Green chemistry emerged in response to negative environmental and human health effects caused by traditional chemical practices. Over the course of the 20th century, legislation addressing chemical contamination in the environment became increasingly common throughout the world. In the 1970s, following several environmental disasters, the U.S. implemented a series of federal regulations to minimize the discharge of hazardous substances.* 

However, more work was needed to innovate on traditional chemistries and safeguard people and the planet. In the 1990s, chemists Paul Anastas and John Warner introduced the concept of green chemistry. They outlined twelve principles to guide the development of environmentally friendly chemical processes. During this time, Paul Anastas led the EPA Green Chemistry Program, which was focused on research and education. Together with colleagues at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), he mobilized policymakers and made the case that green chemistry innovations should be recognized and celebrated, leading to the first Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards (GCCA) held in 1996. These awards were established to recognize and promote innovative chemical technologies that prevent pollution and have broad applicability in the industry. After Paul Anastas and John Warner published their foundational work "Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice" in 1998, the chemical industry and the EPA initiated a partnership to promote green chemistry.

Following more than a year of planning by individuals from industry, government, and academia, the Green Chemistry Institute (GCI) was founded in 1997 as a not-for-profit devoted to promoting and advancing green chemistry. Paul Anastas chaired a committee that consisted of Joe Desimone (at the time a professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina), Bill Tumas (then a project leader at DuPont), Sid Chao from Hughes Environmental, and Denny Hjeresen at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. When the GCI was launched, the first appointed Director was Joseph Breen, who had just retired from the EPA. 

The Green Chemistry and Engineering (GC&E) Conference was also launched in 1997 to highlight the GCCA winners and convene the community. Paul Anastas partnered with Joseph Breen, who at the time was the Chair of the ACS Committee on Environmental Improvement, to seek partnerships for a dedicated ACS conference on green chemistry. The conference, funded by the EPA, was held at the National Academies headquarters in Washington, DC. With Paul Anastas as the Chair, it was co-organized by a committee of colleagues from the EPA, National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Department of Energy (DOE), and the ACS (specifically, Ray Garrant and Sylvia Ware). The meeting attracted about 150 participants. As the conference grew, the venue changed to larger hotels in the DC area, eventually outgrowing venues in the central part of DC entirely. 

Another key event took place in 1999. The Green Chemistry Institute and the University of Massachusetts, Boston, collaborated to organize the first education summit on green chemistry. The summit led to the publication of a compendium of laboratory experiences that illustrated the principles of green chemistry in undergraduate labs. Shortly thereafter, the University of Massachusetts created the world’s first Ph.D program in green chemistry, led by Dr. John Warner.

When Joseph Breen passed away in 2000, the EPA and ACS agreed to merge the GCI under the ACS umbrella. In 2001, the GCI became part of the American Chemical Society – the world's largest professional scientific society and membership organization for chemists – signaling that green chemistry was gaining prominence and becoming an essential part of chemistry's toolkit. The ACS Board Chair at the time, Nina McClelland, was instrumental in the arrangement, and Denny Hjesen was appointed Director of the ACS GCI.

As more researchers in both industry and academia embraced the noble yet commonsense goal behind the concept of green chemistry, more fundamental research became rooted in green chemistry principles. Early adoption among synthetic chemists – particularly catalysis chemists – provided excellent examples of how compatible the principles are with smarter, more elegant, and more efficient chemistry. In 2001, Professors Knowles, Noyori, and Sharpless received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their research in Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling. Green chemistry took the stage again for the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Professors Chauvin, Grubbs, and Schrock were recognized for their groundbreaking work in highly atom-economical metathesis reactions. These, and numerous other recognitions, helped to establish the importance of green chemistry in a discipline rooted in traditional practice. 

The chemical industry didn't miss these signals from academia and government. In 2005, the ACS GCI established an industrial roundtable for the pharmaceutical industry to catalyze and enable green chemistry and engineering into chemical businesses. Since then, four additional roundtables for chemical manufacturing, formulators, oilfield chemistry, and biochemical technology leadership have been established, awarding hundreds of thousands in green chemistry research grants.

Over time, green chemistry has expanded its influence across many sectors, such as energy, materials, and agriculture, driving significant advancements in sustainable practices. Green chemistry groups, journals, and conferences have been launched all over the world. Moreover, in the last three decades, it has fostered unprecedented collaborations between academia, industry, and policymakers, leading to the development of regulations and initiatives promoting safer and more sustainable chemical practices. 

Today, green chemistry plays a more crucial role than ever in addressing global challenges like climate change, pollution, and resource depletion. It focuses on the design and implementation of chemical processes that minimize or eliminate the use of hazardous substances, conserve resources, and reduce waste generation. By emphasizing prevention rather than remediation, the green chemistry principles encourage scientists and engineers to find innovative and sustainable solutions.

Green chemistry methodologies are increasingly integrated into research, education, and industrial practices, creating a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future. With green chemistry, scientists around the world are tackling today's biggest sustainability challenges, working to harmonize human well-being with the health of our planet.

*Clean Air Act (1963, with amendments in 1970, 1977, and 1990), Clean Water Act (1974), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA, 1976), and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 1976),