Sustainability

At the end of the last century, John C. Warner and Paul T. Anastas presented the 12 principles of ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ chemistry that they had formulated, as shown in the figure opposite. These principles relate to chemistry and chemical technology/industry and aim to maximise the efficiency of chemical processes whilst minimising their environmental footprint. In this way, chemistry becomes part of environmental technology.

Further details, as well as numerous modern extensions, can be found, for example, on the website of the Federal Environment Agency: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/themen/chemikalien/chemikalien-management/nachhaltige-chemie-0#nachhaltigkeit-im-umgang-mit-chemikalien (external link, opens in a new window).

Our faculty offers both a wide range of research in the field of sustainable chemistry and relevant training, particularly at Master’s level, in the ‘Sustainable Chemistry’ specialisation as part of the Master’s programme in Chemistry.