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Gröna molekyler mot en grön bakgrund

About the programme

Mistra SafeChem is a research programme that aims to create a sustainable chemical industry and reduce exposure to hazardous substances.

It is financed by Mistra, The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research. Phase 1 of Mistra SafeChem was granted in 2019 and ran to 2024. The research continues in phase 2, which runs from July 2024 to June 2028.

The vision and overarching aim of Mistra SafeChem will be fulfilled by a broad research programme focusing on the development of tools, processes and methods with the specific objectives of:

  1. Developing innovative production processes for non-hazardous molecules and materials focusing on renewable and recycled raw materials and novel concepts for chemical synthesis based on heterogeneous and enzyme catalysis, electrocatalysis and minimal waste processes.
  2. Development and application of novel methods for predicting and verifying hazardous properties and risks of (new) molecules or materials using in silico models, in vitro tools and advanced chemical/biological analytical methods combined with high-performance data capturing and treatment.
  3. Develop and apply life cycle assessment methodologies incorporating hazardous properties of molecules and materials and exposure risks along the entire value chain.
  4. Test and evaluate the suitability of the Mistra SafeChem toolbox to perform safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) assessments of chemicals, materials and articles, following or further advancing the EU’s Joint Research Centre’s SSbD framework.
  5. Develop a vision and agenda for the expansion and implementation of the Mistra SafeChem concepts in the Swedish and international chemical industry.
  6. Conduct a series of multidisciplinary case studies for specific products and design, production and recycling processes. The toolbox of new methods for hazard screening, risk quantification and life cycle assessment will be tested and evaluated to ensure that they are fit for purpose.
  7. Establish, in dialogue with existing platforms, a permanent network for Green Chemistry where collaborative efforts on safe and sustainable chemical industry can be further developed between industry, authorities, academia and institutes.

Work packages in phase 2 of Mistra SafeChem

John Munthe, Helene Juliusson, Monika Witala, Marianne Blückert and Ragnhild Berglund,
all from IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

  • Programme coordination
    Administration, coordination, planning, organise and chair meetings, follow-up work in the WP:s, contact with Mistra
  • Communication
    Website, newsletters, social media, press releases, annual report

John Munthe, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, and Lennart Bergström, Stockholm University

The specific objectives are:

  • To establish a permanent platform for research and innovation on safe, sustainable and green chemistry.
  • To evaluate the applicability of the Mistra SafeChem toolbox for SSbD assessment.
  • To establish a dialogue forum between research, authorities and industry.
  • To synthesise the scientific achievements and potential for implementation of the Mistra SafeChem results and formulate a vision and agenda for the transformation of chemical industry and chemical use.

Ian Cotgreave, RISE, and Jonathan Martin, Stockholm University

The specific objectives are:

  • Define and systematically apply WP tools in defined approaches tailored to each Mistra SafeChem case study.
  • Continuously improve the toolboxes to adapt to emerging needs and challenges within the case studies.
  • Support and facilitate key decisions made in the development of processes within the case studies resulting in compliance with EU’s SSbD criteria.
  • Stimulate inter and intra WP collaboration in the development of digital data workflows facilitating efficient and effective interplay between exposure and hazard data and LCA calculations.
  • By the above, provide a proven and sustainable research infrastructure for continued support to Swedish innovation beyond the Mistra SafeChem programme.

Belén Martin-Matute, Stockholm University, and Per-Olof Syrén, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Research focus center around the manufacturing, creation, and enhancement of sustainable chemicals and diverse materials while adhering to the principles of Green Chemistry. This encompasses the following aspects:

  • Transforming low-value residues into valuable commodity materials and chemicals.
  • Pioneering new catalytic techniques in line with the principles of green and sustainable chemistry.
  • Assess the sustainability of these methods through predictive life cycle assessment (LCA) and toxicity evaluation.

Tomas Rydberg, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, and Anna-Karin Hellström, RISE

The specific objectives are:

  • To further advance the life cycle based chemicals assessment toolbox and increase its utility to industry.
  • To strengthen the link with the machine learning world to increase chemical space coverage.
  • To increase focus on life cycle inventory (LCI) relevant for chemical footprints and by that reduce associated uncertainty.
  • Develop prospective LCA methods applicable to a (re)design context and an aim to reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Case studies in phase 2 of Mistra SafeChem

Jan-Erling Bäckvall and Belén Martin-Matute, Stockholm University

The specific objectives are:

  • Optimization of catalyst loading for pivotal chemical reactions.
  • Refining the efficiency of reactions to make C-N and C-C bonds.
  • Developing a strategy for the recovery and subsequent reuse of the copper metal, including the recovery of resources from wastes.
  • Develop more sustainable alternatives to current copper-catalysed reactions to make C-N and C-C bonds, including less harmful reagents and immobilization.

Belén Martin-Matute and Jan-Erling Bäckvall, Stockholm University

The specific objectives are:

  • To formulate a plan for the retrieval and/or reutilization of precious metal resources employed in organic synthesis, specifically from the generated waste.
  • Identify relevant parameters for process optimization.
  • Maintaining high levels of activity and selectivity in both solvent-free and solvent-assisted reactions with heterogenized rare-metal catalysts.
  • Develop more sustainable alternatives to current platinum metal group-catalysed reactions, including less harmful reagents and solvents.

Joseph Samec and Aji Mathew, Stockholm University

The specific objectives are:

  • To design a safe and sustainable value chain from lignin to a unique material, including circularity in terms of production, use phase and recycling and assessment of chemical hazard and risk.
  • To apply novel experimental analytical methods for the early prediction and verification of potential toxic substances in lignin valorisation and products.

Aji Mathew, Stockholm University, and Anna-Karin Hellström, RISE

The specific objectives are:

  • To develop and evaluate safer and cleaner processes for textile recycling with focus on evaluating surfactants and existing/novel oxidants for textile upcycling into nanocellulose.
  • To evaluate the process flexibility and adaptability for heterogenous textile feeds.
  • To support industry with fast and simple-to-use analytical screening technology that can be established as standard methodology to design out hazardous chemicals at an early stage of production.
  • To incorporate the Defined Approach (DA) for hazard and risk into the assessment, and further develop non-target screening methods for unknown textile compounds and incorporate into LCA and chemical footprint assessment.

Per-Olof Syrén, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Tomas Rydberg, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

The specific objectives are:

  • To develop methods for enzymes and light drive to complex synthesis of leads with minimal environmental impact and reduced energy consumption.
  • To identify the structure-function relationships of late stage functionalization.
  • To identify building blocks meeting safety and sustainability criteria.
  • To assess the new processes for safety and sustainability.