j.ll-a^-' MM M^JK "t
kEB&'
WHAT CAN YOU
SAVE TODAY?
S M T W T F S
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
CHALLENGE
The Resource Conservation Challenge
Reducing Waste and
Recovering Energy
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is challenging businesses
and manufacturers to conserve our natural resources by reducing
waste and recovering energy. Our goals are to achieve a 50 percent
reduction in 30 priority chemicals and a national recycling rate of 35 percent
by 2005.
Lets All Waste less
Everyone has a role in preserving our environment. By reducing our waste and
recovering more energy from the waste we cannot avoid, together we can protect
human health and safeguard the natural environment. We all benefit from these
efforts. We save virgin resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and eliminate
the need for landfill space. By cutting the use and generation of these priority
chemicals, we eliminate 76 million pounds of hazardous waste. In turn, we move
closer to creating a cleaner environment for all Americans.
Discarded waste leads to lost resources. We can effect changes in waste genera-
tion and management by promoting efficient production; using wastes as raw
materials; recovering energy from discarded wastes; reducing priority chemicals in
wastes; and purchasing recycled-content products.
Using the following approaches, we can work together to conserve our natural
resources and reduce waste:
Forming Challenge Partnerships
Under our new National Waste Minimization
Partnership Program, businesses have accepted our
challenge to reduce one or more of 30 priority
chemicals commonly found in hazardous waste. The
founding partners of the program are: American Video
Glass Company; Corning Asahi; Dow Chemical Corp;
International Truck and Engine; and Toyota Motor
Manufacturing. We plan to recruit 100 partners over
the next three years, including some Fortune 500
companies and small businesses. For complete
details, see our website at
.
Printed on paper that contains at least 30 percent postconsumer fiber.
Over 30 million tons of
hazardous waste/ 250 mil-
lion tons of nonhazardous
industrial waste/ 136 mil-
lion tons of construction
and demolition waste/ and
165 million tons of munic-
ipal solid waste are still
land disposed or destroyed
each year.
-------
Stimulating Infrastructure Development/ Product
Stewardship/ and New Technologies
We are promoting product stewardship and infrastructure development by working
with manufacturers and industry sectors to provide incentives to design and recycle
more products. Two examples are:
• The National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative, which is creating a nation-
al infrastructure for reusing and recycling used electronic equipment, and
• A breakthrough agreement with the carpet industry to recover used carpeting.
We are changing our regulations and policies to promote the development of new and
better recycling technologies, and to encourage new ways to get energy or products
from waste. For example, we're working to encourage the recycling of television and
computer glass (cathode ray tubes) by developing safe collection programs and mar-
kets for this glass.
Working in partnership with the electronics industry and state environmental
agencies in the Mid-Atlantic region, we are participating in an "e-cycling" alliance to
give residents and small businesses the opportunity to recycle their computer
equipment and televisions. We also support pilot projects for new and cleaner tech-
nologies such as gasification, which convert waste into a gas that can be burned as
fuel. This revamped technology reduces the use of virgin materials and allows com-
munities to both manage their wastes and recover energy they can use to produce
their own power.
Helping Businesses/ Government/ Institutions and
Tribes Be More Efficient
We are working with businesses, government, institutions, and tribes to help reduce
their emissions and waste. We're visiting individual facilities; helping identify ways to
reduce waste; identifying safe reuse options for certain byproduct materials such as
foundry sands; and testing innovative supplier-customer approaches. For example, we
are examining whether a particular chemical management model also works for edu-
cational institutions that use chemicals in their labs and hospitals; for pest control; and
for maintenance.
Working with the National Park Service's Intermountain Region, we have already sub-
stantially reduced solid and hazardous waste in 89 national parks.
-------
Measuring and Sharing Our Progress
Our Goals for 2005:
• Reduce the generation of 30 priority
chemicals in hazardous waste by
50 percent.
• Increase recycling of municipal solid
waste to at least 35 percent.
Our first Waste Minimization Trends Report
describes trends and management of
waste minimization priority chemicals
between 1991 and 1998, using data
collected through EPA's Toxic Release
Inventory. Our data show a 44-percent
reduction for 20 of our 30 priority
chemicals. The Web address for
the entire Trends Report can be found
under "For More Information."
For More Information
More information on the Resource Conservation Challenge is available at
. We also would like your suggestions on
how we can meet the national reduction goal. Email us at oswchallenge ©epa.gov or
write to:
U.S. EPA
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (5305W)
Washington, DC 20460
Attrv.RCC
Information also can be obtained by calling the RCRA Call Center. Call 703 412-9810 or
TDD 703 412-3323 (hearing impaired) if you are within the Washington Metropolitan Area.
Call 800 424-9346 or TDD 800 553-7672, if you are long-distance caller.
-------
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5305W)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
EPA530-F-02-032
September 2002
www.epa.gov/osw
------- |