Michigan Executive Directive - Promotion of Green Chemistry

Promotion of Green Chemistry for Sustainable Economic Development and Protection of Public Health - Executive Directive No. 2006-6

1. Issued by / date / date of implementation

Governor of the State of Michigan, USA / 17.10.2006 / upon entering public record

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2. Type of legislation

Local legislation to be implemented in the State of Michigan, USA

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3. General purpose

The purpose of the legislation item is to reduce the use of hazardous substances that can threaten human health and environment. Measures to reduce the use of such chemicals are related to the implementation of so called “green chemistry”.

“Green chemistry” is defined as using a set of principles in chemistry and chemical engineering to design chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances by safe and efficient manufacturing processes. The 12 Green chemistry principles are presented, including:

designing safer chemicals and products, that are ‘fully effective, yet have little or no toxicity’.
design less hazardous chemical syntheses, that use and generate substances with little or no toxicity to humans and the environment.

In order to support the green chemistry policy, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality shall establish a Green Chemistry Support Program to promote and coordinate state green chemistry research, development, demonstration, education, and technology transfer.

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4. Substitution relevant paragraphs

According to section II of the Michigan Directive, dedicated to green chemistry policy, the State departments and agencies shall:

encourage the research, development and implementation of cost-effective innovative chemical technologies that accomplish pollution prevention
promote chemical technologies that reduce or eliminate the consumption or generation of hazardous substances during the design, manufacture and use of chemical products
encourage the use of safer, less toxic, or non-toxic chemical alternatives to hazardous substances.

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5. Assessment of relevance for substitution

The Michigan Directive promotes green chemistry principles including designing and use of safer chemicals or products with ‘little or no toxicity’. The documents presents not only the policy regarding green chemistry but also the main points of a Support Program.

Green Chemistry Support Program should contain a range of measures, from research to technological transfer and education, but it also includes incentives and measures to identify barriers to commercialization of green chemistry.

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