Courtesy of Paul Anastas

Professor Paul Anastas, the director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale, was awarded the 2021 Volvo Environment Prize for his contributions to innovation and implementation of sustainable technologies.

The Volvo Prize is considered one of the world’s most respected environmental prizes and is annually awarded to individuals who have contributed to environmental and sustainable development through their scientific discoveries. Anastas, both in his research and in directing the Center, aims to revolutionize manufacturing to encourage zero waste production. He has brought this dream not only to Yale and its students for the last 30 years, but also to the Obama White House as assistant director to the Environmental Protection Agency. Most recently, Anastas has spearheaded a global green chemistry research network in collaboration with the United Nations. 

“I view this award as not merely recognizing me and my work, but a worldwide community of green chemists who are doing research and transforming that research into impact to make a better world,” Anastas said. 

Green chemistry is the study of designing manufacturing processes that reduce and eliminate the generation of chemical waste. For the past 150 years, manufacturing has led to life-changing products, but it has also resulted in rampant pollution. Scientists worldwide, including Anastas, are attempting to offset this pollution with innovative manufacturing. 

“Paul Anastas’s research is revolutionizing the chemical industry, from fundamental reaction methods to applications as diverse as processing foods and producing green hydrogen,” the Volvo Environment Prize Foundation noted in its official announcement.

Anastas is not only a researcher, but a leader in the green chemistry governmental policy movement. 

“He has this ability to inspire people to be innovative and connect their work to the larger story of the health of ecosystems and the health of humans,” said Indy Burke, dean of the Yale School of the Environment. “He is a bench chemist who can do international outreach and policy, and not only that, but he is a great guy. He is a dad and he is a wonderful teacher and mentor. His graduate students go out and do great things. They create startups that do well by doing good. They create businesses to market products that are made with green chemistry.”

One of Anastas’s former students and mentees, Stafford Sheehan, founded a company called Air Co. The company converted carbon dioxide and water into vodka in a carbon neutral process inspired by photosynthesis. Now, it has a contract with NASA to design sustainable rocket fuel. 

Additionally, Anastas remains a central figure in green chemistry policy development and leadership. Last week, he spoke at the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, alongside a panel of four Yale students, about the need for green chemistry innovation and implementation. 

“When you come up with new ways of generating, storing, and transporting our energy, when you come up with these new technologies or new building materials that can sequester and consume large amounts of carbon dioxide, when you come up with new technologies like green chemistry is doing where you convert CO₂ into valuable products, that is exactly what needs to happen,” Anastas said.

Under Anastas’s leadership, the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering is collaborating with the United Nations to ensure innovation occurs on a global scale. The network is championing researchers from Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, and connecting them with established centers in North America and Europe to build the green chemistry research community. According to Anastas, there are now “thousands and thousands” of people around the world studying green chemistry, a field that is only 30 years old.

Along with his mentoring and contributions to science, Anastas co-authored a book with John Warner, titled “12 Principles of Green Chemistry.” This was one of the first major texts in the field and provided the foundation for current green chemistry. The book introduced a new way of thinking to the manufacturing industry and is studied in high schools and graduate classes alike around the world. Authoring the book marked Anastas as the “Father of Green Chemistry.”

The 2021 Volvo Environmental Committee will conduct a live-streamed celebratory ceremony in Paul Anastas’s honor on Dec. 1.