EPA
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2004.1
-H S;-EPA Headquarters.Lib.
' Mail code 3404T
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NVV
Washington, DC 20460
202-566-0556
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Executive Summary 3
Introduction 5
Strategic Planning 7
The Principles 9
I. Product Stewardship 9
II. Source Reduction, Recycling, and Beneficial Use 12
III. Energy Conservation and Recovery 14
IV. Priority Chemical Reduction 16
V. Greening the Government 20
Appendix 1; .Environmentally Friendly Design (EFD) 24
Appendix 2: List of 31 Priority Chemicals 25
Appendix 3: List of Acronyms ; 26
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Executive Summary
This document describes how the Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) will establish a
path to achieve the goals set out in EPA's Strategic Plan, the 2020 Vision, and the Agency's
pollution prevention efforts. It represents the first step in an on-going planning and
implementation process for the RCC.
In the more than thirty plus years of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)
existence, the US has made enormous progress in protecting the environment. Looking to the
future, economic and population growth will continue in the US and throughout the world.
According to the WRI (2000) Weight of Nations: Material Outflows from National Economies
report, over the next fifty years, the world's population is expected to increase by 50 percent and
global economic activity is expected to increase by 500 percent Concurrently, global energy
consumption and manufacturing activity are likely to rise at least threefold1. These trends
demand more creative ways of simultaneously addressing environmental, economic and social
goals.
The Agency Strategic Plan, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act's (RCRA)
2020 Vision, and Pollution Prevention (P2) Programs all call for a transformation of the nation's
current waste-handling system and approach towards materials management. The Resource
Conservation Challenge is a forum for leadership within the Agency, in partnership with the
states, which aims to achieve mis transformation. This document, the Resource Conservation
Challenge Strategic Plan, with its focus on waste and toxics, will align the projects, goals, and
strategies of EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW) and Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
(OPPT). In the short term, this Strategic Plan will focus primarily on OSW and P2 issues. The
mission of OSW is to provide protection against the hazards of waste disposal by focusing on
recycling and reuse of materials, reducing use of toxic chemicals, and conserving energy. OPPT
brings its strengths of toxic chemical evaluation and action and its role as the Agency's focal
point for promoting pollution prevention. Through the RCC, OSW and OPPT will enter into a
partnership to mutually support these projects that meet shared goals. Through this close
alliance between OSW and OPPT and their joint leadership, many EPA programs, Regional
initiatives, and state efforts can coalesce to identify and achieve waste and toxic reduction goals.
In announcing the RCC, EPA identified three basic goals:
1. Prevent pollution and promote recy cling and reuse of materials;
2. Reduce the use of toxic chemicals; and
3. Conserve energy and materials.
More recently, discussions between OSW, OPPT, and several regions suggest that green product
design and green purchasing might deserve inclusion as a basic goal, while energy conservation
is more appropriately an overarching result of the RCC, along with resource conservation. These
discussions continue.
1 WRI (2000) Weight of Nations: Material Outflows from National Economies - (See
http i/Materials. wri.org/pubs_description.cfm?PubID=3023)
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This Strategic Plan establishes a five to ten year guide for EPA, states, and stakeholders
to set materials management goals, and achieve them where they are set. While it is designed to
be flexible and expandable, EPA recognizes that and is in the process of identifying key areas of
national priority,, and developing implementation plans within each of these areas to provide
focus to the RCC. This plan establishes a framework within which EPA can identify priority
areas, and make decisions about how to invest resources to achieve current commitments and
identify new annual performance targets and measures. Under the Implementation plans, the
Agency will set goals, measure progress, develop and apply decision-making tools, and apply
policy approaches.
In addition, the ideas and approaches contained in this RCC Strategic Plan will serve as a
basis for a national dialogue on the importance of pollution prevention, recycling, reuse, and
green product design, generally referred to as resource conservation. The outcomes from these
discussions will shape the partnerships and projects within the RCC to produce measurable,
positive, environmental results. Through the RCC, the Agency and stakeholders can bring
together - subject to resource constraints - their many ongoing efforts and design and achieve a
future in which resource conservation is part of our everyday lives. EPA recognizes that there
are regulatory and programmatic barriers, real and perceived, to the achievement of RCC
objectives, but the Agency is making a commitment to learn about those barriers and explore
strategies to address them through this Plan.
This Plan identifies long-range goals and strategies, and places these in context with the
Agency's 2003-2008 Strategic Plan, 2020 Vision, and P2 Program. RCC goals are currently a
part of Goal 3 - Land Preservation and Restoration, and Goal 5 - Compliance and
Environmental Stewardship, and the RCC is developing efforts that support both Goal 2 - Clean
and Safe Water, and Goal 4 - Healthy Communities and Ecosystems. During each cycle of
development of EPA's Annual Performance Plan, the RCC has added and will continue to add
specific targets and measures that support the goals established under the Agency's 2003-2008
Strategic Plan. We are committed to identifying specific targets and measures for major RCC
activities, although not all will necessarily be included in the GPRA structure.
The document is organized around five principles - Product Stewardship, Beneficial
Reuse of Materials (Source Reduction, Recycling, and Beneficial Use), Energy Conservation,
Priority Chemicals Reduction, and Greening the Government. .The principles are broad in focus
and provide a framework to understand projects and approaches. They encompass thematic
projects that reflect the RCC's vision of a cradle-to-cradle materials management system. Taken
separately, each principle represents a vital part of the Agency's overall effort to transform waste
into materials management. Taken together, these principles form an integrated planning whole
- stronger and more powerful because of the connections between them.
To complement this Plan, EPA has identified four key areas for national focus - Priority
and Toxic Chemical Reductions, Municipal Solid Waste, Beneficial Use of Materials, and Green
Initiatives - Electronics. By spring 2005, after discussions within EPA and with our state RCRA
and pollution prevention counterparts, we will develop national implementation strategies for
each of these four areas. These strategies will describe specific goals and actions needed to
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move toward the overall goals of the RCC and the Agency. The Implementation Plans will
illustrate specific on-going and new projects, and associated means, benefits, measures and
outcomes, and will describe the implementation priorities and responsibilities of participating
EPA offices and key stakeholders.
Introduction
Waste and Materials Management
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) established the basis for waste
management in the United States. While the Act is probably most well known for creating a
regulatory structure for the identification and safe management of hazardous and municipal
wastes, its very name emphasizes the national interest in advancing strategies that prevent the
creation of waste.
