UTEC obtains funding from UNESCO for research in “green chemistry”

After a competitive process involving the participation of a total of 110 countries from around the world, Universidad de Ingeniería & Tecnología (UTEC) has become the only university in American to receive a grant from UNESCO, to conduct research in the area of green chemistry, which contributes to driving principles such as the search for processes that consume less energy, reduce contamination and avoid the use and generation of toxic waste among others. These principles are being promoted by this well-known organization, in line with the objectives of the chemical industry for the XXI century"Taking into account the fact that mining is one of the main industries of our economy, we decided to begin our project, with which we seek to replace cyanide, the standard reactive agent used to extract gold and silver, with a more viable supplement that enables us to increase productivity while increasing metal recovery. It is a privilege that UTEC has been selected in this context, together with five other institutions from France, Ukraine, Egypt, Malaysia, and Singapore” said Juan Carlos Rodríguez, professor and researcher from Universidad de Ingeniería & Tecnología (UTEC), who travelled to Moscow last month for the award ceremony for the six winning projects.  This UNESCO program, in conjunction with IUPAC and Phosagro, a fertilizer company, seeks to strengthen the research capabilities of participating institutions within a framework of respect for the environment without a reduction business productivity and efficiency.  It also seeks to promote the principles of green and sustainable chemistry around the world, demonstrating that there are many technologies that can be replaced for others which are more efficient, economic and environmentally safe. The work team is led by UTEC, but will be supported by professors from TECSUP and the prestigious Colorado School of Mines from the USA.  Thus, Peru achieved placement on the short list of six countries who have obtained such an accolade.  "In Peru our minerals are quite complex and therefore a process that works well in other countries does not necessarily work in Peru.  In response, the research we conduct at UTEC will not only search for an extraction process of any particular mineral element, but will also apply material science concepts to learn how to understand the behavior of minerals that come to mining companies. This will enable us to find more general solutions that can then be applied to other mining processes where similar minerals have been identified”, said Rodríguez.​