SOCMA to Launch Center for Sustainable Chemistry

InformexUSA, San Francisco (Feb. 14)-The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA, Washington, DC, www.socma.org) is launching a new sustainable chemistry initiative, the International Center for Sustainable Chemistry. Joseph Acker, president of SOCMA, outlined the program at a press briefing. SOCMA is the US-based trade association of batch and custom manufacturers, including contract manufacturing organizations supplying active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates to the pharmaceutical industry.

The International Center for Sustainable Chemistry is the result of a partnership and memorandum of understanding between SOCMA and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, DC, www.epa.gov). The EPA will serve a technical advisory role in the new center, which will act as an industry conduit for green-chemistry outreach and activities.

“The Center has a purely technical focus and serves as a center of excellence for chemical risk screening, featuring the Sustainable Futures models developed and used by EPA,” said Acker. “The Center is a platform for stakeholder discussions on emerging chemical issues, including a bridge between supply chain players and other interested parties. We look forward to working with the EPA and others in developing innovative and new approaches to green chemistry.”

The Sustainable Futures (www.epa.gov/opptintr/newchems/pubs/sustainablefutures.htm) is a program, launched by EPA in 2002, to encourage the application of pollution prevention principles during the development of new chemicals submitted as premanufacture notices under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Acker outlined the core functions of the International Center for Sustainable Chemistry:

• Providing technical advice on risk-screening models and methods;

• Delivering customized product-stewardship programs and training featuring “easy-to-use” models and approaches;

• Developing and evaluating approaches to judge what makes one particular chemical “greener” than other chemicals;

• Convening product-specific stakeholder groups to address emerging chemical issues from a functional-use perspective;

• Developing and introducing innovative and new approaches to green chemistry.