This concept of waste prevention and resource conservation was recently emphasized in the
Beyond RCRA: Prospects for Waste & Materials Management in the Year 2020 (referenced as
the "2020 Vision"). A group of officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
state environmental agencies developed the 2020 Vision to initiate a dialogue on the directions of
waste and materials management in the United States over the next twenty years. The 2020
Vision examines trends and future directions in materials use, society, and technology, and
proposes discussion of three new overarching goals: reduce waste and increase the efficient and
sustainable use of resources; prevent exposures to humans and ecosystems from the use of
hazardous chemicals; and manage wastes and clean up chemical releases in a safe,
environmentally sound manner. EPA's Office of Solid Waste (OSW) implements RCRA and led
the development of the 2020 Vision. Its mission is to provide protection against the hazards of
waste disposal by focusing on recycling and reuse of materials, reducing use of toxic chemicals,
and conserving energy.
Another vitally important EPA program that focuses attention on reducing risks from highly
toxic substances is the Pollution Prevention (P2) Program. The goal of the P2 Program is to
reduce or eliminate waste at the source, before it is generated. The Office of Pollution,
Prevention, and Toxics (OPPT) is developing a Pollution Prevention Vision as a means of
focusing the program strategically and identifying current P2 priorities. This P2 Vision is being
developed in close coordination with P2 staff in the Regions. The vision and mission statements
frame the P2 program within three broad strategic categories — Greening supply and demand, P2
Integration, and delivery of P2 Services. The P2 program plays a critical role in moving the
RCC strategic planning process towards the Agency's goals. Strong coordination and integration
between OSW and OPPT is instrumental in realizing the resource conservation goals of the 2020
Vision and this Strategic Plan.
The Resource Conservation Challenge
Consistent with the goals of the 2020 Vision and the Agency's P2 program, the RCC challenges
the Nation to put "resource conservation and recovery" back into everyday living. The RCC is
primarily organized around ambitious challenges and voluntary, partnerships that inspire all
Americans to contribute to dramatic progress towards pollution prevention, recycling, reuse,
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toxics use reductions, and energy and materials conservation. These voluntary partnerships seek
to improve environmental performance by challenging stakeholders to identity and implement
innovative approaches that go beyond compliance and current regulations. By focusing on
resource conservation, including more efficiently using our materials, the RCC seeks to
strengthen America.
Over the past 28 years, EPA has addressed the safe handling, management, and disposal of
wastes through RCRA. In particular, EPA has worked within the framework of the "cradle - to
- grave" management system for the subset of wastes identified as hazardous. With a regulatory
structure in place to manage the most hazardous waste, EPA is now charting its direction for the
next 20 years. Building on the RCRA 2020 Vision and the OPPT P2 program, the RCC's vision
is to transform the way that materials move through the economy to achieve a future where
throwing away "waste" is a concept of the past. EPA recognizes that where wastes and toxics
cannot be prevented, reduced, or recycled, safe disposal will continue to be a viable, yet less
desirable, option. For all other wastes, the goal is to reduce what comes into the waste
management cycle - where it is economically feasible - through pollution prevention, waste
minimization, source reduction, and process/design change. EPA acknowledges industry's
progress and willingness to move forward in this "culture change" process of waste
elimination/materials management.
This idea of an economy where waste is a concept of the past and, instead, materials and
products circulate as valuable and abundant nutrients in a biological cycle (materials that safely
biodegrade) or a technical cycle (materials that do not biodegrade, or do not biodegrade safely)
was articulated by William McDonough and Michael Branungart in their book, "Cradle-to-
Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things." Moving from the current "cradle-to-grave"
approach of waste identification and management towards (a "cradle-to-cradle" approach of
efficient, safe materials flow is central to the RCC, the 2020 Vision, and the P2 program.
When it established the RCC, EPA announced that it would work with partners to establish and
meet specific "challenges" designed to further three broad goals: 1) prevent pollution, and
promote recycling and reuse of materials; 2) reduce the use of toxic chemicals and; 3) conserve
energy and materials.1 Through the RCC, EPA challenges the business and manufacturing
sectors to enter into partnerships to dramatically reduce the use of toxic chemicals, or to
eliminate waste entirely, where possible. It challenges individual consumers to make more
informed purchasing decisions and more environmentally friendly waste and materials
management decisions. And, it challenges government to lead by example.
To establish a strong foundation for the RCC, the program will emphasize an approach that
harmonizes the work of OSW and OPPT to attain waste and toxic reductions. Principles focused
around specific waste and toxic reduction areas within this Strategic Plan will provide national
coordination, while still allowing the continuation of other areas that are important to Regions
and states. The RCC is working to enhance state participation by working through state
organizations (e.g. FOSTA, ASTSWMO, ECOS). The RCC is interested in reaching out to
1 More recently, discussions between OSW, OPPT, and several regions suggest that green product design and green
purchasing might deserve inclusion as a basic goal, while energy conservative is more appropriately seen as an
overarching result of the RCC, similar to resource conservation.
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states that are engaged in exploring materials management programs, projects, activities, and
resource conservation.
The Five RCC Principles
This strategic plan is oriented around five principles that reflect a life cycle, multimedia
approach to environmental results: Product Stewardship, Beneficial Use of Materials (Source
Reduction, Recycling, and Beneficial Use), Energy Conservation, Priority Chemicals Reduction,
and Greening the Government. We chose to organize the plan around these five themes because
they are instrumental in achieving the vision of a cradle-to-cradle materials management
system.2
Additional detail and discussion of the RCC program and its current projects can be found in the
Resource Conservation Challenge: A Year of Progress, Annual Report 2002-2003 and on the
EPA web page at www.epa.Rov/rcc. .
Strategic Planning
Purpose of the RCC Strategic Plan
This Strategic Plan establishes EPA's direction, focus, vision and broad goals for RCC. It will
be the key document through which EPA establishes the path along which the RCC will continue
to grow from a series of individual, ambitious projects and achievements into a set of robust
Agency-wide programs oriented towards identification and achievement of pollution prevention,
recycling, reuse, toxics use reduction, and energy and materials conservation goals. The plan,
however, will also be a living document, gaining greater specificity as EPA identifies areas of
national focus, further identifies goals and measures specific to different areas, and develops
specific implementation plans.
At the visionary level, the RCC Strategic Plan begins to describe a longer-term, aspirational set
of ideas that move beyond the concept of waste. At the practical level, the RCC Strategic Plan
provides a sense of direction for each principle, a sense of the outcomes EPA plans to achieve,
and the key strategies the Agency intends to follow. It creates a foundation for overall Agency
planning, budgeting, reporting and accountability, while acknowledging that commitments are
dependent on resources. The Strategic Plan is an invitation to new partners to engage in a
broader discussion of how best to achieve waste reduction, recycling, and pollution prevention
goals.
2 Originally Environmentally Friendly Design (EFD) was an individual principle (formerly known as program . ,
elements) with its own strategic plan, hence the six principles discussed in the RCC Annual Report and elsewhere.
