For the first time, the Sustainable Chemistry Toolbox brings together key international information sources, databases, assessment instruments, and software solutions in one place. By consolidating information that has often been fragmented, it enables companies, innovators, investors, and decision-makers to systematically integrate sustainability considerations into products, processes, and business models.
As the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3), we want to share our knowledge and experience we have gained through collaboration with start-ups, companies, and experts around the world, and make it accessible to as many stakeholders as possible,
says Dr. Thomas Wanner, Managing Director of ISC3. The Toolbox bundles essential information sources and provides an accessible entry point for organisations seeking to integrate sustainability into innovation processes. It helps ensure that sustainability is embedded systematically already during the development phase of innovations.
The free resources are aimed at companies, start-ups, public institutions, non-profit organizations, investors, and stakeholders from science, education, and policymaking. They support users in systematically incorporating sustainability aspects into daily operations and strategic decisions. The Key Characteristics and the Toolbox can serve as a guide, compass, and source of inspiration. They help develop solutions that create environmental, economic, and social value,
adds Dr. Dorota Bartkoviak, ISC3 Innovation Manager. The Toolbox is available free of charge here.
Sustainable Chemistry as a Driver of Transformation
This approach considers the impacts of substances, materials, and processes throughout their entire life cycle, from raw material extraction and use to reuse or disposal. Environmental, economic, and social aspects are taken into account equally. It is therefore far more than an approach to reducing environmental impacts. It is a key enabler of climate protection, resource efficiency, the circular economy, environmental and human health protection, and future-oriented industrial development.
Comparing Substances and Assessing Sustainability
The Sustainable Chemistry Toolbox brings together a wide range of powerful and freely accessible tools. Users gain access to databases for chemical substances and their properties, instruments for assessing the sustainability of chemicals and materials, and applications for evaluating environmental and health impacts. Databases such as ChemSpider, ChemSelect, and PubChem allow users to examine well over one hundred million substances.
While established platforms such as PubChem and ChemSpider provide extensive information on chemical compounds, the responsibility for sustainability assessment generally remains with the users. They must interpret the available data according to their own criteria, such as environmental, health, and safety considerations. Searches can be performed using chemical names, molecular formulas, and structures, and ChemSpider additionally supports spectral data searches.
ChemSelect goes a decisive step further. The platform enables standardized sustainability assessments and direct comparisons of chemicals and mixtures. Users can quickly create sustainability profiles, compare results across environmental, health, and safety criteria, benefit from automated evaluations, and receive easily understandable classifications through an intuitive traffic light classification system.
Software Tools for Sustainable Innovation
Another important component of the Toolbox consists of free software applications such as QSAR Toolbox and OpenLCA. QSAR Toolbox enables users to assess chemical hazards using quantitative structure–activity relationships. Based on structural similarities, users can predict toxicological, ecotoxicological, and physicochemical properties of chemicals and derive estimates based on existing data and mechanistic knowledge. The free software was developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
OpenLCA, an open-source software application available free of charge, allows users to quantify environmental impacts across the entire life cycle of a product, from raw material extraction to disposal or recycling. The Toolbox also includes a structured portfolio of digital tools and approaches designed to help users integrate sustainability into every phase of the life cycle of products, processes, innovations, and projects. One example is the UNEP Green Chemistry Toolkit, a practical package of guidance materials for applying Sustainable Chemistry principles, including step-by-step instructions and case studies. Developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), it provides tools that enable small and medium-sized enterprises to identify opportunities for improvement even with limited resources or technical expertise.
Another example is the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) Toolbox. Developed within the framework of the Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC), it is a structured collection of digital tools, models, methods, and databases that supports designers, researchers, and companies in integrating safety, environmental sustainability, and functionality at the earliest stages of chemical and material innovation.
Available Free of Charge Starting Now
Sustainable Chemistry is not a vision for tomorrow. It is a fundamental prerequisite for the transformation of our economies and societies. With these new resources, we aim to make knowledge accessible and provide concrete pathways for action,
says Wanner.
The simplified 10 Key Characteristics of Sustainable Chemistry and the ISC3 Sustainable Chemistry Toolbox are now available free of charge on the ISC3 website.
