Eliminating Environmentally Hazardous Materials: California’s Green Chemistry Initiative

The Cal/EPA Green Chemistry Initiative is a collaborative approach (put together by the California Environmental Protection Agency) for identifying options to significantly reduce the impacts of toxic chemicals on public health and the environment. The Green Chemistry Initiative recommends developing a consistent means for evaluating risk, reducing exposure, encouraging less-toxic industrial processes, and identifying safer alternatives. Most importantly, the Green Chemistry Initiative ensures a comprehensive and collaborative approach, to increase accountability and effectiveness of environmental programs across state government.

What is Green Chemistry?

Green chemistry is the process for reducing or eliminating the use of hazardous materials. For the last century, environmental protection has concentrated on storing and disposing hazardous waste. Green chemistry is a fundamentally new approach to environmental protection, transitioning away from managing toxic chemicals at the end of the lifecycle, to reducing or eliminating their use from the start.

Why do we need Green Chemistry?

With approximately 100,000 different known toxic chemicals used in production today, a comprehensive approach is needed to reduce or eliminate use of these chemicals. Green chemistry is long-term environmental protection. It promotes public health and helps protect our environment for generations to come. Green chemistry encourages cleaner and less-polluting industrial processes, and ensures that manufacturers take greater responsibility for the products they produce.

“Rather than managing wastes at the end of a product’s lifecycle, Green Chemistry shifts our focus to designing chemicals, processes, and goods that have little or no adverse affects during the manufacturing, use or disposal of a product,“ said Secretary Linda Adams. “I’m proud to be ushering in a new wave of chemical policies in California.

The GCI proposals will accelerate California’s move toward a clean, green, sustainable economy through the following six policy recommendations:

1. EXPAND POLLUTION PREVENTION and product stewardship programs.
2. DEVELOP GREEN CHEMISTRY WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING through new and existing educational programs and partnerships.
3. CREATE AN ONLINE PRODUCT INGREDIENT NETWORK to disclose chemical ingredients for products sold in California, while protecting trade secrets.
4. CREATE AN ONLINE TOXICS CLEARINGHOUSE, an online database of chemical toxicity and hazards populated with the guidance of a Green Ribbon Science Panel to help prioritize chemicals of concern and data needs.
5. ACCELERATE THE QUEST FOR SAFER PRODUCTS, creating a systematic, science-based process to evaluate chemicals of concern and alternatives to ensure product safety and reduce or eliminate the need for chemical-by-chemical bans.
6. MOVE TOWARD A CRADLE-TO-CRADLE ECONOMY, establishing a California Green Products Registry to develop green metrics and tools (e.g., environmental footprint calculators, sustainability indexes) for a range of consumer products and encourage their use by businesses.

“The recommendations developed through the Green Chemistry Initiative constitute a far-reaching, market-driven strategy with an ambitious aim – the launch of a new chemicals framework and a quantum shift in environmental protection,” said Director Gorsen. “These landmark policy options will continue California’s environmental leadership and foster a new era in the design of a new consumer products economy – inventing, manufacturing and using toxic-free, sustainable products,” Gorsen concluded.

For More Info: www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/