The Commercialization of Green Chemicals and Processes and Their Increasing Role in Consumer and Industrial Markets

The Joseph Priestley Society welcomes a panel discussion led by Joel Tickner, director, Green Chemistry and Commerce Council.

Market demands for safer, more sustainable chemistries in consumer products are constantly increasing. But companies face a number of challenges in developing, commercializing, and ultimately scaling up such chemistries. These issues include the incumbency of existing chemistries, the costs of development and capitalization, the complexity and misalignment of supply chains, and the derisking necessary for new entrants to enter the market. This year’s Joseph Priestley Society panel features experts from both established and newer chemical manufacturers who will discuss some of the challenges they face in innovation and adoption of green-chemistry solutions, various strategies they have used for overcoming barriers, and needs for supply-chain collaboration and government support moving forward.

Questions we will explore include

• What have been the most significant challenges for your company in increasing commercialization of green-chemistry solutions? What is your company doing to overcome these challenges?

• Can you share examples of the successful adoption of green-chemistry solutions that your company has created? What factors have lined up to make them successful?

• What partnerships and collaborations have you developed to advance green-chemistry solutions that your company manufactures?

• What demand signals are needed from business customers and consumers to get chemical manufacturers to focus more efforts on green chemistry?

• What can be done to help viable green-chemistry technologies succeed in the marketplace and compete successfully with incumbent technologies?
   

Event Schedule

• 11:30 a.m.
  Networking Reception

• 12:15 p.m.
  Luncheon

• 1:00 p.m. 
  Program

---

Moderator

Joel Tickner is a professor of environmental health at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, where he directs the Chemicals Policy and Science Initiative of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production. He founded and is the executive director of the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council, a network of more than 120 companies and other organizations dedicated to accelerating the adoption of green chemistry across supply chains and sectors. Tickner is a leading expert on green-chemistry policy and regulatory science, and is one of the leading scholars in the field of alternatives assessment. He has served as an adviser and researcher for government agencies, international agencies, companies, and nongovernmental organizations in the United States and abroad during the past 20 years. He served on the EPA’s National Pollution Prevention and Toxics Advisory Committee and on the National Academy of Sciences Panels on the Future of Science at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Design of Safer Chemical Alternatives.

Tickner holds an MS in environmental studies from the University of Montana and a DSc from the Department of Work Environment at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

---

 

Panelists

Christian Lenges is the business development manager for biomaterials at DuPont Industrial BioSciences, leading the development and launch of emerging and growth businesses to commercialize industrially important chemicals and materials from renewable feedstocks. He has extensive experience in a variety of business functions in DuPont and a passion for product development and portfolio management for new venture creation.

---

 

John Sliner has been working with natural-based chemistries for industrial lubricant and corrosion inhibitor applications for more than 38 years. He started his career with Quaker Chemical as a product development chemist in the corporate laboratory, working on replacing petroleum-based oil with sustainable alternatives. He went on to fill a number of technical, marketing, and sales roles in the metalworking fluids field.

In 2015 Sliner joined Emery Oleochemicals, a leading provider of natural-based chemicals. As the market development manager, he is focused on the growth of Emery’s biolubricants business, which includes a range of specialty acids and esters produced from renewable fats and oils.

Sliner graduated from LaSalle University in Philadelphia with a BA in chemistry. He also received an MBA from Drexel University.

---

Lauren Zarama is a computer science graduate from George Washington University. During her undergraduate studies she built and ultimately sold a web technology startup and then went back to school to get her MBA from Babson College. She is now the CEO of InKemia Green Chemicals, a company that develops green-chemistry technologies.

---

The Joseph Priestley Society (JPS) promotes a deeper understanding of science, technology, and industry, with an emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship. Speakers are leaders from a wide variety of large and small chemical companies and the financial, consulting, and academic communities.

For more information about this event, please contact jps@sciencehistory.org.