Interviews
Dr. Santosh Bahadur Singh Interview
Singh LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-santosh-bahadur-singh-09417086/
University of Allahabad LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-allahabad/
In his article published in Sustainability and Circularity Now (SCNOW), Dr. Santosh Bahadur Singh of the University of Allahabad explores how circular chemistry can support the transition to a zero-waste future. The article makes the case for aligning chemical practices with the principles of reuse, recycling, and resource efficiency, offering practical insight for both industry and academia.
In this interview, Dr. Singh reflects on what inspired the work, how it supports seven of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and why green chemistry must begin with real-world needs and long-term impact.
1. How does your research advance the conversation around sustainability and circularity? (And who benefits from it?)
The title of the paper, Circular chemistry: An enabler of circular economy to achieve the zero-waste goal, was deliberately chosen to resonate with both scientific and non-scientific audiences, including the general public. It aims to spark broader conversations around sustainability and circularity.
The work is especially relevant to professionals in industry and academia working on sustainability, sustainable development, circular economy, and circular chemistry. These groups will find the article particularly beneficial.
2. What inspired you to explore this topic?
My motivation came from observing the large amount of chemical waste generated in day-to-day operations within laboratories and industries, and the often-inadequate methods used to dispose of it. These challenges led me to explore circular chemistry as a practical, scalable solution to chemical waste management.
3. What’s the one figure, result, or insight you think every practitioner should take away from this work?
Figure 2 offers a clear visual comparison between linear and circular approaches. It highlights how circular strategies can help restore an ecosystem’s regenerative capacity while conserving resources.
I believe that anyone who values nature or sustainability should see this work as a tool to promote the concept of circularity to wider audiences.
4. How do you hope your work might influence real-world sustainable innovation (e.g. industry, policy, education impact)?
I strongly believe this work has the potential to influence sustainable innovation in multiple areas, especially policymaking, education, and industry.
It makes a compelling case for adopting circular practices that mimic the natural cycling of matter, which is essential for creating a more sustainable future. Raising awareness about this concept among students, professionals, and decision-makers is a key goal of the work.
5. How does your work align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
This study introduces circular chemistry as a strategy to tackle global environmental challenges while supporting the broader circular economy. It focuses on integrating circular approaches into chemical practices to reduce waste and improve resource efficiency through the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle (3Rs).
As such, the work aligns with seven of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life Below Water), and 15 (Life on Land).
6. Did you choose to publish your work using Select Crowd Review? How did you find the process?
Yes, I chose to publish through Select Crowd Review because I was curious about the approach and wanted to better understand how it worked. Although I found the process more time consuming than traditional peer review, it’s a promising concept and can significantly improve the clarity and relevance of articles for a broader audience. It could be advantageous to authors if reviewers could focus their feedback more directly on key issues.
7. What advice would you give to researchers starting out in green chemistry or sustainability innovation?
To researchers just starting their careers in green chemistry or sustainability, my advice is:
Do real chemistry that addresses the legitimate needs of society
Extend the lifecycle of chemicals by applying the principles of circular chemistry
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Make processes more sustainable by reducing waste and repurposing it as a resource
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Sachin G. Modha Interview
Modha LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachin-modha-1025556/
UKA TARSADIA UNIVERSITY Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/school/uka-tarsadia-university/
In a short review recently published Sustainability and Circularity Now (SCNOW), researchers Sachin G. Modha and Shiv R. Desai explore how atom-economical, low-waste organic synthesis can help advance sustainability in both research and real-world applications. Their work highlights accessible strategies that reduce energy use, simplify purification, and support circular thinking in chemical design.
In this interview, Dr. Modha shares the inspiration behind the research, the role of close observation in scientific discovery, and why sustainable chemistry must be rooted in collaboration, curiosity, and practical impact.
1. How does your research advance the conversation around sustainability and circularity? (And who benefits from it?)
My research advances sustainability and circularity in organic chemistry by developing atom-economical and environmentally friendly synthesis pathways. Highlights of this work include multicomponent reactions, catalysis at ambient temperature, and simple purification methods. Designing reactions that operate under milder conditions with high atom economy helps reduce both energy consumption and waste.
Additionally, the specially designed chromophores and fluorophores exhibit solvatochromic, halochromic, and metal detection behaviours. This has led to the discovery of pH-responsive colorimetric and fluorimetric applications, as well as naked-eye metal detection. Paper and gels impregnated with these compounds act as pH indicators, while some compounds can be used for secret message writing, with visibility dependent on the light source.
