Working together to achieve industrial sustainability through biotechnology

Achieving industrial sustainability will require the sustained efforts, not only of industry itself and the scientific and technical community, but also government and the public at large. All elements of society are ultimately affected by and need to be concerned with reaching the goal of clean industrial products and processes. Because biotechnology can make a significant contribution to cleaner industrial products and processes, it is important to make a concerted effort to raise awareness of its possibilities and to encourage its further development and use.

They can help ease the economic burden and demonstrate and promote biotechnological applications ...
Government can also play a role in helping biotechnology over the initial economic barriers by giving new technology a selective advantage via the tax system. It can also play a catalytic role in demonstrating and promoting the utility of biotechnology. Government policy will also respond to public demands as consumers' lifestyles change and the demand for cleaner products becomes the norm. Here again, policy can act as an economic instrument driving changes in manufacturing procedures.

... including through efforts to build public confidence and trust.
Government will need to make available easily accessible formal and outreach educational programs in order to inform the public about biotechnology and clean industrial practices. For many individuals, however, the key issue will not be knowledge or technical understanding but confidence in the regulatory systems, as it is for the safety of air travel, for example. Indeed, public trust is never likely to be secured by the provision of information alone. Equally important are factors such as the transparency of decision making about new technology, the assessment of risk, and the regulation and monitoring of research.

Government policies and regulations can be the impetus for the adoption of cleaner technologies, but should avoid setting obstacles to the wider use of industrial biotechnology.
Government policy is a major force behind cleaner technologies, and in many cases and countries, the single most decisive factor in their development and diffusion. Government can also require industry to adopt cleaner technology for the wider environmental benefit, regardless of the increased initial cost. However, care must be taken to ensure that regulations governing biotechnology are dynamic and can respond effectively to the constant evolution of science and technology. Clarification of good industrial practices, particularly regarding contained use of the products of modern biotechnology, and concise guidance for risk analysis will assist industries that are considering use of biotechnology and can help ensure public acceptance. Harmonization of principles underlying government oversight, particularly with respect to industrial uses of recombinant biocatalysts, is key to removing obstacles to the wider industrial penetration of clean biotechnological processes.

The public must be kept informed if new technology is to enter the marketplace.
As with any other technology, perceptions of biotechnology are influenced (sometimes very strongly) by information disseminated through the media and other channels. Keeping the public informed is thus of crucial importance in maintaining the complex links between technology, regulation, political action, and public endorsement or rejection of new technical developments.

Public demand for clean technologies is not necessarily matched by a willingness to pay higher prices.
Very few surveys have specifically explored public views on the environmental aspects of biotechnology. In a study conducted in Canada in 1996, which focused exclusively on environmental applications, response was generally positive, particularly when linked to familiar technologies, e.g. composting and production of biofuels. Respondents also endorsed biotechnology applications as long as they were kept informed of the benefits and risks. Environment and health applications of biotechnology were considered a higher priority than food production.

The common perception of microorganisms is as agents of disease, while we neglect the far greater populations of beneficial microbes, which are in fact essential to life on Earth.
There is considerable scope for initiatives to promote wider awareness of the diversity of microbial activity. Among such initiatives are projects of the Microcosmos Science Education Museum at Boston University, the American Society for Microbiology's Microbial Literacy Collaborative, based in Washington, DC, the Japan Bioindustry Association's outreach efforts to educators and students, local governments and the general public, and the UK government's "Biotechnology Means Business" scheme. Traveling exhibits, workshops and science fairs can foster greater awareness of the positive roles of microorganisms. One specific issue that needs to be addressed concerns the many positive roles that microorganisms play in the natural world. The common perception of microorganisms is as agents of disease, while the far greater populations of beneficial microbes, which are in fact essential to life on Earth, are ignored. Wider recognition of the vast amount of microbial activity that is beneficial to the environment and human society is likely to encourage support for harnessing biological agents in fields such as clean industrial technologies.

Easily accessible formal and outreach educational programs are needed.
Biotechnology applied to the development of environmentally friendly industrial processes could appeal to young people who are strongly motivated by concern both for the environment and for the less privileged regions of the world. School curricula now incorporate topics such as recycling and renewable energy. These might be deepened and extended to include the concepts of global stewardship and environmental citizenship. Environmental studies are quickly becoming a part of liberal and scientific university curricula. Schools are highly appropriate communities within which to develop the idea of sustainable development. Long-standing attitudes and opinions are formed in the classroom, especially when endorsed by a respected teacher.

Life cycle assessment and environmental sustainability need to be thoroughly integrated into the education of engineers and management.
In the higher education sector, the principal need is to broaden the training of scientists, engineers and technical managers. Concepts such as life cycle analysis and environmental sustainability need to be thoroughly integrated into their education and thus their future thinking. A chemical engineer engaged in developing new processes has not previously had to consider the environmental impact of obtaining raw materials, nor even, in some instances, ways of disposing of by-products.

Government and industry need to communicate with many target audiences to show that industry and the environment can be compatible partners.
Pre-eminent among other target audiences are opinion leaders (including editors of major newspapers, magazines, and radio and television programs); non-technical staff in the biotechnology and other industries, and politicians. There is a particularly keen need for greater mutual understanding and cooperation between business leaders and environmentalists. If the transition to a new generation of environmentally benign technologies is to be achieved, they will have to agree upon a common agenda.