BS (HONS) Applied Chemistry

Petrochemical Process

CHAPTER-10
Responsible Care and Sustainability Program

Dr. Zulkifli M. A. Merican

YAB3023: Chapter 10: Responsible Care
and Sustainability Program

• The World Business Council for Sustainable Development estimates that by 2050, a
four to tenfold increase in resource efficiency will be required. This challenge is
not only a resource challenge, but a societal one, as key elements of society
(technological developments, healthcare, environment) all depend on the
availability and use of such resources.
• Society will rely increasingly on base organic chemicals which constitute the
building blocks of our modern society and the petrochemical industry will make
substantial contributions to fulfilling society’s needs.
• Chemical innovation will be critical in order to make these precious resources
stretch further, create new applications and to ensure we extract the greatest value
possible.
 • The Commission published in January 2011
its Communication ‘Flagship initiative
under the Europe 2020 Strategy – A
resource efficient Europe’, to which a
number of other initiatives are linked ie
Low Carbon Economy Roadmap, Energy
European Efficiency Plan 2011, Biodiversity Policy and
Strategy, Raw Materials etc. Released on
September 20, 2011, the Resource
Union Efficiency Roadmap, is one of the
cornerstones of the above-mentioned
Commisions ‘flagship’. It sets out the EU’s vision
towards a more resource -efficient
economy by 2050 as well as the objectives
and a range of policies to improve resource
efficiency for 2020, defining at the same
time the plans for introduction of these
policies at EU and member state level.
 • Efficient use of natural resources
is a key element of the chemical
industry’s contribution to
sustainable development.
Resource efficiency initiatives
should consider the full life cycle
Resource Efficient of products and all three pillars
of sustainability:
- environmental,
- economic
- social.
• Chemicals serve as input into essentially all sectors, enabling
the chemical industry to provide products, materials and
technical solutions that improve resource efficiency
throughout the value chain and across the economy. Going
beyond further incremental improvements will require
breakthroughs in production technologies and changes in
consumption behavior.

Resource efficient
• Responsible Care is an initiative of the whole, worldwide
chemical industry, and thereby an initiative to which
the petrochemicals industry adheres actively and
wholeheartedly.

Responsible Care
• It is a voluntary program through which the industry is
committed to continual improvement in all aspects of health,
safety and environmental performance and to open
communication about its activities and achievements.

Responsible care
 • Sustainable chemistry … seeks to improve
the efficiency with which natural
resources are used to meet human needs
for chemical products and services.
Sustainable chemistry encompasses the
design, manufacture and use of efficient,
effective, safe and more environmentally

Sustainable
benign chemical products and processes.

Sustainable chemistry … stimulates

chemistry
innovation across all sectors to design
and discover new chemicals, production
processes, and product stewardship
practices that will provide increased
performance and increased value while
meeting the goals of protecting and
enhancing human health and the
environment.”
 Sustainable chemistry

• Essentially sustainable chemistry is about doing more with less:

reducing the environmental impact of processes and products,
optimizing the use of finite resources and minimizing waste.

Sustainable chemistry can ensure eco-efficiency in everything we do,

both individually and as a society. Sustainable chemistry also means
protecting and extending employment, expertise and quality of life. It
provides a sustainable basis for the innovation needed to stimulate a
competitive, knowledge-based, enterprise-led economy across
Europe.
 • Solutions provided by sustainable
chemistry must also be acceptable to
Wider society: they must be trusted and
designed according to what society
acceptance wants and needs and they must be
economically sound.
 • Sustainable chemistry has a huge
part to play in solving society’s
current and future challenges.

• These challenges include

Examples meeting future energy needs,
reducing our energy and water
of consumption and emissions,
favoring a circular economy
sustainable (recycling, waste management,
making best use of essential raw
chemistry materials or finding substitutes,
helping our urban areas to be
better places to live.
 Sustainable chemistry

• These efforts are supported by enabling

technologies, falling in three main
categories in the Chemical Industry:
Industrial Biotechnologies, Reaction and
Process Design and Materials
Technologies.
 • Contributions through innovation Chemistry
underpins the four approaches used to tackle
the challenge of becoming more raw material
efficient: reduce, reuse, recycle and replace
(the 4Rs). Reducing the amount of material or
energy needed for a given effect or service
implies the use of technology to improve
activity or delivery, such as formulation science

Innovation or nanotechnology. Designing products to have

extended lifetimes, to be recyclable, and to
reuse key components, requires durable
materials as well as adhesives and coating
technologies that enable clean disassembly.

True recycling of substances - where the value and

performance of the material is maintained
 Innovation

• Sustainable substitution for raw materials is

possible through innovation. Concrete examples
of substitution strategies for raw materials are
available in Europe. Activities take place
throughout the value chain, from early stage
R&D to industrial innovation. Developments are
championed by both academic researchers and
industry stakeholders, and address a wide
variety of raw materials application areas such
as in electrics (for batteries and fuel cells), in
electronics (for semiconductors, LED, OLED, and
photovoltaics), and in materials (for catalysts,
metals, alloys, and performanceincreasing
process technologies).
 Goods Transport

• As part of its commitment to Responsible Care, the chemical industry and all
its sectors, including the petrochemical makes to transport goods to and from
its manufacturing sites and storage locations safely and in full accordance
with relevant regulations and codes of practice. Most of the production of
olefins –mainly ethylene and propylene- is used on integrated and local sites
and transformed into derivatives. 40% is moved mainly by pipe (70%) and
ship (20%); the rest is moved by barge or rail. Most of the chemical
derivatives produced out of these olefins are then moved to customers by
road, and some by rail.
 • Ensuring safe transport and handling of
its products, with care for the
environment and in full accordance

Goods with regulations, is of key importance

for the image and reputation of the

transport chemical industry. The chemical

industry promotes excellence in supply
chain operations, with the aim of
safety achieving higher efficiency, making
better use of available resources and
reducing the impact on the
environment.
 Renewable
energy
The EU has agreed that renewable energies are to
make up 20% of EU energy consumption by 2020.
• To continue the momentum of energy savings, the
petrochemical sector is focusing on creating products with
enhanced performance which in turn reduce energy
consumption during their lifetime. Such examples include:
Insulation in construction; lightweight plastics used in cars and
transportation; solar panels; wind mills and water purification
systems among many others.

Product innovation
• BASF’s new material makes the insulating performance of an
insulation foam 50% more effective, resulting in only half the
material thickness required for a given insulating performance.
The Neopor infrared absorbers considerably reduce thermal
conductivity and the permeability of the material with regard
to heat is lower than in normal insulating boards. This has the
potential to save many tons of emissions and substantially
reduce energy use.

Product innovation (continued)

 • The development of new
concepts and new materials is
urgently required and
the petrochemical sector is at
the heart of innovating
products such as new foams,
Conclusion nano-foams, aerogels and
advanced films, sealants and
adhesives for easy application
in environmental technologies.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND
The END….
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