United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA744-F-96-018 September 1996 Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics Program Partnerships For a U.S. EPA ?-'^^^^SfeR^^^^^^KfeS. „• "fi's&. awv. " :-T''.*TW *j? -: £ *" v ' " . . . ,_ . . ™.r..,1' ------- 11 O 1 a T) 3. < Q] CD en CD £a -1^ 2 2 p 3 £ CQ q CO I I I £U CO -o c3 CD & O rn o o ro o O) o CQ CD o ------- Why Design for the Environment? usinesses operating in^the 1990s face a variety of competing demands—keeping costs low and quality high, staying competi- j tive in a global marketplace, and meeting consumer preferences for more environmentally friendly products. Designing for the environment is an effective strategy for organizing and managing these challenging demands. Building on the design for the environment (DfE) concept pioneered by industry, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) DfE program helps businesses incorporate environmental considerations into the design and redesign of products, processes, and technical and management systems. How does a business "design for the environment?" « By implementing pollution prevention, energy efficiency, and other resource conservation measures. ------- What is EPA's DfE Program? "^f hrough the DfE program, EPA develops and provides businesses with information to make environmentally informed choices and design for the environment. DfE forms voluntary partner- ships with industry,;public interest groups, universities, research institutions, and other government agencies to develop environmentally friendly alternatives to existing products and processes. Within each project, the DfE program ensures that the information reaches the people who make the choices—from managers to industrial design engineers to materi- als specifiers and buyers. What DfE Projects are Underway? PA's DfE projects include broad instjtjMbnll efforts aimed at *• ' ' s^v"-t T'- ••'» 'tf V?"'S^ '^'-' '£•> *:--'&;• changing general business ' with trade associations and businesses in specific industries.,.^ 'of these|projects are described below. US .,'."<^-' ^ilii^ ^*^ ',JOSi ------- A typical industry project includes developing a Cleaner Technologies Substitutes Assessment (CTSA) and a communication and implementation strategy. CTSAs provide detailed environmental, economic, and performance information on tradi- tional and alternative manufacturing methods and technologies. To help industry implement some of the new technologies identified during CTSA development, DfE provides a variety of outreach tools, which may include fact sheets, bulletins, pollution prevention case studies,; software, videos, and training materials. Printed Wiring Board Project The printed wiring board (PWB) is the building block of the electronics industry. It is the underlying link between semiconductors, computer chips, and other electronic compo- nents. The traditional electroless cop- per- process for manufacturing PWBs uses toxic chemicals that pose poten- tial health and environmental risks, generates large volumes of hazardous waste, and uses substantial amounts of water and energy. The project is work- ing with 750 PWB manufacturers to examine alternative technologies that reduce or eliminate these impacts. The project has demonstrated seven promising alternatives at 26 sites across the United States. Dry Cleaning Project A DfE partnership with the dry cleaning industry and public interest groups is working to reduce exposure to perchloroethylene (perc). Traditionally used by most of the nation's 34,000 commercial dry clean- ers, perc is a chemical solvent that poses potential health and environ- mental concerns. DfE has established two demonstration sites to collect data on the performance, customer satisfac- tion, and cost of a non-toxic alterna- tive technology called wet cleaning. Other alternative cleaning methods being-examined include liquid carbon dioxide, ultrasonic, and microwave ------- drying technologies. Dffi is also develop- ing a pollution prevention/waste mini- mization manual and a training program to promote the design and operation of "greener" dry cleaning facilities. Screen Printing Project ! Dffi encourages the nations 20,000 graphic art screen printers to consider environmental and worker safety con- cerns along with cost and performance when purchasing materials and design- ing systems. One way to reduce thfe environmental impact of screen printing is to replace hazardous chemicals with environmentally-safer substitutes. . Working together, EPA and the screen printing industry evaluated 14 screen reclamation systems and are identifying and publicizing pollution prevention opportunities. Flexography Project Flexography is a process used primarily for print- ing on paper, corrugated paperboard, or plastic consumer packages and labels. Conventional flexographic inks contain solvents made of volatile organic compounds that can pose risks to human health and the environment. Dffi is working in partnership with1 seven trade