However, as the RCC Strategic Plan evolved, it became evident that there is significant overlap between EFD's
recommended strategies and the strategies contemplated for the other five principles. EFD emerged as a vital
principle in moving all of the other principles towards the Agency's goals. Because EFD is more programmatic in
nature, it has been incorporated into the other five plans. With this decision, EFD becomes a critical and
fundamental piece of each of the other principles, rather than a separate one. See attachment for list illustrating how
EFD is incorporated into the other principles.
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The RCC Strategic Plan aims to:
• Coordinate OSW and OPPT waste and toxics reduction programs and projects;
• Better align EPA, Regional, and state focus to attain effective materials management;
• Build on current partnerships and attract new partners; and
• Illustrate the measures used to track success for future projects.
The Principles
The RCC Strategic Plan comprises individual sections focused on each RCC principle. Taken
individually, each section defines the Agency's strategic directions and goals for a particular
principle. Taken as a coordinated whole, the sections identify key goals of the RCC over the
next five to ten years. Achieving the goals requires partnering with stakeholders inside and
outside the Agency. Together, partners will participate in goal development and help put in
place the structure and resources that will be needed. The RCC Strategic Plan does not start
from scratch; existing efforts led by offices and Regions across EPA and in state environmental
agencies have established the groundwork for progress. The Strategic Plan will align with
Regional and state work and enhance resource conservation. )' ;
(' :'
%
Although the individual principles are similar in seeking to promote resource conservation, it is
important to recognize that the plans discussed under each* principle differ. Each principle
contains diverse strategic approaches, several at different stages of implementation. These
strategic approaches do not reflect EPA's final thinking, and we expect to add focus and
specificity in many areas as the RCC develops. Additionally, because the RCC Strategic Plan
starts from the strong foundation of ongoing work, each principle describes a slightly different
set of strategies. Some are focused on short-term ideas based largely on on-going projects;
others reach into the future. Some will be carried out through new partnerships, others will
succeed through cross-office collaboration, and some may require regulatory changes. These
differences mean that results may be evident relatively quickly in some areas, while in others,
results may take years to achieve. In all cases, the common objective across the individual
principles is to establish direction and to create a mechanism to identify and achieve measurable,
environmental results consistent with the 2020 Vision, the P2 program, and the Agency's
Strategic Plan.
Relationships with Other EPA Programs
The RCC provides a forum for leadership and coordination to align and focus EPA efforts and
the collaborative efforts of stakeholders and partners. Many RCC activities require a significant
level of collaboration and alignment between OPPT and OSW because RCRA and P2 goals
relate to materials management. Since there are many other Agency efforts related to each
principle, the RCC will serve to complement and support those initiatives already underway. It
will be important in the ongoing aspects of the RCC strategic planning process to ensure that the
directions and goals established by the RCC are consistent with the goals established by other
programs within EPA and within the work of Regional Offices and states. The RCC will seek
the comprehensive collaboration needed to advance materials management efforts nationally.
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Relationship to the Agency Strategic Plan
The RCC's three goals are drawn from the Agency's overall strategic goals and direction. More
specific goals and strategies will be identified in the Implementation Plans, and will support the
specific goals and commitments made in the 2003-2008 EPA Strategic Plan.
The RCC is currently a part of both Goal 3 - Land Preservation and Restoration, and Goal 5 -
Compliance and Environmental Stewardship, and is developing efforts that support both Goal 2
- Clean and Safe Water, and Goal 4 - Healthy Communities and Ecosystems. During each cycle
of development of EPA's Annual Performance Plan, the RCC plans to continue to add specific
targets and measures that support the goals established under the Agency's 2003-2008 Strategic
Plan.
The Need for Implementation Plans
To complement the RCC Strategic Plan, operational documents will be developed to describe the
specific actions that will fulfill the promise of the RCC. These Implementation Plans will
particularly focus on areas identified as national priorities, appropriate for national strategies.
They will describe specific on-going and new projects, associated means, measures and
outcomes, and the implementation priorities and responsibilities of participating EPA offices,
Regions, and key stakeholders. Because they will be more detailed and involve resource
commitments, the Implementation Plans will be developed over time.
The Principles
I. Product Stewardship
Introduction
Product Stewardship refers to "greening" products from beginning (e.g., design) through the use
phase all the way to disposal. Thus, Product Stewardship encompasses toxics reduction, design
for reuse, upgrade or recycling, maximizing energy conservation and product life span, and
making sure that the product can be returned to some kind of useful application when it is no
longer needed as is.
In the context of the RCC, we focus on the materials-use aspects of Product Stewardship: that is
making sure that products are designed to have another useful incarnation and that there is
funding, infrastructure and cooperation from the necessary parties to ensure that products, when
they are discarded, find their way to another valuable use - whether back into service through
upgrade or repair, or back into its component parts or commodities for use in making new
products. In this way, we move toward systematizing resource conservation and leaving behind
our history of resource use and disposal.
To get to this more sustainable place, we need to engage all of those who benefit from products-
including, manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and recyclers- in new kinds of partnerships.
Right now the primary responsibilities for managing discarded products and materials fall on
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government and the waste management industry. Without help from these other players, it will
not be possible to change the current paradigm of "buy, use and dispose" to one of "buy, use,
reuse, upgrade or recycle".
Several things are needed to help change this situation. First, we need to ensure that products are
made with reuse, upgrade and recycling in mind. This is a design issue. One reason it is so
much more expensive to divert waste from landfilling or burning is that most products are not
made to facilitate reuse, upgrade or recycling.
Second, sustainable funding sources for recovery must be found. This is a financing issue.
Right now, recycling is largely funded by tax dollars. When tax revenues fall, recycling takes a
back seat to other more urgent public needs, such as police, firefighters and schooling. One
approach to get more sustainable funding for recycling, and the direction that is being taken by
other developed nations including Canada, Japan, and the European Nations, is to make the cost
of recovering products at the end of their useful life part of the cost of buying the product.
Third, we need to improve the mechanisms of collecting and separating products for recovery.
Two competing needs conspire to make this a daunting task. On the one hand, it is efficient from
a collection cost standpoint to load lots of different products from one container (e.g., a
residential "blue bin") and dump them into one recycling truck. On the other hand, being able to
separate different products and different materials at dropoffs (whether they are curbside,
municipal or charity collection sites, or retailer special collections) can yield cleaner, more
valuable product/commodity streams that will better help pay for their recovery. Collection can
be accomplished either through the existing municipal waste or recycling infrastructure or by
employing the existing product distribution system to take materials back for recovery (e.g.,
"reverse distribution'). Improvements in this area are needed to help make recovery more
affordable and convenient and to maximize the value of recovered materials, and hence the
potential markets for these materials.
Related to this is market development for collected materials. Traditionally, because
governments and their waste haulers have led recycling programs, they have led developing
markets for the materials they collected. Market-development for commodities is not a "core-
competency" of government. If manufacturers or retailers have some role or obligations with
respect to recovery of their products at end of life they will get involved in market development
to help reduce the costs of this obligation and to maximize the value of the resulting
commodities. This should result in more robust markets for the resulting materials, helping
recycling to compete more successfully with disposal.
