Question

Explain the principle ‘Prevention of waste’ in green chemistry. 

Answer 1

1. It is better to prevent waste than to treat and clean up waste after it is formed.
2. It has been a common practice to dump waste on land or in water or release in air. This resulted in soil, water and air pollution.
3. This made the legislation to be stringent on industries and hence there was compulsion to have waste treatment and disposal units attached to the manufacturing plants. Thus the cost of process increased considerably.
4. Thus green chemistry, involves to design chemical synthesis in such a way that the process involving pathway to give products, leaving no waste to treat or clean up.