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Dear Colleagues, It's been a busy fall for GC3 staff as we work to launch a series of new projects to execute on our Agenda to Mainstream Green Chemistry. The election this week will provide an opportunity for the GC3 to build leadership and seek coordination for green chemistry at the federal level in a new administration. Unlike renewable energy and nanotechnologies, there has been little federal leadership and coordination for green chemistry and meagre funding for research and development or application and scale. Having worked on federal green chemistry policy since the 2004 Green Chemistry Research and Development Act, I believe that we have not been successful to date in part due to the lack of an organized constituency advocating for focused, well-resourced policies and programs in this important area of innovation. We have made some advances, particularly in the bio-based chemicals arena, in the establishment of the SusChem program at the National Science Foundation, and increasing interest at agencies such as the EPA, Departments of Commerce, Energy, and Defense. But I think we have the potential to achieve much more, given increasing policy and market demands for safer chemistry and the strength of the GC3’s nearly one hundred members that span sectors and the value chain. As a result, we are working with the GC3 Advisory Committee to create a focused effort to advance federal leadership in green chemistry as a national innovation and environmental health priority in the coming administration. In coordination with our partners, such as the American Chemical Society and American Sustainable Business Council, we will develop a platform of policies and programs that the GC3 sees as critical to advancing green chemistry research, development and application. We look forward to working with all of you in making these efforts successful. As always, we encourage you to join the GC3 to be part of making positive marketplace and policy changes that build and sustain a green chemistry innovation ecosystem.
Joel Tickner
INNOVATION
Creating an innovation ecosystem for green and bio-based chemistry technologies The GC3 has started a new initiative, the GC3 Green & Bio-based Chemistry Startup Network, to support the growth of green and bio-based startup companies. Building on the success of the Startup Event at the Innovators Roundtable in Burlington in May, the network aims to accelerate the development and market adoption of new green chemistry technologies. We have a number of activities in the planning stages:
We would like to thank our Startup Network Steering Committee for their expert guidance: Derek McPhee, Amyris; Sandy Marshall, Bio-industrial Innovation Canada; Rey Banatao, Connora; Joel Stone, ConVergInce Advisers; Doug Cameron, First Green Partners; Molly Morse & Anne Schauer-Gimenez, Mango Materials; Lee Walko, Omnitech International; Duncan Cross, Renmatix; Adrian Horotan & Marty Mulvihill, SaferMade. To receive updates and news about the Startup Network, subscribe to our digest email here.
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GC3 Innovators Roundtable |
SAVE THE DATE - GC3 INNOVATORS ROUNDTABLE
Hosted by Steelcase in Grand Rapids, MI USA
April 25-27, 2017
The GC3 Innovators Roundtable is our major annual event where industry leaders present new business strategies, government leaders present emerging policy issues, and members network to discuss green chemistry challenges and solutions and design strategic projects for the coming year. The GC3 Roundtable is a unique opportunity for businesses to communicate across supply chains and sectors. Attendees focus on developing practical solutions in a collegial forum.
Registration opens in November.
Sponsorships
Interested in sponsoring? Contact Jennifer Landry for sponsorship opportunities.
Items of Interest |
Enhancing European Efforts Towards Informed Substitution: Findings and Reactions to a European Union Capacity Needs Assessment
November 29, 2016 at 11:00 am ET
Speakers: Joel Tickner and Molly Jacobs, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, UMass Lowell
It’s So Hard to Make Blue Jeans Without Nasty Chemicals
Eastman Chemical Company's quest to develop a safer solvent
Plastic substitutes and other breakthroughs from 25 years of green chemistry
U.S. vs. EU: Chemicals substitution faceoff
For more information on the work of the GC3, email us or call 978-934-2997.
© 2024 Lowell Center for Sustainable Production • University of Massachusetts Lowell
The Green Chemistry and Commerce Council is a project of The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production,
a research center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.