To stop creating pollution in the first place became America's official policy in 1990 with the Federal Pollution Prevention Act. Rarechems have a team of researchers and technicians with rich experiences in the development and production of chemical reagents, and we have fairly high capability in management, production and R & D of products.
The law defines source reduction as any practice that:
Reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant entering any waste stream or otherwise released into the environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal.
Reduces the hazards to public health and the environment associated with the release of such substances, pollutants, or contaminants.
The term "source reduction" includes:
Modifications to equipment or technology
Modifications to process or procedures
Modifications, reformulation or redesign of products
Substitution of raw materials
Improvements in housekeeping, maintenance, training, or inventory control
Section 2 of the Pollution Prevention Act establishes a pollution prevention hierarchy, saying:
The Congress hereby declares it to be the national policy of the United States that pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible;
Pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an environmentally safe manner, whenever feasible;
Pollution that cannot be prevented or recycled should be treated in an environmentally safe manner whenever feasible; an
Disposal or other release into the environment should be employed only as a last resort and should be conducted in an environmentally safe manner.
Green chemistry aims to design and produce cost-competitive chemical products and processes that attain the highest level of the pollution-prevention hierarchy by reducing pollution at its source.
For those who are creating and using green chemistry, the hierarchy looks like this:
Source Reduction and Prevention of Chemical Hazards
Designing chemical products to be less hazardous to human health and the environment
Making chemical products from feedstocks, reagents, and solvents that are less hazardous to human health and the environment
Designing syntheses and other processes with reduced or even no chemical waste
Designing syntheses and other processes that use less energy or less water
Using feedstocks derived from annually renewable resources or from abundant waste
Designing chemical products for reuse or recycling
Reusing or recycling chemicals
Treating chemicals to render them less hazardous before disposal
Disposing of untreated chemicals safely and only if other options are not feasible
Chemicals that are less hazardous to human health and the environment are:
Less toxic to organisms
Less damaging to ecosystems
Not persistent or bioaccumulative in organisms or the environment
Inherently safer to handle and use because they are not flammable or explosive