associations representing over 1,600 flexographic printers and the ink manufacturers to evaluate alternative solvent, waterborne, and ultraviolet- cured flexographic ink technologies. The goal of this project is to help printers make more environmentally informed decisions about the ink technologies they use. Lithography Project There are 54,000 litho- graphic printing shops in the United States that typically use petroleum solvents to clean their presses. These solvents, called blanket washes, contain volatile organic com- pounds, which can be unhealthy to breathe and contribute to smog forma- tion. To help small business printers make more informed decisions about the blanket wash products used in their shops, the Dffi Lithography Project partners worked together to evaluate 37 different blanket wash products. The results suggest that some blanket washes are safer for workers and the environ- ment, and can lower costs. Metal Finishing Project Metal surface finishing involves a variety of processes to coat a metal- lic base material with one or more layers of another metal, paint, or plastic to enhance, alter, or finish the metals surface. Typical metal finishing processes produce air emissions, wastewater effluent, and excessive solid waste. This project has produced a variety ------- of pollution prevention materials for the nations 13,500 metal finishers, including an industry profile, a regulatory guide, and waste assessment tools. The project has also initiated a series of demonstration projects to examine emerging pollution prevention alternatives, including chrome electroplating projects at four sites in Michigan and Ohio. Institutional Projects Successful pollution prevention pro- grams can result in significant economic and environmental savings. Because these savings often are not adequately mea- sured, they are frequendy omitted from business planning activities. EPA is work- ing with the accounting, insurance, and finance industries to identify and quanti- fy the economic and environmental sav- ings that can be achieved by implement- ing innovative pollution prevention methodologies. Current projects include: Environmental Accounting Project EPA is working with the private sector to develop new tools that will help businesses incorporate environmental costs and benefits into managerial accounting and capital budgeting practices. These tools will allow businesses to reduce their envi- ronmental costs while improving their' environmental performance. Insurance/Risk Management Project EPA has completed a project with the American Institute of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (AICPCU) to incorporate pollution pre- vention information into AICPCU s risk management certification program. EPA is also convening an informal industry advisory panel to help identify addition- al opportunities to work with the insur- ance and risk management industries. Financing Project The financial communi- ty has traditionally asso- ciated environmental investments with liabili- ty rather than with opportunity, which has limited the abili- ty of some businesses to adopt modern pollution prevention practices: EPA is helping businesses and the financial community estimate the returns from pollution prevention investments. Cooperative Government Project Cleaning Products EPA and the U.S. General Services Administration are col- laborating on a long- term project to promote ------- the use of environmentally preferred cleaning products. This effort involves developing standards for cleaning products, performing integrated risk • assessments, and evaluating product performance. The project coincides i with a federal Executive Order man- dating that government agencies use environmentally preferred cleaners. Green Chemistry : Green chemistry is the design, manufac- ture, and use of envi- ronmentally benign chemical products and processes that prevent pollution, produce less-hazardous waste, and reduce environmental and human health risks. The DfE Green Chemistry program recognizes and supports fundamental breakthroughs in chemistry that are cost-effective, useful to industry, and prevent pollu- tion. Current projects include: The Green Chemistry Challenge—encourages the chemi- cal industry to promote pollution pre- vention and industrial ecology. Through award and grant programs, DfE recognizes and promotes the research, development, and imple- mentation of new and innovative green chemistry methodologies. Research Partnerships—sponsor cooperative research projects with industry, government, and academia to develop chemical products and processes that are commercially feasi- ble and more environmentally benign. SMART Review Program- assesses the pollution potential associ- ated with new chemicals and their manufacture in order to find environ- mentally preferable solutions that can be voluntarily adopted by industry. Green Chemistry Curriculum Development—incorporates "green chemistry" concepts into the traditional chemistry curricula. ------- |