Finally, as we move toward an economy based on reuse, upgrade and recycling, we need to be
sure that these processes are managed safely. We have worked to ensure that our landfill and
incineration standards encompass safe management. We need now to devote resources to
ensuring mat reuse, upgrade, remanufacturing and recycling processes are conducted safely
without unacceptable risk to human health and the environment
Scope
For the purpose of this Strategic Plan, Product Stewardship includes:
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" Design for environment with a stewardship focus
" Sustainable Funding Sources
" Facilitate Efficient Collection (in addition to Source Reduction, Recycling, and
Beneficial Use)
• Market Development (in addition to Source Reduction, Recycling, and Beneficial Use)
• Safe Recovery
Where we want to be in 5-10 years — Broad Goals
Only by working with the product chain - manufacturers, retailers, consumers—before products
ever become waste can products be designed to ensure that what is waste today will be useful to
society tomorrow. This is a critical component of achieving EPA's goals for waste
minimization, and a cornerstone of the transformation of materials and waste management
policies, incentives, and disincentives necessary to achieve the 2020 Vision. The design
component of product stewardship is vital to the overall success of implementing a culture
change in materials management. Therefore, over the next few years, EPA anticipates that
environmentally friendly design decisions will be important for designers to factor into their
work. The underlying goal of Product Stewardship is:
. Working with the product chain (including manufacturers, retailers, consumers
and others) along with government to develop creative ways to encourage
"greener product design " such that products are much easier and economical to
reuse, upgrade and recycle for the same or higher value uses. Develop with these
stakeholders sustainable financing mechanisms to support product recovery and
discourage disposal. Encourage environmentally safe practices in the reuse,
upgrading, remanufacturing and recycling of products.
Strategies
The Product Stewardship principle plan has three main components:
1) Identify Priority Product Streams:
EPA will work with states and external stakeholders to select a manageable set of product
categories to target for product stewardship initiatives, and, for each product sector, develop a
focused strategy for applying the product stewardship framework.
2) Environmentally Friendly Design:
EPA will work with stakeholders in the product chain to develop tools (such as "green product"
rating systems) to encourage manufacturers to make "greener products" and to encourage
institutional buyers and others to purchase these products.
3) Existing Product Streams:
EPA will continue work on product streams that have already been selected: electronics and
carpet.
Strategic Targets: What we want to achieve
«!* In ten years, it will be as convenient for the average American to take a discarded TV or
PC for reuse, upgrade, or recycling as it is to purchase a new one. The overwhelming
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bulk of discarded electronic equipment will go to safe reuse and recycling. Electric
products will be designed for recycling, and contain minimal toxic constituents.
»> In 2002, the carpet industry, along with 12 states and EPA, signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) for Carpet Stewardship. The 2002 Carpet Stewardship MOU set a
goal to divert 40% of post-consumer carpet from landfills by 2012 primarily through
reuse and recycling. The overall waste diversion goal'is divided into specific goals for
reuse 3-5%, recycling 20-25%, cement kilns 3%, and waste-to-energy 1%. As a result of
the MOU, the carpet industry established and agreed to finance and administer the Carpet
America Recovery Effort (CARE) with the aim of meeting the goals set in the MOU.
CARE, along with signatory carpet manufacturers and governments, are responsibility for
promoting and monitoring progress toward the MOU's goals. EPA is working with the
carpet industry to meet the goals set in the 2002 MOU, including: 1) encouraging carpet
designs that can be readily and safely recovered and recycled at the end of its useful life;
2) helping develop the infrastructure to collect discarded post-consumer carpet for reuse
and/or recycling; 3) growing high value-added markets for new products containing post-
consumer carpet as recycled content; and 4) moving toward a long-term goal of no land
disposal or incineration (including waste-to-energy) of waste carpet.
*!* EPA and states will develop effective partnerships for other product significant product
categories.
The targets outlined below align with the Agency Strategic Plan goals
*> Goal 3: Land Preservation and Restoration, Sub-objective 3.1.1: Reduce Waste
Generation and Increase Recycling
o Reduce waste material through product and process redesign
# Goal 5: Compliance and Environmental Stewardship, Sub-objective 5.2.2: Prevent
Pollution and Promote Environmental Stewardship by Business.
o Improve environmental stewardship practices in business operations by adopting
more efficient, sustainable, and protective policies, practices, materials, and
technologies.
II. Source Reduction, Recycling, and Beneficial Use
Introduction
The Source Reduction, Recycling, and Beneficial Use principle sees a future where we all
generate less waste, we recycle as much as we can, and we beneficially use waste and materials
through environmentally sound practices. For the environment we build, including roads,
bridges, and buildings, we use industrial by-products in lieu of raw materials whenever we can
accomplish this in an environmentally sound manner. Rather than view the by-products of our
lives as wastes destined for disposal, we will see the economic and environmental benefits of
source reduction, recycling, and beneficial use.
Scope
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This principle focuses on both consumers and industry and outlines efforts to achieve our goals.
All wastes and materials are covered under this plan since there are large volumes of these
materials that may be recycled or beneficially used. That means wastes and materials from the
home, yard, and office, as well as wastes and materials produced by manufacturing and industry
are included. While the RCRA program's focus to date has typically been on hazardous waste
and municipal solid waste, this principle adds a new focus on non-hazardous industrial waste.
For example, coal combustion byproducts represent a large non-hazardous industrial waste
stream with high potential for recycling and beneficial use.
Industry generates approximately 214 million tons per year of non-hazardous industrial waste.
Some of these wastes are diverted from landfilling through reuse and recycling but, for others,
inadequate markets restrict their reuse or recycling. In parti this is due to the uncertainty of the
environmental impact of the reuse and recycling of these waste streams. America generates
approximately 250-350 million tons per year of construction and demolition debris - waste
generated from building, demolishing, and rebuilding roads, bridges, and buildings. While 50%
of concrete and 30 million tons of asphalt are recycled each year, there are many untapped
opportunities to recycle and safely reuse other construction-related products. In addition, by
taking a design for the environment approach, Americans could reduce construction waste from
new construction projects.
The RCC's success in this area, however, will largely be measured by EPA's ability to work with
states, local governments, and other stakeholders to reduce the generation of municipal solid
waste, to divert municipal solid waste from disposal, and to promote effective recycling of
valuable municipal waste streams now going to waste. EPA has set the daunting national goal of
achieving a 35% recycling rate for municipal solid waste by 2008 and holding the per capita rate
of municipal solid waste generation constant. To meet these goals, EPA will develop a targeted
strategy, aimed at increasing the recycling rate of paper, "organic" wastes (e.g., yard wastes,
food), and packaging containers as key waste streams to address first.
