Oct 4 2007
The global chemical industry increasingly realizes that sustainability must be considered as an important business metric when evaluating any new product or process. Today, SRI Consulting (SRIC) released its new Eco-Efficient Chemical Processes report, which discusses the chemical industry’s movement toward sustainability with an emphasis on involvement by chemical producers.
Bob Davenport, Director of SRIC’s Safe & Sustainable Chemicals group said, “Many companies, especially those based in Europe, have embraced the concept of eco-efficiency, a methodology that evaluates alternative chemicals or chemical derivatives that can be used in a particular process or product.” Mr Davenport continued, “Surprisingly, a number of companies have reported economic as well as environmental benefits since implementing eco-efficiency decisions.”
The report describes the development of sustainability in the chemical industry. Sustainable development is identified as development which meets the needs of the present without jeopardizing the needs of future generations.
Eric Linak, Senior Consultant at SRIC and author of the report says, “The eco-efficiency process can be used in a broad spectrum of industries. This report presents a number of case studies that evaluate chemicals or processes used in the automotive, coatings, construction, packaging, plastics and other industries.” Mr. Linak continued, “In almost every case, an alternative product or process was shown to yield cost savings as well as lower environmental impact.”