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CC BY 4.0 · Sustainability & Circularity NOW 2024; 01: a24514726
DOI: 10.1055/a-2451-4726
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Circular Chemistry: An Enabler of Circular Economy To Achieve the Zero-Waste Goal

Santosh Bahadur Singh 
1   Circular Catalysis & Chemical Kinetics Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj 211002, UP, India
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Dedication

This article is dedicated to Dr. Praveen Kumar Tandon, Professor (Former Head), Department of Chemistry, University of Allahabad, on his 67th Birth Anniversary as a token of respect for his remarkable contribution to the field of catalysis and chemical kinetics.

Abstract

The main aims of zero-waste goals are the promotion of sustainable production and consumption through the societal move toward circular approaches. The chemical industry includes a variety of processes to produce various useful consumables, but many of these processes have serious negative environmental, health, and safety impacts at every level of their design, production, processing, and uses. Circularity is at the core of eco-design and the production technology in which waste is repurposed and their environmental impacts are reduced via the 3Rs concepts: reduce, reuse, and recycle. The integration of circular approaches with chemistry makes it a circular chemistry (CC). This article provides a brief literature review on CC and why it is important to tackle the various sustainability-related issues. Here we conduct a structured opinion as well as evidence-based review to explore the role of CC to make it more sustainable. Fundamental aspects of CC and its role in the circular economy have been discussed, and it is concluded that the design of clean chemical processes, recovery, and reuse of wastes, and reintroducing recovered materials back to the industrial production chain is possible and scalable. This article aligns with 7 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, that is, 3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14, and 15.

Keywords

Circular chemistry - Zero-waste goal - Circular economy - Sustainability - Circularity - Recycle


Publication History

Received: 31 August 2024

Accepted after revision: 23 October 2024

Article published online:
22 November 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

Bibliographical Record
Santosh Bahadur Singh. Circular Chemistry: An Enabler of Circular Economy To Achieve the Zero-Waste Goal. Sustainability & Circularity NOW 2024; 01: a24514726.
DOI: 10.1055/a-2451-4726
 

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