Social challenge and reasons for project’s initiation

Immediacy of the social problem

General: Rapid growth of the planet’s population and swift emergence of new technologies are the two trends that resulted in increased consumption of natural resources and, consequently, in higher impact on the environment. In 2017, Russia produced 6.22 billion tons of waste, which is 66.5% more than in 2010.^[1] Mankind has to address a number of problems related to harmonic sustainable development, food security, environment, etc. These issues require fundamentally new approaches. We must change our industrial technology in order to save our planet. The chemical industry of the future must be green: environment-friendly and with minimum waste. On the one hand, chemistry is crucial to scientific progress; on the other, it causes global environmental problems by polluting the environment with non-biodegradable waste, causing climate change and reducing biodiversity. Green chemistry is a relatively new field. Its goal is to find new chemical processes – or improve existing ones – with a positive effect on the environment and people’s health. The concept of green chemistry emerged half a century ago, when there was a boom of industrial technologies and it became clear that they had a negative impact on nature. The primary objective of green chemistry is to design technologies which would secure further progress while minimizing impact on the environment. Young specialists can contribute to these efforts as much as more experienced scientists.

^[1] https://www.vedomosti.ru/partner/articles/2019/10/09/813034-chto-zelenaya-himiya

External reasons for project’s initiation

The industry needs a large-scale environmental modernization program and better technologies, Vladimir Putin said in his state-of-the-nation address in 2018. By 2019, 300 industrial facilities with most impact on the environment must switch to environment-friendly technologies, and by 2021, all the facilities in the high-risk category have to do the same.^[1]

^[1] Ibid.

Internal reasons for project’s initiation

Fertilizer producers around the world face the same questions today: how to make use of recycled waste and byproducts like phosphogypsum and how to make production more efficient. Green Chemistry for Life is a program that stimulates young scientists to look for new solutions improving the efficiency in fertilizer production and making use of recycled waste. The Company views the program as charity (scientists are not expected to offer solutions that would be immediately applicable in the chemical industry on a commercial scale) and as its contribution to global partnership for sustainable development. Broad support from the academic community and the growing number of applicants indicate that the Company’s efforts to promote new ethics of progress, coupled with conservation of biodiversity and reduction of anthropogenic impact on the environment, have been effective.

Coverage

Worldwide

Project description

The 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in December 2008 proclaimed 2011 the International Year of Chemistry, designating the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the lead agency and focal point for the year in collaboration with the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. In January 2011, at the opening ceremony for the International Year of Chemistry at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, PhosAgro proposed a partnership agreement in green chemistry. The goal of partnership between PhosAgro and UNESCO is to help the global community take advantage of green chemistry to address the issues of global sustainable development.

The project offers financial support (grants of up to $50,000) to promising young scientists from all over the world, working on advanced chemical technologies which would help resolve the issues of the environment, health care, food supply and conservation of natural resources. Projects by young scientists are reviewed and evaluated  by an international panel of judges put together by UNESCO and IUPAC.

Here are some of the projects we have supported:

1. Ariel Marcelo Sarotti (Argentina), “Innovative methods for converting municipal and industrial waste to valuable materials.” The project uses pyrolysis to convert municipal and agroindustrial cellulose waste into valuable products.
2. Shumaila Kiran (Pakistan), “Using natural dyes in dyeing natural textile (green dyeing).” Two sources of plant dyes, arjun bark  (Terminalia arjuna) and coconut bark (Cocos nucifera), have been picked as natural dyes for dyeing wool and silk through an ultrasound- and microwave-assisted process.
3. Maja Stanisavljevic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), “Hybrid metallic/carbon nanomaterials made from mining industry sludge.” Iron ore production process can also generate purified and environment-friendly wastewater.
4. Mohamed Neifar (Tunisia), “Organic fertilizers for sustainable agriculture in Tunisia.” The biological approach is safe, targeted and can be adapted to various crops.
5. Maria Ventura Sanchez-Hornero (Spain), “From waste to sustainability: Phosphogypsum as a heterogeneous catalyst and useful material.” The project proposes to use phosphogypsum (1) as a heterogeneous catalyst and (2) as a material for the silicate industry.
6. Damien Debecker (Belgium), “GReen-flOW: From alcohol to enantiopure amines using heterogeneous biocatalysts in a green continuous flow chemical process.” Biocatalysts are a promising green alternative to metal-organic catalysts. These catalytic proteins are very enantioselective (>99.9%) and pose no threat to the environment as they consist of amino acids.
7. Olufunso Olumide Abosede (Nigeria), “Co-crystals and metal complexes of some active pharmaceutical ingredients: synthesis, structural elucidation and applications.”
8. Alsu Akhmetshina (Russia), “Green separation: polymeric ionic liquids in membranes for gas separation.” The project will have a great impact if Alsu and her team can build a gas separation unit for refineries.

Support projects

Green chemistry summer schools

Green chemistry summer schools are organized annually in various parts of the world to highlight the increasing role this science plays in sustainable production and consumption. Summer schools organized by IUPAC are an extension of the earlier series of summer schools organized by INCA (Interuniversity Consortium: Chemistry for the Environment) in Venice from 1998 to 2008. IUPAC’s involvement internationalized the project and attracted a broad range of stakeholders, especially responsible chemical producers.

The project targets graduate students majoring in chemistry, whose studies involve green chemistry and adjacent fields. The program includes lectures, seminars, presentations by participants and poster sessions.

In 2018, the summer school took place in Venice on July 7-13, at Ca’ Foscari University, under the general leadership of IUPAC’s Interdivisional Committee on Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development (ICGCSD). PhosAgro was the platinum sponsor of the program, providing $13,000 euros.

