Inherently safer design and green chemistry& engineering have a common philosophy. That is to minimize or eliminate the hazard through the design of the process. The incorporation of green chemistry and engineering principles in the design of the process not only minimizes environmental and safety liability, but it also has been demonstrated to increase process efficiency with an impact on the financial bottom line. Many pharmaceutical companies have been working together in partnership with the ACS Green Chemistry Institute to facilitate the implementation of green chemistry and engineering in the global pharmaceutical industry. They recognize that the incorporation of these principles is essential for a sustainable business and environment.

The ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable has gathered benchmarking data indicating that approximately 50% of the process mass intensity of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) is related to solvent use. The findings support other published results [C. Jimenez-Gonzalez et.al., Int. J. LCA, 9(2), 114 (2004)] indicating that most of the waste (c.a. 80%) of API is solvent related with the remaining being solids. These findings suggest a focus on the use of solvents in the design of the process will minimize environmental and safety hazards. While recognizing the important role of solvents, the Roundtable is working to identify mechanisms to reduce the use of solvent while also investing resources to improve our understanding of less hazardous alternatives to many commonly used solvents. The Roundtable is also considering how the life cycle impact of solvents can influence choice. Examples of inherently safer design and green chemistry & engineering principles will be demonstrated with an emphasis on the opportunities to minimize the use of solvents and to identify less hazardous alternatives when used.