The primary beneficiaries of this work are the next generation of young researchers, as well as chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
2. What inspired you to explore this topic?
My inspiration came from interacting with professionals in chemical and pharmaceutical industries, along with the growing demand for sustainable and greener synthesis routes. I’m particularly interested in easy-to-use, on-site detection kits for pH, metals, and other analytes. These methods allow for inexpensive, accessible analysis that can be performed with little to no chemistry background.
This type of research doesn’t typically require sophisticated instrumentation, making it less costly and more approachable for practical applications.
3. What’s the one figure, result, or insight you think every practitioner should take away from this work?
One insight I would like to share comes from a real story. One of my PhD students was performing a reaction where no conversion was observed for several hours. When he brought me a sample, I noticed an unexpected colour in the alkaline solution. He insisted it was only starting material, so I asked him to test whether the compound was halochromic – and it was.
This small observation led us to develop several new projects based on that compound and its derivatives. The experience taught my students and me that even simple chemistry, combined with close attention to detail and curiosity, can lead to meaningful discoveries.
4. How do you hope your work might influence real-world sustainable innovation (e.g. industry, policy, education impact)?
We are increasingly aware of the irreversible harm done to biodiversity, the environment, and ecosystems; harm that affects both current and future generations. Sustainable innovation is no longer optional; it is essential.
I hope that as my group and others around the world continue to focus on greener approaches, the influence of sustainable innovation will grow. The rising number of scientific publications in this area will drive policymaking and implementation, while pushing stakeholders to take concrete action. My goal is for this work to inspire industries to adopt more sustainable methods.
5. How does your work align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
My research supports multiple UN SDGs:
SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production): By designing environmentally friendly synthesis pathways with renewable feedstocks and low waste.
SDG 13 (Climate Action): By reducing energy use and emissions through efficient, low-impact processes.
SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure): Through pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing applications that support sustainable implementation.
SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being): By prioritizing reduced toxicity and safer reagents.
SDG 4 (Quality Education): By integrating green chemistry principles into teaching and training.
This research also benefits industries by reducing costs and supporting regulatory alignment, while communities gain from safer environments and reduced pollution. In all, my work bridges organic chemistry and real-world sustainability objectives.
6. What advice would you give to researchers starting out in green chemistry or sustainability innovation?
Think system-wide, start with purpose, and stay curious. Green chemistry is not only about cleaner reactions, but also about rethinking how chemistry can support a sustainable future.
Start by understanding the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and how they apply to your work. Collaborate across disciplines; environmental scientists, engineers, and policymakers all have roles to play in tackling complex sustainability challenges.
Focus on practical, scalable applications that balance economic feasibility with environmental impact. Start small, iterate, and learn rather than waiting for perfect conditions. Stay informed about industry trends and regulatory changes, as these often shape the direction of sustainable innovation.
Finally, remember that true sustainability involves safety, fairness, and long-term benefits for ecosystems and communities.
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Prof. Ramesh L. Gardas Interview
Gardas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rameshgardas/
IIT Madras LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/reachiitm/
In their short review published via Select Crowd Review in Sustainability and Circularity Now (SCNOW), researchers Prof. Ramesh L. Gardas, Sachind Prabha Padinhattath, and M. Shaibuna, of IIT Madras explore how ionic liquid-based liquid–liquid extraction (IL-LLE) can offer a safer, more sustainable alternative to conventional wastewater treatment.
In this interview, Prof. Gardas shares the motivation behind the research, the real-world potential of task-specific ionic liquids, and why green chemistry needs to be as much about purpose and interdisciplinarity as it is about scientific innovation.
1. How does your research advance the conversation around sustainability and circularity? (And who benefits from it?)
My research supports sustainability and circularity by offering ionic liquid-based liquid–liquid extraction (IL-LLE) as a green alternative to traditional wastewater treatment. Conventional methods are often energy-intensive, low in selectivity, and produce secondary pollutants. In contrast, IL-LLE systems are highly tunable, non-volatile, and recyclable, offering both efficiency and environmental compatibility.
We’ve demonstrated how these solvents can selectively remove dyes, micropollutants, and heavy metals with a minimal ecological footprint. By incorporating green chemistry principles and circular resource use, this research directly supports SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).
This work offers value to a wide range of stakeholders, industries facing strict effluent regulations, water-scarce regions, and policymakers seeking sustainable solutions. Academics and industrial chemists can also benefit from the solvent design strategies and thermodynamic insights presented.
2. What inspired you to explore this topic?
My interest in green solvents began over two decades ago, driven by the urgent need to replace volatile organic compounds with safer alternatives. During my postdoctoral work in Portugal and the UK, I was introduced to the foundational potential of ionic liquids. It wasn’t until my time at IIT Madras, however, that I could explore their structure–property relationships and practical applications in depth.
