Materials Metabolism: Green Chemistry for a Circular Economy

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Join us at the University of Birmingham for Materials Metabolism: Green Chemistry for a Circular Economy, a general interest seminar talk, given by Beyond Benign Co-Founder and Father of Green Chemistry, Dr. John Warner.

Official Talk Description:

As we design products to be more sustainable and to fit within a circular economy we are best served to recognize and learn from patterns within nature.

There exists a circular pendulum that swings between the natural world of stable ecosystems and the human built world of products. Centrally located between these two systems exists the domain of the “materials metabolism”, the molecular mechanistic foundation of the assembly and disassembly of molecules and materials. Nature typically carries out the deconstruction and construction of materials through catabolism and anabolism, performing both metabolic processes synchronously. Human industrial design has evolved to perform the synthesis and breakdown processes in spatially and temporarily separate spaces. The principles of green chemistry provide a logical framework to design products within the materials metabolism. This presentation will discuss the general concept of the materials metabolism and provide real world green chemistry examples.

For directions to the talk, refer to the QR code included in the event graphic!