Our 24 Principles
Setting our compass toward sustainability
Nowadays, product developments are very much geared to the key demands of sustainability: environmental compatibility, biodegradability, tolerance in application and a high proportion of natural, renewable raw materials.
Needless to say, these requirements have to be satisfied without any compromise on the performance and efficiency fronts. In appraising our new developments on the basis of our 24 Principles, we have introduced a new dimension in sustainability at Cognis.
These 24 Principles, represented by the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and the 12 Principles of Green Engineering, provide Cognis a holistic and useful set of decision and orientation aids.
The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry have become a widely accepted set of criteria for a rapid assessment of “greenness” of a given chemical route.
| GC1 |
Prevent waste and contamination |
| GC2 |
Maximize atom economy |
| GC3 |
Design less hazardous chemical syntheses |
| GC4 |
Design safer chemicals and products |
| GC5 |
Use safer solvents and reaction conditions |
| GC6 |
Increase energy efficiency
|
| GC7 |
Use renewable feedstocks |
| GC8 |
Avoid chemical derivatives |
| GC9 |
Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents |
| GC10 |
Design chemicals and products to degrade after use |
| GC11 |
Analyze in real time to prevent pollution |
| GC12 |
Minimize the potential for accidents |
The 12 Principles of Green Engineering include a number of important concepts, such as processes and Life Cycle Assessment.
| GE1 |
Keep all materials and energy inputs and outputs as inherently nonhazardous as possible |
| GE2 |
Prevent waste rather than treat or clean up waste once formed |
| GE3 |
Design separation and purification operations to minimize energy consumption and materials use |
| GE4 |
Design for maximize mass, energy, space, and time efficiency |
| GE5 |
Align output to need, i.e. “output-pulled” rather than “input-pushed” |
| GE6 |
Keep processes as simple as possible |
| GE7 |
Design facilities for targeted durability, not immortality |
| GE8 |
Design capacity or capability to need |
| GE9 |
Avoid or minimize material diversity in multicomponent products |
| GE10 |
Design to include integration and interconnectivity with available energy and materials flows |
| GE11 |
Design for reuse and a commercial “afterlife” |
| GE12 |
Use renewable rather than depleting material and energy inputs |
Together, these 24 Principles cover all essential key issues of green and sustainable chemistry and processing.
Take a look at some examples showing how Cognis products fulfill the 24 Principles of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering:
Euperlan® Green