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MilliporeSigma expands partnership with Beyond Benign for nextgen chemistry education



04/03/2023


Green chemistry education equips chemists with a framework for designing chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances—a critical step towards a more sustainable future.

Despite the benefits of green chemistry, integrating it into curriculum and practice in higher education remains a challenge for education systems around the world due to barriers such as a lack of green chemistry content in textbooks, a lack of resources required to develop green chemistry education materials, an information gap among educators, and other documented factors.

MilliporeSigma, the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, is expanding its partnership with Beyond Benign, a global green chemistry education non-profit. MilliporeSigma is transforming chemistry education to better prepare next generation scientists with skills to address sustainability through chemistry, with plans for a multi-year contribution to the organization. It is the company's largest funded partnership under the Employee & Community Engagement program.

"We share Beyond Benign’s passion and commitment to making green chemistry an integral part of chemistry education,” said Meeta Gulyani, Head of Strategy, Business Development and Sustainability for the Life Science business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

“This partnership underscores our common goal to increase global access to science and science education while reducing environmental impact.”

MilliporeSigma and Beyond Benign will collaborate to expand access to resources and support needed to implement greener practices in chemistry education.

This is critical for lowering environmental and human health impacts while also accelerating sustainable science. MilliporeSigma's contribution will increase capacity for Beyond Benign's Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) online platform and provide more than 4,000 faculty members worldwide with global access to resources and trainings.2 It also advances Beyond Benign's goal of providing green chemistry knowledge to 25% of the 22,000 graduating chemists in the United States3 by 2025.

“In many countries, sustainability is not considered a core concept in undergraduate and graduate chemistry education,” said Dr. Amy Cannon, Co-founder and Executive Director, Beyond Benign.

“MilliporeSigma’s support allows us to impact higher education systems worldwide, helping educators to upskill future generations to make more sustainable choices that improve human health and the environment through the reduction or elimination of hazardous substances.”

MilliporeSigma's collaboration with Beyond Benign also contributes to the parent company's goal of achieving human progress for more than one billion people by 2030 through sustainable science and technology.

Chemistry educators who want to join Beyond Benign's Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) programme can do so by visiting the GCC webpage or contacting Dr. Natalie O'Neil, Beyond Benign's Director of Higher Education, at Natalie_ONeil@beyondbenign.org with any questions.