SUPPLY CHAIN
The harrowing news about the environment over the last few decades have taught the human race a dangerous lesson about the finiteness of resources . Since the Industrial Revolution kicked off in the 18th century , there has been a rather linear approach to resources : ‘ take-make-waste ’. Not only does this lead to the depletion of resources , it also leads to the pollution of the planet .
Now , we see that this approach is not sustainable and that we need to rethink our approach . Into this fray , then , comes the notion of circular economy , following an alternative pattern : ‘ make-use-reuseremake-recycle ’. This is a system that values the preservation of value in energy , labour , and material . Naturally , such a radically different approach will alter the design of products . The notion of reusing an object may seem intuitive when it comes to objects , but what about the primary source materials ? And what of chemicals ? What of plastics ?
Chemicals are , for starters , a tricky one . In 2022 , the International Energy Agency announced that the chemical industry was the third-largest industry subsector in terms of contributing direct CO2 emissions . One must remember , too , chemicals are an essential ancillary part of nearly every other industry . The need to become sustainable is ever-pressing , for if chemicals become more sustainable , so too does every industry that uses them .
To get some answers , Sustainability Magazine spoke to Anahita Khanlari , PhD , the Industry Marketing Director for Chemicals at AspenTech , which
“AspenTech delivers a wide range of digital solutions to help accelerate circular economy adoption ”
NAHITA KHANLARI , PH . D . INDUSTRY MARKETING DIRECTOR – CHEMICALS , ASPENTECH
134 April 2023