Where we -want to be in 5-10 years — Broad Goals
The long-term goal .under this principle is:
Reducing the amount of waste and increasing recycling and beneficial
use by increasing the recycling rate of key municipal solid waste
streams and beneficial use of key non-hazardous industrial waste streams.
Strategies
This principle has five main strategic components:
1) Analyze and characterize (manufacturing, process, and product) waste streams
(this includes both industrial and municipal wastes).
2) Continue ongoing efforts where they have proved effective and needed.
3) Identify additional efforts based on select criteria and develop corresponding
initiatives for new wastes streams/partners.
4) Identify environmentally safe and beneficial practices, incentives, and barriers.
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5) Increase outreach and education on the benefits of source reduction, recycling,
and beneficially using wastes/materials.
Strategic Targets: What we want to achieve
The nation has a fairly strong infrastructure for recycling municipal solid waste. By focusing on
targeted key waste streams, such as paper, "organic" waste (e.g., yard wastes, food), and
packaging containers, the recycling meets the 2008 national goals. The goals of the Coal
Combustion Products Partnership Program (C2P2), which is a cooperative effort of EPA and the
coal combustion products (CCPs) industry to help promote the beneficial use of CCPs, will be
met by recycling the large waste stream of coal combustion byproducts. Construction and
demolition debris will be another large non-hazardous waste stream targeted for recycling and
beneficial use goals.
The targets outlined below align with the Agency Strategic Plan goals
•I* Goal 3: Land Preservation and Restoration, Sub-objective 3.1.1: Reduce Waste
Generation and Increase Recycling
o Source Reduction:
• By 2008, maintain the national average municipal solid waste generation
at 4.5 pounds per person per day.
o Recycling:
• By 2008, increase municipal solid waste recycling to 35% from 30% in
2002.
III. Energy Conservation
Introduction
The goal of conserving energy, through the way waste and materials are managed, runs through
many RCC activities. It provides a vision for EPA as the RCC works with stakeholders to
increase energy savings associated with the management of wastes. Products that end up in the
waste stream have energy impacts at each stage of their life cycle: the acquisition of raw
materials, their manufacture into products, their use by consumers, and their disposal as wastes.
While the existing regulatory scheme in the U.S. ensures wastes are, for the most part, managed
properly, opportunities still exist to improve on this scheme and to come closer to Congress's
original vision for waste management. Most notably, we can increase the amount of waste that is
source reduced and recycled (thereby conserving energy) and the amount of waste that is
processed for energy recovery. The energy saved and recovered will provide many benefits,
such as reduced releases of pollutants, conserved land that is currently utilized for landfilling,
enhanced production of energy to minimize reliance on foreign sources, and financial incentives
to manage certain wastes.
Scope
The Energy Conservation principle challenges partners to focus on untapped opportunities to
conserve and recover energy from wastes. Additionally, there are other forms of energy
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conservation that are being covered in other Agency actions (e.g., wind, solar, hydro, etc). The
RCC will continue to discuss inclusion where it is feasible and makes sense. This principle
includes 1) safely recovering energy from materials now handled as wastes, and 2) managing
materials more effectively throughout their lifecycle, thereby saving energy at each stage.
Many RCC activities contribute directly to this principle - for example, using coal combustion
byproducts (e.g., fly ash) in concrete reduces the need to produce Portland cement, leading to
direct energy savings; when conditions are appropriately controlled, scrap tires can be safely
burned as fuel (sometimes with secondary benefits in NOX reductions); landfill gases can be
recovered through landfill bioreactors. The RCC will continue to explore opportunities in these
areas, and has developed or is developing measurable goals. In addition, some advanced
industrial processes for handling secondary materials and industrial byproducts may have energy
benefits. To advance the goal of energy conservation, the RCC will increase public information
and technical assistance. Initial focus areas include comparable and waste-derived fuels and
innovative funding and financing efforts for technology investment.
Where we want to be in 5-10 years—Broad Goals
Access to reliable and clean energy is a national priority and, within the context of the RCC,
energy conservation represent areas in which the RCC wants to increase attention and activity.
By focusing on these areas, the RCC hopes to accelerate the introduction of conservation
measures in the U.S., which can reduce the environmental impact of energy production, conserve
national resources, diversify our energy production profile, and enhance sustainability.
Because there are many opportunities and priorities that vary according to Region, the first phase
of the strategy implementation will involve pilot projects focused on energy conservation. The
RCC plans to work with the Regions as they consider what should be the focus of their energy
activities and how the activities will contribute to the strategic objectives outlined here. This
effort, along with others in the next five years, will put in place a more structured energy
conservation program under the RCC that works towards the following goal:
Challenge partners to increase energy savings associated with recovering
energy from wastes and saving energy throughout materials lifecycle
Strategies
To achieve the strategic goals, the RCC plans to engage in a variety of activities across program
areas. While many of these activities involve new efforts, some are associated with well-known
programs and thus require a significant level of collaboration and alignment towards common
goals to ensure that any new actions make positive contributions. The strategies are organized
under three main areas:
1) Reform and Revision:
3 The focus of this plan is on energy recovery from wastes because the other RCC strategic plans address the energy
savings associated with source reduction, recycling, and product stewardship efforts. Note that advances in the
recovery of energy from wastes should not come at the expense of current and future efforts in source reduction and
recycling.
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Analyze our regulations/policies/guidances and consult with our stakeholders to identify
barriers, gaps, and opportunities that can be exploited through revision or flexibility that will aid
in achieving our short term and long term energy conservation and recovery goals.
2) Assistance, Evaluation and Outreach:
Facilitate change by providing necessary support, outreach and partnership services to the
public and private sector.
3) Education:
Institutionalize a new ethic in the public and private sector with respect to waste and waste
management that places a premium on the reuse of waste materials to increase resource
conservation or to produce energy products.
Strategic Targets: What we want to achieve
Within ten years, we anticipate meeting the objectives outlined in the "targets" section below.
We will add to the RCC objectives already included in the Agency's Strategic Plan by working
with stakeholders to agree on appropriate numerical targets for the following4:
*!* Increase the energy saved through waste' prevention, recycling, and product stewardship
efforts.
»!* Increase the energy generated from wastes not amenable to source reduction, recycling,
or product stewardship efforts.
*!» Also, in consultation with stakeholders, we will be identifying numerical targets for the
specific areas/wastes we identify as the "low hanging fruit" and the initial activities on
which we will focus.
»> Our objectives under this principle relate to, and are consistent with, subobjectives 5.2.2
through 5.2.4 from the Agency's Strategic Plan. These subobjectives include energy
savings that result from activities in the Performance Track Program, Sector Strategies
Program, State Innovation Grant Program, and the Environmental Results Program,
among others.
