ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the sustainable technology development (STD) programme's case study of the Dutch petro-chemicals, bulk chemicals and fine chemicals industries. It discusses the method used by the STD chemistry project to move toward a consensus on strategic technological directions to follow toward reaching sustainability. The chapter presents a sector-wide review of the main 'source-to-service' material chains, asking how these might be reconfigured to be more sustainable. The sustainability challenge to the sector needs to be contextualised in this wider, dynamic context, since meeting the challenge requires solutions to be found that can address these other challenges simultaneously. The research and development (R&D) agendas of the chemicals sector are also bound up in these drivers and processes of change. In value-adding terms, the 'centre of gravity' of the market has shifted downstream to high-technology growth sectors such as aerospace, micro-electronics and healthcare.
