like ‘Why do I make things the way I do?’ Or perhaps, ‘Is there a way to make these molecules that will not be harmful to human health or the environment?’ I believe that there are answers. The growing field of Green Chemistry is testament to the interest in answering these questions. There are researchers who understand this quite well. Some may argue it is out of financial incentive. Obviously, it is much less expensive to work with, and manufacture, environmentally benign materials that do not have associated regulatory and disposal costs. I would like to think there is more to it than that.

Things really need to move more quickly. I worry that in some places these important questions are not being asked enough. And perhaps more troubling, the response to these important questions might remain unspoken, but ring through some research hallways…. ‘But that’s not the way we’ve always done it!’ And that is exactly the point.

John C. Warner
Professor of Chemistry
University of Massachusetts Boston
Green Chem., 2004, 6G28
www.rsc.org/greenchem

IGCW ’09 is the first global event which aims to take green chemistry from the cauldrons of the laboratory to the corridors of industry. It will involve from concepts to execution. This event will focus on green chemistry and engineering in chemistry intensive areas such as in fine chemicals which will include dyes and pharma, agrochemicals, colorants, personal care chemicals, etc. It will look at revisiting chemistries and see how at source changes are being incorporated for greening the processes.

The event is segregated in three days and is primarily designed on the basis of a 9-Eye (I) Approach; each ‘eye’ expanding the vision of participants for engaging them into emerging views of Industrial Green Chemistry (IGC) paradigms. The 9-EYE of the workshop is Ignition, Inspiration, Initiation, Identification, Invention, Innovation, Industrialization, Implementation, and Impact.

Again the target audience for each day is different. Day one is for over 300 Senior Management, Directors, CEOs, Consultants, Entrepreneurs, Strategic Advisors, etc. to recognize and explore the ecological and economical footprint of Industrial Green Chemistry through Ignition, Inspiration, and Initiation. second day of the workshop, i.e. 5th December, 2009, aims at technical directors, R&D managers, chief scientists, CTOs, CXOs, etc, to identify the key industrial challenges, and view various paradigms emerging in the domain of IGC, further providing significant input for inventing and innovating its application through Identification, Invention, and Innovation. Finally, the third day, i.e. 6th December, 2009, will encompass specific requirements of industries for implementing IGC and thus elucidate ecological and economical impact concerning the process, production, project, operation managers, vice-presidents, etc.

On day one, the main aim of the workshop is to enlighten and ignite awareness about IGC among more than 1, 00,000 people connected to chemical industry as stakeholder. The whos who of the industry will commence the workshop enlightening the audience talking about various aspects of industrial green chemistry right from the concept to the principles to revisiting chemistries and helping understand the greening of the processes. For this, stalwarts like Prof. Paul Anasthas and Dr. John Warner will share their knowledge and expertise on IGC. Prof. Paul Anasthas will give a lecture on Sustainable Innovations through Green Chemistry and Dr. John Warner would share the 12 most important principles of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. Further, Dr. Murli Sastry, Chief Scientist with Tata Chemicals Innovation Centre, will further ignite the audience by narrating the 100 years journey of sustainability at TATA Group.

Once commenced, the consequent days will lead to further Eyes of the 9-Eye (I) Approach, which is linked just so perfectly that once out of the workshop, the addressees would be fully enlightened about industrial green chemistry. So will you be with us to know more about the next Eyes of the event?

Last week, Newsweek had released the top 500 US Green Ranking companies across various sectors. This report shows that many companies like Allergen, Johnson & Johnson, Intel, IBM, Owens Corning, etc. have taken their small steps towards sustainable chemistry and many more are in the process of adopting benign technologies. Realizing that green chemistry has the potential to enhance the economical and environmental competitiveness, Industrial Green Chemistry Workshop (IGCW- 2009) was initiated aimed towards bringing sustainable future for all. IGCW welcomes all the companies to exhibit their sustainable initiatives at our workshop. For all the companies, it would be a great opportunity to bring forth their green initiatives, as more than 750 decision makers and 30 academia would be a part of this prestigious and unprecedented workshop.

IGCW-2009 would be an apt opportunity to exhibit your “Green” products and services and establish credibility of being one of the pioneers in the implementation of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. Two kind of populace would be beneficial being a part of IGCW. First, obviously those who have initiated sustainable technologies; as they would get broad exposure to the leading industries worldwide. Secondly, people who are planning to work towards green technologies. For them, this workshop would be an excellent platform to enrich their knowledge about different green chemistry technologies. People belonging to the second category would be exposed to the sustainable technologies adopted by the companies from around the world.

So are you geared up to showcase your green initiatives with us?

Industrial Green Chemistry Workshop (IGCW-2009), to be held in Mumbai from 4th to 6th December, 2009, is an initiative intended to facilitate the chemical industry on the multi-dimensional opportunities to create, build, and sustain a competitive advantage through the adoption of Industrial Green Chemistry (IGC) and Engineering practices. The workshop will provide you with an extensive awareness on sustainable and profitable manufacturing. It will also bringforth the global trends technologies, engineering, processes, economics, products, and environmental regulations.  It offers a new platform to explore ‘green’ business opportunities with domain experts and industrial leaders, viz, Prof. Paul Anastas, Dr. John Warner, Dr. Murli Sastry, and Dr. Rakeshwar Bandichhor, etc.

IGCW-2009 provides an apt platform for companies, organisations, corporate, institutes, and similar bodies to communicate their Green, Clean, and Sustainable initiatives and commitments through exploring the possibilities of being an IGCW-2009 Exhibitor, or by being an IGCW-2009 Sponsor, and/or by submitting a case study for Industrial Award Nomination.

IGCW-2009 is principally designed on the basis of a 9-Eye (I) Approach; each ‘eye’ representing the vision of participants for engaging them into emerging views of Industrial Green Chemistry paradigms.

The key purpose of this initiative is to:

o    Align your organization’s direction with global trends in Sustainability
o    Explore Industrial Green Chemistry (IGC) for business differentiation and competitiveness
o    Distinguish and confront need of IGC for competing in global market with volatile regulations
o    Help you formulate your R&D strategies to design and develop green capabilities
o    Realise priority barriers in implementing IGC
o    Transform “pollution control” to “pollution prevention” as profit centre approach
o    Create strategic partnership between stakeholders
o    Recognise and acknowledge original contribution in the field of IGC

The workshop will allow you to grasp the means for identifying unforeseen challenges in the implementation of IGC, and the role of all stakeholders (industry, regulatory bodies, government, trade associations, financial institutes, research institutes and academia) in meeting these challenges. It will also give you an opportunity to initiate joint projects and partnership with various stakeholders to determine customised green chemistry solutions to address your specific needs.

So, explore IGCW for increasing your business competitiveness through a sustainable model.  Don’t forget Green is the colour of money too!