A Nepali Chemist’s View of Green Chemistry

Dr. Pramod K. Shrestha brings a practical perspective to the growing conversation about sustainable chemistry. His work connects chemical design with waste prevention, safer laboratory practice, and the responsibilities researchers have towards communities and the environment.

For Nepali chemists and students living abroad, green chemistry offers a shared scientific language. It applies in a teaching laboratory in Kathmandu, a research group in Melbourne, or an industrial facility in Brisbane. The central question is consistent: can a useful chemical process be designed with fewer hazards and less waste from the beginning?

In this interview-style conversation, Dr. Shrestha discusses sustainable synthesis, solvent selection, renewable materials, and the role of analytical chemistry. His ideas are especially relevant to Australian laboratories, where strict waste rules, high procurement costs, and interest in circular manufacturing are shaping everyday research.

Designing Out Waste

When asked where students should begin, Dr. Shrestha points to waste prevention rather than waste treatment. A process that produces fewer by-products is usually preferable to one that depends on expensive disposal, even if both reactions give the same final compound. This is the practical meaning of atom economy: keeping as much of the starting material as possible in the desired product.

He also stresses that reaction yield does not tell the whole story. A high-yielding reaction can still consume large volumes of solvent, require repeated purification, or generate toxic residues. Researchers should consider the full material balance, energy demand, toxicity, and lifecycle of a method before calling it sustainable.

Choosing Safer Solvents

Solvents often account for the largest share of laboratory waste. Dr. Shrestha recommends evaluating water, ethanol, ethyl acetate, supercritical fluids, and other comparatively safer options before reaching for chlorinated or highly volatile solvents. The right choice depends on solubility, reaction temperature, recovery potential, worker exposure, and the hazards of the replacement.

This advice matters in Australia, where university laboratories in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth must manage hazardous waste carefully and often face significant disposal fees. Solvent recovery can reduce both environmental impact and operating costs; a practical guide to solvent recovery can help students understand the equipment, separation principles, and safety controls involved.

Local Materials And Circular Chemistry

Dr. Shrestha sees renewable feedstocks as promising, provided they are assessed scientifically rather than treated as automatically sustainable. Agricultural residues, plant oils, starches, cellulose, and food-processing by-products may become useful starting materials. In Nepal, this could include biomass linked to farming and forestry; in Australia, researchers may examine sugarcane bagasse from Queensland, agricultural fibres, or waste streams from food production.

Circular chemistry extends this thinking to materials already in use. A useful chemical process should make recovery, reuse, repair, or safe degradation possible. Australian research institutions such as CSIRO and university laboratories are exploring resource efficiency across manufacturing, mining, water treatment, and biotechnology. Dr. Shrestha argues that chemists should collaborate with engineers, toxicologists, and industry instead of treating synthesis as an isolated activity.

Measuring Safety With Better Data

A safer-looking reaction still requires evidence. Analytical chemistry helps researchers identify impurities, quantify residual solvents, monitor emissions, and determine whether a replacement chemical creates a different hazard. Dr. Shrestha encourages students to use chromatography, spectroscopy, and toxicity data as tools for decision-making rather than as steps performed only at the end of a project.

This is particularly important when natural products or nanomaterials are involved. “Natural” does not automatically mean non-toxic, and a small amount of a persistent contaminant can matter in water or soil. In Australia, environmental approvals and workplace controls may require careful documentation, while local councils and laboratories have their own rules for chemical storage and disposal. Good record-keeping makes green claims testable.

Teaching Sustainable Laboratory Habits

For Dr. Shrestha, education is where lasting change begins. Students can compare two procedures by calculating solvent intensity, energy use, waste generation, and hazard ratings. Such exercises turn abstract principles into decisions made at the bench. They also teach future researchers to question whether a traditional method remains appropriate simply because it appears in an old protocol.

Laboratory culture matters as much as technical knowledge. A research group that plans microscale experiments, labels waste correctly, shares surplus reagents, and discusses safety openly can build sustainable habits into ordinary work. Even a familiar Australian custom such as discussing results over morning tea can become a chance to review waste figures, chemical exposure, and the real cost of a procedure.

The interview also highlights the value of international scientific communities. Nepali chemists in Australia can share methods with colleagues in Nepal, compare local feedstocks, and support students who have limited access to specialised equipment. Online chemistry networks, open academic resources, and careful mentoring can make green innovation more collaborative and less dependent on geography.

Green chemistry is best understood as a design discipline, not a label added after an experiment is complete. The choices made before a reaction begins—materials, solvents, catalysts, energy sources, and recovery methods—often determine its environmental footprint. The key lesson from Dr. Pramod K. Shrestha is simple: better chemistry protects people and resources by preventing harm at the source.