Preface

It is approximately 30 years since the term green chemistry emerged as a concept and mechanism to reduce the human and environmental impact of chemicals and chemical processes.While the movement was intended to influence industrial practice and encourage greener chemical processes, much of the related work in the field has been academic.Some of the aca demic research has worked its way through to improvements in chemical manufacturing and in the choice of chemicals used in the various products.However, the scale of the challenge is enormous, and we need more examples from the now large volume of green chemistry innovation to work "in the real world".Today, there is an increasing awareness of the more holistic nature of green chemistry and resources, and end-of-life aspects of chemical supply chains are more carefully studied.This also needs to be reflected in industry with, for example, biorefineries proving an increasing percentage of plat form chemicals and with many wastes being seen as chemical resources in keeping with a more circular economy.In the Commercialisation of Green Chemistry (Chapter 1), the challenges of moving from the academic research bench to manufacturing are addressed and real examples are used to show how this can happen.It is important that universities can see the benefit of the commercialisation of their research and not see it as a distraction from other more academic responsibilities.Two of the founders of the company, who took one of the examples used in Chapter 1 to commercial reality, describe that commercial journey from gram scale to kiloton manufacturing.This multinational journey saw an idea in one part of the world translated into a commercial prospect in another region, and then on to manufacturing in a third country.The crucial role of investment is highlightedthe commercialisation of any discovery needs Green Chemistry Series No. 91 The Business Case for Green Chemistry