IV. Priority and Other Toxic Chemical Reduction
Introduction
The use of chemicals in industrialized nations has brought about tremendous advancements in
technology and improved virtually every aspect of society. Although initially considered
4 Currently, the Agency's Strategic Plan has energy goals expressed both in BTUs of energy reduced and in percent
of energy saved. The targets presented here can be expressed either way.
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beneficial, certain chemicals in use today are also highly toxic, do not break down when released
into the environment, and can be dangerous even in small quantities. The Agency has identified
31 specific priority Chemicals (see Attachment 1) meeting these criteria.5 This list of 31
chemicals is certainly not exhaustive; other candidates for national attention are likely to be
developed.
Scope
In the Agency's Strategic Plan, EPA has identified reducing the release of "priority chemicals"
by an additional 10% by 2008, compared to a 50% reduction in 2005 (using a 1991 baseline).
The 1991 baseline reflects releases of 31 specific "priority" chemicals. EPA's national efforts to
date regarding these priority chemicals have focused primarily on pollution prevention, prior to
use, and regulatory, end-of-pipe waste management. The U.S. has made significant progress in
reducing releases of the 31 priority chemicals and their presence in materials and wastes. For
example, reported releases dropped by 53% in 2001 using a baseline year of 1991.
Although the reduction of the 31 priority chemicals (to meet specific goals in the Agency's
strategic plan) remains a priority, EPA recognizes that new and innovative programs are
necessary to meet more ambitious goals, including an additional 10% reduction in priority
chemicals by 2008, and a broadening of the program scope to include releases of priority
chemicals from non-hazardous waste.
The list of 31 priority chemicals, of course, does not include many other chemicals of Agency
concern. Consequently, the RCC is developing a chemicals reduction plan that will identify and
reduce the use of other toxic chemicals used in product manufacturing and ultimately ending up
in waste streams. Some are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, such as certain
brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Others may include chemicals that are of high importance
that meet key criteria such as a new use, increased use, high production volume, or potential
significant exposure risk. Still others - for example, halogenated organic solvents - have long
been identified as a concern, and are targets of EPA and state P2 efforts. National efforts to
reduce these chemicals will be acknowledged under the RCC and will contribute greatly to the
mission of the Priority and Other Toxic Chemicals principle.
Where we want to be in 5-10 years - Broad Goals
The RCC plans to continue its focus on priority chemicals and other Agency chemicals of
concern and to integrate the Agency's activities that are focused on the pollution prevention,
reduction, and proper management of these chemicals in wastes and products. One activity to
help achieve this goal will be to significantly expand the existing National Partnership for
Environmental Priorities (NPEP) Program, a multi-faceted effort designed to increase
collaboration between EPA and the regulated community.
Efforts to reduce the 31 priority chemicals will contribute to meeting both GPRA and pollution
prevention goals within the NPEP program. Identifying and targeting additional chemicals as
being of national importance and therefore addressed under the RCC, will further supplement
these goals. This chemicals reduction plan will bring important chemicals identified by other
5 Additional information about EPA's 31 priority chemicals can be accessed on the EPA website at
http://www epa gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/minimize/chemlist.him
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Regions and states into the RCC Priority and Other Toxic Chemicals principle, and reduction
achievements will be documented in OSWs Annual NPEP Trends Report
(http://wvvvv.epa.gov/epaoswer/'ha/waste/irtinimize/irends.htrn).
Additionally, the RCC will bolster its Sustainable Futures program and other efforts such as the
Green Suppliers Network to encourage industry and others to use certain tools such as the PBT
Profiler to self assess and develop appropriate pollution prevention and toxic use reduction
strategies. Further into the future, the RCC is also planning a campaign to educate consumers
that would allow them to factor priority and other toxic chemicals into purchasing choices.
The RCC's broad goals under this principle, consistent with the Agency's Strategic Plan (See
Goals 3 and 5) include:
1. Substituting priority and other toxic chemicals with safer alternatives whenever
possible;
2. Minimizing the amount used whenever substitution is not possible;
3. Maximizing recycling whenever minimization or substitution is not possible;
4. Cradle-to-cradle chemical management;
5. Minimizing exposures to toxics, and the volume and toxicity of waste through
product design;
6. Exploring assessment tools, using available data, to quantify the realized risk
reduction from priority and other toxic chemical programs; and
7. Increasing collaboration with our state agencies, and between EPA and the regulated
community.
In summary:
Through our focus on toxic and persistent chemicals, EPA plans to minimize the use of
these chemicals throughout their lifecycle in products, manufacturing, and their resulting
presence in waste. EPA will also develop new methods to target, reduce, and measure
success in minimizing priority and other toxic chemicals.
Strategies
EPA will advance several main strategies in the short term and long term:
1) National Partnership for Environmental Priorities Program:
The NPEP program is the RCC's newest and most direct tool for "beyond compliance"
management of priority chemicals, and forms a significant foundation upon which OSW will
build its priority chemicals reduction and management plan.5 As NPEP grows, it will
complement existing state programs to provide a framework for national chemical reduction.7
Other activities, such as EPA and the states' efforts related to mercury in dental amalgam,
mining operations, or switches in automobiles, or efforts to find replacements for lead in
automobile tire weights, can also play a significant role in reducing the release of priority
chemicals to the environment.
The National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP) Program was formerly named the National Waste
Minimization Partnership Program.
7 Please visit the NPEP website at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/minimize/index.htm
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2) Pollution Prevention Chemicals Agenda:
This component of the priority and other toxic chemicals reduction strategy will look for
additional P2 opportunities for substances that are identified as being of national concern. This
may include other persistent, bioaccumuMve and toxic chemicals (PBTs) that are not currently
included in the current priority chemicals list e.g. brominated flame retardants. It may also focus
on chemicals known to cause environmental problems, e.g., chemicals of concern frequently
found at cleanup sites. In the next several months, as OSW works with OPPT, the regions, and
me states to identify priority areas for the RCC, it will specifically address the need for
additional national-level activity in this area
Historically, we have focused on chemicals that typically demonstrate high toxicity, are very
bioaccumulative, and are very persistent in the environment. Our current approach may include
chemicals that do not score as high on some or. all of these criteria, but that are still a significant
potential risk to human health and the environment and can be reduced through voluntary P2
techniques. Considerations in selecting any substance may include: new use, increased or
widespread use, significant production volumes, presence in common products, and other factors
that indicate potential significant risk or exposure (where data do not exist to support specific
risk assessment). The program will establish a process with relevant manufacturers, processors
and users to identify and implement reductions through P2 opportunities. However, RCC
recognizes mat some chemicals are currently not good candidates for management by pollution
prevention, and we will not target those.
3) National Consumer Campaign that encompasses Education, Empowerment, and
Effective Marketing:
This future effort encompasses a new, yet vitally important phase of chemical reduction. The
underlying premise is to educate consumers, harness their purchasing power, and use market
forces to drive down use of hazardous chemicals.
