Green chemistry as systems science*
Thomas E. Graedel
Center for Industrial Ecology, School of Forestry and
Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Abstract: Green chemistry does not operate as an isolated subsystem,
but within higher levels of corporation and society. From an environmental
standpoint, the ideal focus is to achieve optimum performance across
the system, not at a single systems level. This paper proposes a four-level
system for green chemistry and provides examples of performance at each
level that can legitimately be termed sustainable.
*Lecture presented at the IUPAC CHEMRAWN
XIV Conference on Green Chemistry:Toward Environmentally Benign Processes
and Products, Boulder,Colorado, USA, 9-13 June 2001. Other presentations
are published in this issue, pp.1229 1330.