Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is a metal complex-catalyzed method of controlled radical polymerization that has been successfully employed to prepare a multitude of well-defined functional polymeric materials. The environmental aspects of ATRP that are reviewed in this work include W methods for catalyst removal and its potential further recycling, (ii) development of active ATRP catalysts that can be used at low concentration, (iii) conducting ATRP in environmentally friendly media (water, supercritical carbon dioxide, and ionic liquids), and (iv) application of ATRP to the production of advanced materials such as selfplasticized poly(vinyl chloride) and (bio)degradable polymers. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.