United States
Environmental-Protection.
Agency;
-EPA 744^-94^)03
February 1994
Office of .Pollution Prevention and Toxics
&EPA EPA's Design for the
Enviroinment Program
cleaner
technologies
for a safer
future
Recycled/Recyclable
Printed with Soy/Canola Inh on paper thai
contains at least 50% recycled fiber
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WHY DESIGN FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT?
Businesses operating in the 1990s face a
variety of competing demands — keeping
costs low and quality high, staying com-
petitive in a global marketplace, and meeting
consumer preferences for more environmentally
benign products.
Designing for the Environment is a down-to-
earth strategy for organizing and managing
these challenging demands. Building on the
concept of Design for the Environment (DfE)
pioneered by industry, EPA's DfE program aims
at helping businesses incorporate environmental
considerations into the design and redesign of
products, processes, and technical and manage-
ment systems.
How does a business "design for the
environment?"
• By implementing pollution prevention,
energy efficiency, and other resource
conservation measures;
• By producing and using less toxic and
non-toxic materials;
• By making products that can be refurbished,
disassembled, and recycled; and
• By keeping careful track of the environmental
costs associated with each product or process.
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Printing Project:
The DfE Printing Project is a cooperative EPA-
industry project aimed at developing pollution pre-
vention information specific to small and medium-
sized printers. Six different methods of printing are
in use today and each employs a different set of
chemical and technological alternatives. Industry
representatives identified several priority environ-
mental concerns for lithographic, screen printing,
and flexographic printing methods.
Project committees made up of both EPA and
industry representatives are developing cleaner
technology substitute assessments as well as out-
reach strategies and information products to com-
municate the results of the project to printers. The
committees are also working to identify incentives
that will encourage printers to use the information
developed.
Cleaning Products:
EPA and the General Services Administration
(GSA) are collaborating on a long-term project to
promote the use of environmentally preferred
cleaning products in government-owned buildings.
This effort will mean developing standards for
cleaning products, performing integrated risk
assessments, and evaluating product performance.
The project coincides with a federal Executive
Order mandating that government agencies use
environmentally preferred cleaners.
New Projects
The DfE program is also considering starting a
number of new projects under the Environmental
Technology Initiative. Industries being considered
include the computer industry, the aerospace
industry, and the metal finishing industry.
EPA is interested in exploring future projects
with other partners.
Eqrpnoreirifqrrrtatibp or/EPA^ t)esi^h for'the;
Env^onrnentprpgrarn, contact! ;; : .:' ' : ;\ '•'•
U.S. Envjijonr^entaf Protectiph Agency
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•Tel:* W0fc j|J23 ;
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WHAT IS EPA's DfE
PROGRAM?
Through its DfE program, EPA creates
voluntary partnerships with industry, pro-
fessional organizations, state and local
governments, other federal agencies, and the
public. EPA's efforts are directed at giving busi-
nesses the information needed to design for the
environment and at helping businesses use this
information to make environmentally informed
choices. Within each business, the DfE program
works to make sure that the information reaches
the people who make the choices — from buyers
to industrial design engineers.
For example, EPA is developing several ana-
lytical tools for businesses to use in evaluating
their processes and products. These include the
following:
Cleaner Technology Substitutes
Assessments (CTSAs):
These assessments help companies compare dif-
ferent technologies or products, with an eye
toward selecting the most environmentally
friendly alternatives. The assessments look not
only at environmental impacts (releases to the
environment, energy impact, comparative risk),
but also at the cost and performance profiles of
each alternative. The DfE program is developing
a generic assessment with a guidance manual to
help companies perform their own assessments.
Life-Cycle Assessment Tools:
EPA is continuing work on development of a
standardized method for comprehensively evalu-
ating the environmental effects of a product,
process or activity throughout all stages of its
life, from raw materials extraction and produc-
tion through final disposal.
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Risk Management/Insurance:
EPA has entered into a cooperative effort with the
American Institute of Chartered Property Casualty '
Underwriters, an independent non-profit organiza-
tion offering educational programs and professional
certification for the property and liability insurance
industry. EPA is helping to incorporate pollution f
prevention into the curriculum for the Institute's
certification program for Associates in Risk
Management. Through efforts such as this, EPA
hopes to facilitate pollution prevention principles
becoming a part of the insurance underwriting and
risk management decision-making process.
Financing:
An important constraint on the adoption of new
pollution prevention technologies is the availability
of financing; The financial community tends to
associate environmental investment more with
liability than with opportunity. In addition, compa-
nies and financial institutions generally have not
known how to estimate the returns on pollution
prevention investments. EPA will conduct outreach!
to businesses and the financial community to find r
ways to address these problems.
COOPERATIVE INDUSTRY PROJECTS
Dry Cleaning Project:
Through the DfE program, EPA is working in part-'
nership with the dry cleaning industry and environ-
mental organizations to reduce exposure to per-
chloroethylene ("perc"). Perc is a chemical solvent
used by most dry cleaners which poses potential
health .and environmental concerns. EPA will
examine alternative technologies, solvents, and
control methods as part of a Cleaner Technology
Substitutes Assessment.
At the conclusion of the assessment, EPA plans
to publish a technical summary of alternative sol-
vents and processes and an information document '
on cost-effective, environmentally safer choices
identified through the project. An important part of
the project will be finding ways to provide small
dry cleaners with both technical assistance and in-
centives to implement pollution prevention measures.
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WHAT DfE PROJECTS ARE
UNDERWAY?
EPA's DfE projects include broad institu-
tional projects aimed at changing general
business practices, as well as more target-
ed joint projects with trade associations and busi-
nesses in specific industry segments. Current
projects include the following:
INSTITUTIONAL PROJECTS
Accounting & Capital Budgeting:
EPA is working with the private sector to devel-
op new and modified accounting tools that will
incorporate environmental costs and benefits into
managerial accounting and capital budgeting
practices, thus allowing businesses to more fully
understand their environmental costs. The pro-
ject also involves curriculum development and
research activities.
Chemical Design:
Many of the traditional ways of synthesizing
new high-volume industrial chemicals use toxic
feedstocks or catalysts, or they create hazardous
and toxic byproducts. In cooperation with the
National Science Foundation, EPA is encourag-
ing university research into alternative methods
for producing chemicals that minimize or elimi-
nate hazardous substances.
Curriculum Development:
EPA has established a National Pollution
Prevention Center at the University of Michigan.
The Center is developing curricula in multiple
disciplines (e.g., business, engineering, account-
ing, marketing) which incorporate pollution pre-
vention, lifecycle analysis, and DfE principles,
rather than traditional end-of-pipe pollution
control techniques.
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