What is the GC3?

The Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3) is a business-to-business forum that advances the application of green chemistry and design for environment across supply chains.  It provides an open forum for cross-sectoral collaboration to share information and experiences about the challenges to and opportunities for safer chemicals and products.

What Is its Mission?

The mission of the GC3 is to promote and support green chemistry and design for environment practices in research and application nationally and internationally among companies and other governmental and non-governmental entities by:

• Implementing green chemistry, green engineering, and design for environment throughout supply chains and sharing successful case studies and strategies to overcome barriers
• Promoting education and information on safer chemicals and products that can increase demand by a broad range of consumers.
• Identifying existing and needed information on toxics hazards, risks, exposures and safer alternatives to promote green chemistry as defined in the “12 Principles of Green Chemistry.”
  

What Are its Goals?

The goals of the GC3 are to:

• Support implementation of green chemistry and safer chemicals and products throughout supply chains
• Encourage dialog across sectors and levels of supply chains to overcome barriers to green chemistry adoption
• Promote education and information sharing about green chemistry and design for the environment, in particular, its practical implementation

A Video Introduction to the GC3

Download GC3 PowerPoint Presentation
Download GC3 brochure

How Did the GC3 Begin?

The GC3 originated in 2005 following the Innovators Roundtable on Sustainable Business and Safer Chemistry Through the Supply Chain, a meeting co-hosted by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia Charlottesville. On the last day of the meeting, participants requested that the supply chain discussions begun in Charlottesville be given an opportunity to continue, at which point the Lowell Center offered to facilitate these future conversations. 

What began as a series of regular conference calls to continue this dialog eventually grew into several working groups, each focused on projects of particular interest, an annual Innovators Roundtable conference to continue working group discussions in person, and an advisory committee to assist the Lowell Center with decision-making.

 

The Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3) is a project of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.