GreenCentre Canada: an experimental model for green chemistry commercialization

Promising chemistry technologies are difficult to commercialize because of the “commercialization gap” that exists between academia and industry. This is especially important for discoveries in the area of green chemistry that can only fulfil their environmental and societal promise if they are successfully adopted by the chemical industry. However, the existing technology transfer model for academic commercialization is not well-suited for the highly sector-specific and long-term needs of chemistry technologies. GreenCentre Canada was founded in 2009 as a response to these commercialization needs: a chemistry-focused centre with sector-specific expertise (a Sector-specific Commercialization Centre, or SCC), including both highly trained scientists and business development professionals. GreenCentre works with academic researchers throughout Canada and internationally to evaluate, de-risk, scale-up, and optimize early-stage technologies in order to demonstrate the technology potential to industrial buyers or customers. Additionally, GreenCentre’s work extends to small- and medium-sized enterprises at a more advanced stage in the technology development process, as well as large multinational enterprises that are well-established within the chemical industry but also benefit from the centre’s expertise and resources. GreenCentre Canada represents a unique model for the development and commercialization of green chemistry technologies so that they may realize their environmental and societal benefits.