Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. and Momentive Performance Materials Inc. (collectively “Momentive” or the “Company”) are taking another step in their commitment to sustainability by supporting science education through a partnership with Beyond Benign and its Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC).
Beyond Benign’s vision is to revolutionize the way chemistry is taught to better prepare students to engage with their world while connecting chemistry, human health and the environment. The GCC is a consortium of universities and industry partners designed to create systemic and lasting change in university-level chemistry education, and to increase the number of green chemists and scientists in the U.S.
“As a chemical manufacturer, we strongly support education that will promote the design of chemical products and processes that are more sustainable using a universal definition of Green Chemistry, which is one of the key elements of the ‘Green Chemistry’ commitment,” said Karen Koster, Executive Vice President, Environmental Health and Safety, Momentive. “By supporting efforts to educate chemistry students in options that can improve performance and follow the principles of green chemistry, we are helping to ensure that future scientists expand existing and develop future sustainable solutions.”
“The goal of green chemistry is for the term to disappear and it simply becomes how we practice chemistry,” says Dr. John Warner, co-founder and President of Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry, President of Beyond Benign, and a founder in the field of green chemistry as co-author of the seminal 1998 book Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice.
“We are pleased to have Momentive as a partner on this important program,” said Amy Cannon, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Beyond Benign. “GCC is a consortium program to expand the community of chemists whose skills are well aligned with the needs of the planet and its inhabitants. The GCC program brings colleges, universities and industry together in an effort to drive next-generation thinking that supports environmentally sound solutions for chemical products and processes.”
Momentive has already leveraged a number of sustainability programs focused on the environment, economic development and social responsibility initiatives. For example, the Company’s Chennai, India, specialty silicones site, was planned as a zero-discharge complex, which means that no waste water is ever released to the environment from this state-of-the-art facility that opened in 2009. In addition, Momentive’s Morganton, North Carolina, resin plant reengineered its manufacturing process to utilize a closed system cooling tower and saved just over 19 million gallons of water in its first year. The Company continues to make gains in reformulating products to incorporate renewable raw materials without loss of performance. In response to market demand for advanced and environmentally preferred technologies, Momentive’s Powder Resins Division has introduced Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) as a design tool to engineer new resins.
About The Green Chemistry Commitment
The Green Chemistry Commitment is a consortium program of colleges, universities, and industry partners that unites the green chemistry community around shared goals and a common vision to expand the community of green chemists, grow departmental resources, improve connection to industry and job opportunities in green chemistry, and affect system and lasting change in chemistry education. For more information, please visit www.greenchemistrycommitment.org.
About Beyond Benign
Beyond Benign’s mission is to provide future and current scientists, educators, and citizens with the tools to teach and learn about green chemistry in order to create a sustainable future. A major focus within the organization is the education of the next generation of scientists. Beyond Benign, a non-profit organization, aims to inspire future scientists and to create more informed consumers and voters who are able to support a growing industrial market based on the concepts of green chemistry and sustainability. Beyond Benign was created by Dr. John Warner, a founder of the field of Green Chemistry, to provide an approach and means for scientists, particularly those involved in green chemistry and sustainable science, to reach out to the public. For more information, please visit www.beyondbenign.org.
About Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc.
Based in Columbus, Ohio, Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. is the global leader in thermoset resins. Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. serves the global wood and industrial markets through a broad range of thermoset technologies, specialty products and technical support for customers in a diverse range of applications and industries. Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Momentive Performance Materials Holdings LLC.
About Momentive Performance Materials Inc.
Momentive Performance Materials Inc. is a global leader in silicones and advanced materials, with a 70-year heritage of being first to market with performance applications for major industries that support and improve everyday life. Momentive Performance Materials Inc. delivers science-based solutions by linking custom technology platforms to opportunities for customers. Momentive Performance Materials Inc. is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Momentive Performance Materials Holdings LLC. Additional information about Momentive and its products is available at www.momentive.com.
Source: http://www.momentive.com/