Strategic Targets: What we want to achieve
•*• NPEP Recruitment Targets: For the early years of-the NPEP program, it is critical that
EPA develop relationships with priority chemical generators. For that reason, NPEP
historically set ambitious numeric goals for the number of partners recruited. However,
as the NPEP program has matured, the program has shifted to focus more on the type and
amount of chemical reduction that each program participant can offer. Put.more
succinctly, the emphasis of the NPEP program is now on the number of pounds of
priority chemicals reduced, and not simply on the number of partners recruited.
*> Between 2004 and 2008, part of the RCC priority chemicals strategy will be to
collaborate with states, Regions and Headquarters to identify new candidate chemicals of
national concern. By the end of FY 2005, RCC will identify additional substances to
target for a 10% reduction by 2008.
The targets outlined below align with the Agency Strategic Plan goals The Priority and
Other Toxic Chemicals principle will work toward specific targets and goals laid out in the
Agency Strategic Plan. Such goals include:
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<* Agency Goal 5: Compliance and Environmental Stewardship, Sub-objective 5.2.2:
Prevent Pollution and Promote Environmental Stewardship by Business
o Reduction of priority chemicals in hazardous and non-hazardous waste by 10% by
2008 using 2001 as baseline year
*** Agency Goal 4: Healthy Communities and Ecosystems, Sub-objective 4.1.3: Reduce
Chemical and Biological Risks
o PBTI: By 2008, decrease releases of persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT)
chemicals by 15 percent and toxic chemicals (including dioxin) by 10 percent as
reported in the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), compared to 2001 levels.
*!» Agency Goal 4. Healthy Communities and Ecosystems, Sub-objective 4.1.4: Reduce
risks at Facilities.
*J* Agency Goal 1: Clean Air and Global Climate Change, Sub-objective 1.3: Protect the
ozone layer
V. Greening the Government
Introduction
This plan provides a vision for EPA's role in implementing future waste prevention, recycling,
and federal purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services across the EPA, and
the federal government as a whole. The federal government's environmental footprint is
immense. The United States government is the largest purchaser in the U.S., buying the
equivalent of roughly $250 billion dollars worth of goods and services annually. The federal
government also spends an additional $240 billion a year, indirectly, through grant and
cooperative agreements. In addition, the buildings and landscapes that the federal government
occupies have an affect on land, energy, natural resources, and the indoor and outdoor
environment. The U.S. government owns nearly 500,000 buildings covering 3.1 billion square
feet, accounting for 0.4 percent of the nation's energy use, and emitting about 2 percent of all
U.S. building related green gases. Given the size of the federal government and the scope of its
work (e.g., national parks, roads and highways, revitalization efforts, etc.), it has an opportunity
and a responsibility to reduce the environmental impacts from these areas. This principle will
produce a variety of benefits from avoiding waste generation and disposal, reducing multi-media
emissions, ecological conservation, reduced life cycle costs, habitat restoration, and expanding
and creating markets for green products and services.
Scope
Three of the other RCC principles, Source Reduction, Recycling, Beneficial Use, Conserving
Energy, and Reducing Priority and Other Toxic Chemicals, overlap in content with portions of
this principle as many issues are interrelated (i.e., energy conservation and product design). This
principle will focus on the myriad of environmental issues associated with federal procurement,
greening buildings and waste prevention and recycling. It formalizes the direction of the EPA
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with respect to "greening" the government and it highlights new areas where the RCC can serve
in a leadership capacity.
It also addresses the Executive Order (E.G.) 13101 "Greening the Government through Waste
Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition"; E.G. 13148 "Greening the Government through
Leadership in Environmental Management"; E.G. 13123 "Greening the Government through
Energy Efficient Management"; and Section 6002 entitled "Federal Procurement" of RCRA.
"Greening" can be defined in a number of ways and can encompass a broad spectrum of
environmentally preferable products, services and practices. Under this principle, "Greening the
Government" includes:
• Green Procurement: The acquisition and/or offering of goods and services that have
attributes that reduce the reliance on virgin or raw material and have a lesser or
reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing
products or services that serve the same purpose. "Green" procurement includes
products that are made with recycled content, are energy efficient, or have other
environmentally preferable attributes, such as containing fewer toxic chemicals, or is
recycled easily.
• Green Buildings and Landscaping: Creating federal buildings that are
environmentally sustainable, conserving natural resources and reducing pollution
throughout their life cycle - from siting and design; during construction and
deconstructibn; through operations and maintenance; to reuse. It includes federal
large scale landscaping operations that are planned promoting cost effective and
environmentally preferable solutions and practices, such as reusing organic waste
materials, conserving natural resources, and reducing the use of pesticides and other
harmful chemicals.
• Recycling and Waste Prevention Programs: Creating a culture of waste awareness
that motivates everyone to avoid the generation of waste material, and to recycle
and/or reuse waste material whenever they are able.
In general, no one Agency or Department is responsible for making the federal government
"green". Instead, it is a snared responsibility among many. A number of specific offices within
EPA also work toward greening both EPA and the rest of the federal government, including
OPPT, OSW, the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance (OECA), the Office of
Acquisition and Resource Management (OARM), and all ten EPA Regions.
Where we want to be in 5-10 years — Broad Goals
EPA's Greening the Government efforts for the next few years will focus on the broad goals
below. The action plan will determine which of these goals will be priority and will then
develop specific goals under them.
1. Enlisting federal management and procuring officials - at all levels - to embrace the
"buying green ethic", and make it a priority. ' •
2. Making EPA an innovative leader in "Greening the Government".
3. Coordinating one seamless "Greening the Government" program within EPA.
4. Making purchasing and reporting easier, including identifying "green" products or
services.
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5. Incorporating the "Greening the Government" concept into grants, cooperative agreement
and contracts and encouraging other federal Agencies to do the same.
6. Measuring.success of the "Greening the Government" program.
7. Establishing criteria that reward manufacturers for practicing product stewardship and
incorporating procurement guidelines.
8. Establishing, implementing, and improving waste prevention and recycling efforts within
EPA and encouraging other federal Agencies to do the same.
9. Having an ISO 14000 certified EMS for all EPA offices, and encouraging other federal
Agencies to do the same.
10. Establishing a disciplined approach to identify future Greening of the Government
opportunities.
Green procurement policies are, for the most part, in place at the federal level; there are statutes,
executive orders and policy statements, which require and encourage federal agencies to
purchase and pilot green products and services across the government. Together, these policies
direct the federal government to become leaders in this area, and to use their purchasing power to
create markets for green products and services. The ultimate goal of the Greening the
Government plan is:
Implementing a program that brings together all Greening the Government
Sections - green procurement of products and services, greening
buildings and landscaping, and recycling and waste prevention actions;
Encouraging other federal agencies to move forward in their greening
activities; and influencing market development for green products and
services.
