Redefining Excellence: The Future of Metrics & Data for Green Chemistry Evaluations in Pharma

Green chemistry evaluations are fundamentally grounded in metrics, which provide a systematic approach to assess the sustainability of chemical processes. Quantitative metrics, such as resource consumption, waste generation scores, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and other LCA categories are critical in providing objective data that can be compared across different processes and products. Furthermore, the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly influenced by legislation and customer demand that emphasize specific metrics related to sustainability. In addition to quantitative measures, qualitative metrics play a significant role in evaluating the broader implications of green chemistry. These qualitative assessments can include factors such as safety, toxicity, and societal impact, providing a comprehensive overview of a chemical process’s sustainability. However, reliance solely on qualitative measures can lead to ambiguity and potential greenwashing where companies may make misleading claims about their environmental performance. Therefore, the integration of robust quantitative metrics is mandatory to substantiate green claims for chemical syntheses or products. This session aims to provide an overview of the metrics by companies and academia in pharma and allied industries, leading up to a value-creating discussion on their implications and applications at the end of the session.