You can’t know whether a product is sustainable just by looking. Feedstock choice is an important part of determining sustainability, but is only one part of determination. Sustainability is a question of time, integrating knowledge of production, use and end-of-life. Far too often, hype has surpassed reality, boundary conditions have been neglected and actions are taken that don’t truly lead to a sustainable future. Singular focus on attributes like renewable content or biodegradability can give the wrong answer. Quality engineering, with attention to energy and material flows, energy return, and thermodynamic constraints must be considered. Products of the chemical industry create sustainable solutions through direct energy savings or by being significantly better than the next alternatives during use.

4D product: Integration over time is the only way to understand sustainability

249th National Meeting (2015)

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