Strategies
The principle will cover 2 broad areas of focus: (1) green procurement (which includes green
buildings and landscaping), and (2) recycling and waste prevention programs. Within those
areas, this principle will use two strategies to define how EPA can provide overall leadership,
how EPA can work with other federal agencies in moving forward in greening actions, and how
EPA can assist in developing markets.
(1) Green Procurement:
This principle illustrates the conscientious goal and commitment of the government to purchase
products with green design and recycle content in mind. As defined here, green products
includes, but not limited to, office supplies, building and landscaping supplies, as well as
services that embrace environmentally preferable practices and/or solutions such as green
landscaping, green building construction and deconstruction, or green cleaning services.
(2) Recycling and Waste Prevention Programs:
This principle seeks to instill an ethic of waste awareness in all federal government employees,
which will encourage them to avoid the generation of waste material, and to recycle and/or reuse
waste material whenever possible. By utilizing the size of the federal government, we can help
build the necessary infrastructure needed to create successful and sustainable waste prevention
and recycling programs across the United States.
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Strategic Targets: What we want to achieve
*t* Green Procurement:
o EPA Leadership
> By 2010, meet all EPA Environmentally Preferable Products goals which
can be found at (http://www.epa.gov/greeningepa/p2/eppgoals.htni)
> Gain agreement with OPPT and OSW that establishes "Greening of the
Government" as one coordinated effort, rather than separate and distinct
programs.
> Look to measured baselines to establish additional goals.
* o Moving Federal Agencies Forward
> By 2005, establish a baseline on contract purchases that buy CPG items
from data gathered from the Federal Procurement Data System. This
baseline can be used to track increases in compliance across the federal
sector.
•J» Recycling and Waste Prevention:
o EPA Leadership
^ By 2008, EPA will do its share to reach the national Municipal Solid
Waste recycling goal of 35% waste diversion.
o Moving Federal Agencies Forward
> Take action to encourage federal Agencies to do its share to reach the
Municipal Solid Waste recycling goal of 35%
The targets outlined below align with the Agency Strategic Plan goals
*J* Agency Goal 5.2: Improve Environmental Performance through Pollution Prevention
and Innovation; Sub-objective 5.2.1: Prevent Pollution and Promote Environmental
Stewardship by Government and the Public
o By 2006, reduce Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)-reported toxic chemical releases
at federal facilities by 40 percent, from a baseline year of 2001.
o By 2008, EPA will go beyond compliance with executive orders to "green"
federal government operations in its purchases of "green" products and services
from a baseline year of 2002.
o By 2008, all federal agencies will have defined Environmentally Preferable
Purchasing programs and policies in place and will be expanding their purchases
of available "green" products and services, from a baseline of one federal agency
in 2002.
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Attachment 1. Environmentally Friendly Design (EFD)
Below is a list that illustrates how significant Environmentally Friendly Design (EFD) is to
each individual plan:
1. Product Stewardship is an expression of the responsibility that designers, suppliers,
manufacturers, retailers, consumers/users, disposers are taking on to help to conserve resources,
reduce waste, and ensure that products are used properly in order to protect human health and the
environment.
*
2. hi Beneficial Use of Materials, developing baseline data about the waste that exists and how
it can be reused and recycled can influence decision-making during the designing of products,
resulting in reduced waste (i.e., cradle-to-cradle or closed loop systems). Creating material flow
accounts can be a useful way to promote efficient materials management and provide designers
with the information necessary to design environmentally-friendly products.
3. By continuing to emphasize the Energy Conservation and resource recovery in product
design, we can reduce the environmental impacts of energy production used for manufacturing,
conserve national resources by recycling energy within the manufacturing process, encourage the
use of innovative energy sources by both manufacturers and users, and reduce the amount of
energy consumed by operators of electronic and fuel-driven products.
4. The Priority Chemicals strategy discusses EPA's approach to reducing use of certain
chemicals. EPA can work with designers and manufacturers to create products with chemicals
that have an environmentally friendly profile.
5. Because the United States government is the largest purchaser in the nation, and therefore has
a major effect on the products and services that are produced, working in Greening the
Government offers a tremendous opportunity to reduce environmental impact. Through "green"
procurement, the government preferentially selects many products and services based on one or
more of their environmental attributes, such as paper made with recycled content. However, by
considering all of the environmental attributes of a product (i.e., examining its life cycle),
designers and manufacturers may find that products can be re-designed to be entirely recycled,
reused, or made without toxic constituents.
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Chemical Name
Attachment 2. List of 31 Priority Chemicals
CASRN
|l,2,4-Trichlorobenzene
!| 1 ,2,4,5-Tetrachlorobenzene
|2,4,5-Trichlorophenol
|4-Bromophenyl phenyl ether
iiAcenaphthene
iiAcenaphthylene
iiAnthracene
|Benzo(g,h,i)peiylene
ilDibenzofuran
;|Dioxins/Furans *
ijEndosulfan, alpha & Endosulfan, beta *
iiFluorene
ijHeptachlor & Heptachlor epoxide *
liHexachlorobenzene
ijHexachlorobutadiene
|Hexachlorocyclohexane, gamma-
IjHexachloroethane
jiMethoxychlor
[[Naphthalene
|P AH Group (as defined in TRI)
iiPendimethalin
ijPentachlorobenzene
iiPentachloronitrobenzene
iiPentachlorophenol
ijPhenanthrene
i|Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
|Pyrene
iJTrifluralin
ilCadmium
;;Lead
ijMercury
120-82-1 1!
95-94-3 1
95-95-4 ij
101-55-3 I
83-32-9 {
208-96-8 1
120-12-7 !
191-24-2 I
132^9 )
!
1746-01-6 |
959-98-8 & 33213-65-9 ii
86-73-7 y
76-44-8 & 1024-57-3 I
118-74-1 ii
87-68-3 1
58-89-9 1
67-72-1 i
72-43-5 \
91-20-3 i|
40487-42-1 i
608-93-5 i
82-68-8 II
87-86-5 a
85-01-8 ij
1336-36-3 |
129-00-0 !
1582-09-8 i
7440-43-9 i
_.__^ _
; 7439-97-6 j|
* (considered one chemical on this list)
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Attachment 3: List of Acronyms
-B-
BFR Brominated Flame Retardants
-C-
CPG Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines
-E-
EFD Environmentally Friendly Design
EMS Environmental Management Systems
EO Executive Order
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPP Environmentally Preferred Purchasing
-M-
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
MSW Municipal Solid Waste
-N-
NPEP National Partnership for Environmental Priorities
-O-
OPPT Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
OSW Office of Solid Waste
-P-
P2 Pollution Prevention
PBTs Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxics
-R.
RCC Resource Conservation Challenge
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
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