Green Chemistry Workshop at Cipla, Mumbai

On July 28th 2015, a half-day workshop on Green Chemistry was organized by Green Chemistree Foundation at Cipla, Vikhroli, Mumbai. It was attended by around 45 Cipla employees from different departments such as R&D and Production.

Welcome addresses by Ms. Geena Malhotra, Cipla Ltd and Ms. Krishna Padia, Green Chemistree Foundation emphasized the need for green chemistry and how the awareness stage is complete and industrialization stage now needs to be driven.

Welcome address by Ms. Krishna Padia, Green Chemistree Foundation

This was followed by presentations by 4 senior members of the industry who shared their vast knowledge of green chemistry principles and gave their inputs on implementation of the same.

Design of green processes, strategies, tools and metrics in Pharma API industry

Dr. Gopalan stressed on the need for green metrics and the importance of “atom economy” in every process.

Dr. Gopalan – CSO & Executive Director, Drug Discovery, Orchid Pharma Ltd. & Green Chemistry Task Force Member, DST, Govt. of India

He shared some examples of green chemistry which are in the thought process stage which if implemented at plant level can be beneficial from the point of view of environment as well as economics. The examples were of environmentally benign synthesis steps, value addition of by-product, use of water as a solvent, use of a non-toxic cyanide source, etc. He also spoke of the future prospects and the challenges in research, implementation and education.

Process research as a tool to attain GC in Pharma Industry

Dr. Krishnamurthy highlighted the huge savings that can be brought about by green chemistry in the 4 trillion dollar worth chemical industry.

Dr. Krishnamurthy – VP and Global Head, API R&D, Piramal Enterprises Ltd

Green chemistry by design should be used to design different routes to reduce waste in the chemical processes. He spoke about the need for the route selection process to have a short time line, reducing the API budget and also making the process cost effective by utilizing services of highly competitive scientists. The route selection process should start early with flexible capacity building with in house team and partners.

Overview – Environmental and Regulatory norms

Dr. Naidu spoke about pollution increasing at alarming proportions and the need for environmental and regulatory norms to protect human health and environment.

Dr. Rashmi Naidu – Director (Technical Services), NS Support Services Pvt. Ltd

She spoke at length about REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization & restriction of Chemicals) and how it applies to the Pharma Industry. She drew our attention to the lack of knowledge about environmental policies and suggested that Pharma associations should provide technical assistance so that companies can be prepared for the ever evolving landscape.

“Recycle at Source” approach for existing conventional process having with maximum E-factor – as first step towards implementing Green Chemistry

Mr. Mehta talked about the ineffectiveness of current methods of waste management such as ETP, CETP and Industrial Ecology.  The need of the hour is to start industrialization of ready green chemistry based technologies so that we can start seeing the environmental and economic benefits.

Mr. Nitesh Mehta – Founder-Director, Newreka Green Synth Technologies Pvt Ltd

He shared 3 case studies of Newreka’s Recycle@Source^TM Solution for recycle of sulphuric acid, neutral stream and salt containing stream. He suggested that chemical companies start implementing green chemistry based technologies with high E-Factor products, big volume molecules and molecules in II and III stage of clinical trials.

Dr. D. R. Rao – R&D (API) Head, gave the vote of thanks and mentioned that such programmes are very important for driving companies towards taking measures for pollution prevention.

This seminar was a platform to build on the existing awareness of Green Chemistry and to encourage and motivate the participants further towards this topic by the sharing of case studies and providing an opportunity to interact with experts in this area.

Convener’s Note

Namaste,

We are delighted to welcome you and inspired by your commitment, that’s present here today – commitment to explore the value proposition of Green Chemistry for your organization, to recognize the potential of Green Chemistry to offer the twin benefits of economic competitiveness & environmental preservation, and to initiate the process of implementation of Green Chemistry within your organization.

We pledge to serve this commitment of yours and welcome that spirit which is open and willing to explore the industrialization of green chemistry and engineering practices. The collective commitment of all of you, present here, is like the nucleus which will forward this field and drive the implementation and industrialization of green chemistry and engineering in the Industry.

Purpose & Commitment of IGCW: The Industrial Green Chemistry World (IGCW) is a platform created to facilitate implementation and commercialization of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering based products and technologies in the chemical industry.

IGCW2011 is an ecosystem to connect various worlds of the chemistry community – industry, academia, research institutes, government & regulatory bodies, associations, NGOs, students and media. An ecosystem to bring all these stakeholders together and to collectively explore new concepts, engage-in conversations, exchange ideas and collaborate to accelerate the industrialization of green chemistry and engineering, in a way, that it becomes the only way of doing chemistry.

Dimensions of IGCW & its reality: We take this opportunity to share with you some realities about various dimensions of IGCW:

IGCW-Symposium brings together 23 global experts from industry, academia, government bodies and NGOs, presenting on strategic issues, industrial case-studies, innovations and emerging trends. IGCW-Symposium is host to 300+ chemical companies of diverse scales, from over 3 continents and 10 Countries. It will be attended by over 1200 chief representatives from the functional domains of management, R&D, plant & operations, over three days.

IGCW-Expo is the world’s first showcase exclusively of green chemistry and engineering based initiatives, technologies, services, products and solutions. Over 50 organizations will showcase their innovations to over 4000+ visitors from the Chemical Industry at IGCW-Expo.

IGCW Awards is an acknowledgement of individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions through implementation & commercialization of Green Chemistry and engineering.  We are delighted to declare that IGCW-2011 has received 41 case studies for IGCW Awards, compared to 21 case-studies received in 2009. This is an indicator not only of the recognition of the unsustainability of the present course of manufacturing, but also  that there are an increasing number of committed stakeholders pro-actively engaged in addressing the sustainability needs of the chemical industry.

180° Seminar Series are 3 hr technical sessions organized to create deeper technical understanding of the delegates on specific areas like Green Solvents, Green Catalysts, Green Engineering, Green Processes, etc.

Students Conference & Teachers Workshop being conducted after IGCW is an expression to expand awareness about Green Chemistry in the academia inside of our commitment to have our future generation of chemists & chemical engineers “Green Conscious”.

Opportunities at IGCW:  IGCW is a phenomenal opportunity for all of us to “intervene” in to our current practices, the way we do our chemistry and to question our existing paradigms to address chemical industry’s environmental challenges. It’s an opportunity to create new paradigms – by shifting, from resource-intensive approach to profit-centric model, from regulation-driven pollution-control practices to e-factor driven pollution prevention strategies, and from effluent treatment to recycle streams at the source.

IGCW is a platform to connect the providers of these possibilities to its industry-driven seekers. It is a collective opportunity to create a next generation DNA for the chemical industry that will drive the implementation and industrialization of green chemistry and engineering.

Participation at IGCW:  With this we invite you to participate in IGCW-2011 and to view this event as an opportunity, to make the most of the presence of global experts by interacting with them and exchanging ideas. Network, visit the exhibition and participate in specific 180o Seminar of your interest.

Open up this opportunity to people in your network, personally invite them to visit the exhibition halls, to explore the subject specific seminars and utilize this platform for generating a ‘green’ consciousness amongst our Industry peers and colleagues.

We invite you to participate from the receiving and sharing context, by extending your interactions with the young generation and senior alike, and take tremendous value from the event, both from the known and unknown. An event with such a grand purpose gives us an opportunity to create relationships which are grounded in purpose, and may transform brief interactions into long-term relationships to fulfill mutual commitments in this direction that will ultimately, I dare say, benefit all of humanity and, once and for all, demonstrate that Green Chemistry can improve competitiveness and profitability.

For, IGCW Team,
Nitesh