The motivation to apply these solvents to wastewater treatment came from witnessing severe pollution crises in industrial areas and recognising the limitations of existing treatment technologies. The challenge was clear: could we design solvents that are both highly efficient and environmentally benign? That question led us to reimagine liquid–liquid extraction through the lens of sustainability.
3. What’s the one figure, result, or insight you think every practitioner should take away from this work?
One key insight is the demonstrated ability of ionic liquids to achieve over 90% extraction efficiency for a range of contaminants, including dyes, heavy metals, and pharmaceuticals, while also maintaining recyclability and requiring minimal energy.
The use of task-specific ionic liquids (TSILs), tailored for particular pollutants, highlights the power of solvent design in boosting selectivity and sustainability. This isn't just theoretical: it’s a path toward more modular, efficient, and eco-conscious wastewater treatment systems.
ILs also integrate well with process intensification techniques, such as microwave or ultrasound-assisted extraction, which expands their practical potential. Practitioners in both academia and industry should see IL-LLE as more than a chemical innovation – it’s a scalable and circular solution to real-world effluent challenges.
4. How do you hope your work might influence real-world sustainable innovation (e.g. industry, policy, education impact)?
Our research provides a foundation for greener industrial wastewater management. Recyclable and customizable IL-LLE systems are well-aligned with environmental regulations, encouraging industries – especially in textiles, pharmaceuticals, and electroplating – to transition toward more sustainable practices.
From a policy perspective, this work can support the development of guidelines that promote low-impact extraction technologies. It aligns with the core principles of green chemistry and green engineering, offering evidence-based strategies for sustainable process design.
Educationally, it reinforces the importance of interdisciplinary learning, connecting thermodynamics, materials chemistry, and environmental science. I hope this inspires future chemists and engineers to see sustainability as a driver of innovation, not a constraint.
5. How does your work align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
Our research supports several UN SDGs:
SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation): By enabling efficient removal of waterborne contaminants using green solvents, we contribute to safer and more accessible water systems.
SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production): Our ionic liquids are designed to be recyclable and low-impact, promoting more sustainable production methods.
SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure): We’re developing novel technologies that advance sustainable industrial practices.
SDG 13 (Climate Action): IL-based LLE methods require less energy than conventional techniques, helping reduce carbon emissions.
Together, these areas show how green chemistry can bridge academic research and global sustainability efforts.
6. Did you choose to publish your work using Select Crowd Review? How did you find the process?
Yes, we chose to publish through the Select Crowd Review system and found it to be highly efficient and insightful. The collaborative review process brought in perspectives from experts in green chemistry and environmental engineering, offering a well-rounded evaluation.
Despite the fast turnaround, the feedback was thoughtful and constructive, improving both the clarity and impact of our manuscript. As an author, I appreciated the transparency and diversity of input, and I would highly recommend the process to other researchers seeking both critical engagement and timely publication.
7. What advice would you give to researchers starting out in green chemistry or sustainability innovation?
Begin with a clear purpose. Green chemistry isn’t just about creating new molecules; it’s about solving real-world problems with minimal environmental harm.
Understand the full life cycle of your materials and methods, and think beyond performance: consider energy use, scalability, and environmental impact. Embrace interdisciplinarity work with engineers, biologists, and data scientists. Learn to speak across fields.
Above all, be patient and persistent. Sustainable solutions require rethinking established norms and navigating trade-offs. Use frameworks like the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and align your work with the UN SDGs. These are not just guidelines, they’re roadmaps for making a lasting impact. Remember, sustainability is a collective effort. What you create today could shape industries and communities tomorrow.
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Prof. Julian Silverman Interview
Professor Julian Silverman, based at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, collaborated with students Austin Marshalek and Andie Zion to publish a rapid communication in Sustainability and Circularity Now (SCNOW). The paper uses a comparative case study of papermaking processes, ranging from industrial to craft, to demonstrate how simple metrics can help evaluate safety and circularity. Published via Select Crowd Review, the piece offers accessible insights for both scientists and non-scientists interested in sustainable innovation.
1. How does your research advance the conversation around sustainability and circularity? (And who benefits from it?)
I’d say the title of the journal alone really inspired the piece. I’d heard it was coming out, and I had started meeting some of the editorial board. I started thinking about efficiency and circularity as different but related ideas.
As an educator, I’m especially interested in teaching students how to properly assess these complex things. They sometimes forget that efficiency and circularity aren’t the same. Efficiency can be thought of as productive, while circularity can be thought of as connected. So, there’s this kind of left-brain, right-brain split, and quantitative efficiency complementing qualitative connectivity, which is really important to understand.