The summer school received the endorsement of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage and was part of the year’s program. The choice of Venice as a location for the summer school emphasized the connection between green chemistry and preservation of cultural heritage. One day of the school was devoted to green chemistry methods used in restoring objects of cultural heritage. It included the leading experts in this field and was coordinated with the city authorities.

In 2018, 68 graduate students and 30 professors from 38 countries participated in the summer school in Venice. The Organizing Committee received 248 applications and selected 35 candidates who could cover their expenses after reviewing their resumes and works. By January 31, 2018, 205 applications for scholarships were received from students in developing countries. The academic committee awarded 610 euro scholarships to 33 students. Scholarships were provided as part of IUPAC’s partnership with PhosAgro, Eni, L’Oréal, OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons), etc.

The students who attended the summer school will be green chemistry ambassadors to their peers in their universities and their countries.

Given how successful the 2018 summer school was, the project was extended for at least two more years. In 2019, the summer school took place at Dar es Salaam University, Tanzania, on May 12-19. PhosAgro supported the project and participated in it. The summer school was part of the International Year of the Periodic Table.

Team and partners 

Team

PhosAgro has three people working on the project. UNESCO is represented by the executive secretary of the international jury. The international jury is composed of 11 people.

Partners

• UNESCO identifies the standards of the project, puts together the international jury, provides a platform for the jury to perform its functions, and provides venues for project events.
• IUPAC participates in the jury, advertises the program among the international academic community, and provides venues for project events.
• The Ministry of International Affairs of the Russian Federation and the UNESCO Commission of the Russian Federation approve necessary documents, provide visa support, provide specialists participating in events, assists with inviting ranking UN officials to program events.
• The international panel of experts representing UNESCO and IUPAC, leading scientists and PhosAgro specialists evaluates submitted projects.
• The UN Food and Agriculture Organization supports the global program providing agricultural producers with tools for soil analysis to improve the use of fertilizers.

Resources

Financial resources

The Company’s contribution to the project from 2013 to 2022 will amount to almost $2.5 million.

Achieved results

Immediate results

Under the program, we have reviewed over 600 applications and awarded grants to 34 young chemists from 26 countries, providing them with new opportunities for their research in health care, sustainable development, environmental protection and health safety.

The winners in various years not only came up with new scientific ideas but also used their grants to start implementing them.

• A laureate in France looks for a new way to produce important chemical compounds and construction blocks from waste. Theoretical research and well-planned experiments helped him design a new catalyst, demonstrating the efficiency of his concept.
• A laureate in Peru managed to increase the yield of silver from the concentrate from 50% to 70% and halve the use of cyanide (a toxic agent). His research focuses on efficient ways to increase mining productivity while reducing the use of chemicals.
• A laureate in Italy used his grant for research in developing new catalytic synthesis methods. He designed an innovative approach which uses visible light (coming from a regular lightbulb) as a source of energy and minimizes the use of toxic agents, dangerous reactions and industrial waste.
• Last year’s laureates used their grant to study ways to minimize impact of pesticides on plants, vegetables and fruit and find safe and effective ways to use chemicals in agriculture. They focus primarily on new water treatment technology and green ways to synthesize pharmaceuticals and nanofetilizers.

The chemical industry has ways to recycle various kinds of waste into useful products. Previously unused phosphogypsum can be used in high-tech and fast-developing technologies with high added value in the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics, food, etc.

The grants enable young researchers:

‒          to put together a team of young scientists from different universities;

‒          publish their works;

‒          launch a PR campaign for their concept;

‒          prepare their concept for practical use.

The program generated increased interest in research grants and strengthened new scientific mentality among the young people. According to experts, 80% of the projects are high-quality science.^[1] The company emphasizes that the project’s most important result is that the researchers adopt new environmental mentality and start to consider all their work through the lense of how technology affects the environment.

^[1] “PhosAgro and UNESCO extend their cooperation on Green Chemistry for Life,” Samolet, https://samolet.media/posts/3713

Internal project assessment

Internal evaluation was performed by the Company’s leadership. Based on their assessment, a decision was made to extend the project until 2022.

External project assessment

External evaluation is provided by judges and grant recipients.
            https://yadi.sk/i/_NWwyA5-LvNsrQ

An extended external evaluation by outside experts is planned for 2020.

Project’s distinctive features and know – how

• For the first time in UN history, a UNESCO initiative is funded by a Russian company.
• There were similar contests before yet on a much smaller scale. For example, the US has the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, yet it does not prioritize young researchers. Also, unlike Green Chemistry for Life, the American contest does not focus on the “for life” aspect.

Challenges and solutions

Challenges:

• It was difficult for UNESCO to make a decision establishing the award because it had no prior experience of working together with a private Russian company. Eventually, the UNESCO Executive Board had to take a vote on the matter. Preparations took a year and a half.
• Putting together a jury of experts
• Identifying evaluation criteria for the jury

All the challenges have been successfully dealt with, and the award has received international recognition.

Plans of further development   

After consultations with international organizations, a decision was made in 2017 to extend the program until 2022.

Recommendations

• Scale: Hundreds of young researchers from dozens of countries participate in the first round. The project helped over 40 young researchers present their discoveries to the world.
• The project is supported by internationational scientific organization and research centers, including the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), as well as national UNESCO delegations in Paris.
• High professional level of all the parties involved in the project, both the international jury and young researchers.
• The project supports important scientific research focused on global challenges and has produced a number of innovative solutions over the years.