We carried out a case study on different types of papermaking processes. It was meant to show that there are simple metrics you can use to determine whether something is efficient or more circular. It’s almost like a tutorial review that explores the basics. There’s a lot of literature that digs into the details, which we cite, but this piece was more about connecting those foundational ideas.
2. What inspired you to explore this topic?
The journal was definitely the outlet we had in mind, but the real spark came from one of my co-authors and undergraduate students Austin. I teach at a school that isn’t focused on science, most of my students are artists and designers. One student was especially interested in using waste materials like corn husks for fibres in fabrics, which led to the papermaking case study.
From working with him and watching him explore these very quantitative ideas as a non-scientist, we developed this short piece that could speak to a broad audience. One of the challenges I gave him was to be able to talk about his interests in a way that scientists could understand. So, we worked to find that middle ground, making technical concepts more accessible.
3. What’s the one figure, result, or insight you think every practitioner should take away from this work?
Even though our primary audience is scientific, we really aimed to adapt these methods of quantifying efficiency and sustainability to other kinds of processes. We didn’t just focus on industrial papermaking; we also looked at craft processes.
As strange as it sounds, a lot of our students go on to work at craft fairs, or they make things at home, and they’re thinking about how to be more sustainable. You can apply the same ideas that big companies use in a small business or home setting.
That might not be the typical audience, but even scientists need to think about how these principles apply beyond large-scale industry. It’s not just about making the concepts understandable but also making them doable for a new researcher, or someone not in science at all.
4. How do you hope your work might influence real-world sustainable innovation (e.g. industry, policy, education impact)?
At the heart of what we were doing were what I’d call mini life cycle assessments. These are used all the time in business and industry. For example, when you see something advertised as using “20% less CO2 emissions,” it’s usually based on this kind of analysis.
Even though these methods are standard practice across companies, they’re not yet widely taught in education. I’m fortunate that we offer a course in this at The Fashion Institute of Technology, but it can be very high-level.
We need a wide variety of people to not only appreciate these methods but also feel empowered to ask questions about them. For example, how did they calculate that number? Did they include everything? It’s really about information literacy, helping people feel confident questioning things, even if they’re not doing the calculations themselves.
From a policy standpoint, I’d say we need more transparency. Eco-labels on consumer products can be confusing, and it’s hard to know whether something is genuinely more safe or sustainable. Educating people about life cycle assessments and sustainability metrics is the first step to making these more commonplace and more trusted.
Visual logos, like bunnies or hands, are great, but numbers offer more detail. That means not just showing the numbers but also building trust in how those numbers were produced.
5. How does your work align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
I use the SDGs not just in my research, but also in the classroom. They act as targets, lofty goals that will continue to evolve even as we reach them. Any time we’re doing this kind of quantitative work, we want to know which goals we’re addressing.
A lot of the SDGs fall into social, economic, or environmental categories, which also overlap with being more sustainable or more efficient. For example, even within SDG 12 [Responsible Consumption and Production] you’ll find both efficiency-focused targets (like reducing waste) and more qualitative aspects (like ethical sourcing).
So, it’s about having metrics that are simple and accessible. Not to over-quantify everything, but to be able to say with some confidence that a certain product or method is better. Green chemistry has wrestled with this for years. We don’t all agree on what “green” means. It might mean safer, or more circular. Using the right words and using them accurately to describe what we mean is vital.
6. Did you choose to publish your work using Select Crowd Review? How did you find the process?
Yes, I did. I’ll admit I was very sceptical at first. I remember when the option appeared during submission, and I paused to do some research. I even reached out to one of the editorial staff to ask more about how it worked.
Overall, I was really pleased. It was quick, much more rapid than traditional peer review, and the comments were comprehensive. I wouldn’t say they were exactly the same as what you’d get from a typical reviewer, as they built off one another. Reviewers could respond to each other’s comments or indicate which concerns they shared.
It felt more like a conversation, but it wasn’t at all offhand or casual. I was happy with the process and would definitely use it again. That said, mine was a commentary rather than a full article, so I imagine a full paper might get more detailed feedback. But I’d absolutely recommend it for authors and for potential reviewers.
7. What advice would you give to researchers starting out in green chemistry or sustainability innovation?
The biggest thing that helped me was not just finding an advisor who cared about sustainability (many people do) but tapping into the professional development opportunities that are out there.
Professional societies are a great resource. They often run summer schools for students or offer training opportunities at conferences. But more than anything, it’s about the network. You learn so much just by talking to others, bouncing ideas off them, and seeing the different ways people approach similar challenges.
Our paper wasn’t novel research, strictly speaking. It was more about collecting and connecting ideas. And that all started when I was a young researcher, meeting others and learning what they cared about. Everyone has their own approach, so you’ve got to be brave and get out there.