xvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics
Washington, DC 20460
January-February 1994
EPA 742-N-94-001
Pollution
Prevention
News
c
o
PRMNTION
Inside:
News & Resources ... 2
In the States 3
SOLID WASTE:
EPA's WasteWl$e
Program 4
Closing the
Recycling Loop 5
EPA's Source
Reduction Program . 6
WasteCap Program.. 7
Pay as You Throw.... 8
Technical Assistance. 9
DfE's Metal
Finishing Project... 10
Accounting for
Pollution Prevention 11
Calendar.. .12
EPA Proposes TRI Expansion
EPA proposed on January 6 to expand
the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) by
313 toxic chemicals. The plan, announced
by EPA in a joint press conference with
several environmental groups including
the Natural Resources Defense Council,
the Environmental Defense Fund, and the
U.S. Public Interest Research Group, will
almost double the size of TRI.
TRI is a database of toxic chemicals
maintained by EPA. Facilities must report
their annual release of these chemicals to
EPA and the states. EPA makes the data
available to the public, who can use the
information to assess risks in their
communities. Currently, there are 320
chemicals on the list.
Broadening the scope of the list will
provide citizens with a more complete
picture of the chemicals which impact
their communities. The expansion also
will focus industry attention on addi-
tional pollution prevention measures.
Further, the larger reporting list will
provide broader, multimedia information
(Continued on page 4)
New Industry Sector Team Initiative
EPA will take an industry-by-industry
approach to preventing and reducing
pollution under a plan announced by EPA
Administrator Carol Browner in a meeting
with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in
November 1993. The new initiative is
designed to combine industrial innovation
with regulatory flexibility in order to
improve overall environmental quality
and cut the costs to business of compli-
ance with environmental laws.
EPA will select several key industrial
sectors and create a strategic plan for
each, integrating the way EPA interacts
with that industry in rulemaking, permit-
ting, reporting requirements, enforcement
and technical assistance. "The old piece-
meal approach, where the air office looks
at air pollution, the water office looks at
water pollution, and so on, doesn't work
for me as a regulator and it doesn't work
for you," Browner told the Chamber of
Commerce audience.
The plans for each industry will include
activities such as:
• Rulemakings will be coordinated to
ensure they do not conflict with one
another;
• Record-keeping and reporting require-
ments will be reviewed to ensure they
are clear and consistent;
• Permit processes will be streamlined
where possible;
• Enforcement and compliance will be
reviewed to identify opportunities for
greater predictability, better information
and more compliance assistance; and
• EPA will meet with leaders in each
industry to identify innovative ap-
proaches in pollution prevention and
environmental technology.
The new initiative follows on the heels
of successful cross-media agency efforts
including the pulp and paper integrated
rule, and the activities to develop the
lead strategy.
R«cyci*d/R*cyclabla
Printed wrth Soy/Canota Ink on paper that
contains at toast 50% recycled liber
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Pollution Prevention News - 2
News & Resources
EPA and DOE Solicit Grant
Proposals from Industry
D oes your company have a tech-
nology idea that could save
energy, prevent pollution, and im-
prove your industry’s bottom line? If
so, you may be eligible for financial
assistance through the National
Industrial Competitiveness through
Energy, Environment and Economics
program—or more simply, NICE 3 .
Sponsored by EPA and the Depart-
ment of Energy, NICE 3 encourages
industry to reduce industrial waste at
its source or use waste productively.
Since NICE 3 began in 1991, 17 compa-
nies have been selected to receive one-
time grants to help offset the start-up
cost of new technologies.
The next solicitation for project
proposals runs from February 1
through March 31, 1994. Interested
companies should contact their state
pollution prevention or state energy
office, as the state office must be a co-
submitter of a proposal. The federal
grant will cover up to 50 percent of
the total cost, up to a maximum of
$400,000. All types of industry are
eligible, with priority given to propos-
als that fall within the following
standard industrial classifications
(SIC): SIC Code 26 (pulp and paper);
SIC Code 28 (chemicals); SIC Code 29
(petroleum and coal products); and
SIC Code 33 (primary metals).
To request a brochure or solicita-
tion packet, contact Eric Hass, at DOE
at 303-275-4728; Ernie Rios at DOE at
510-637-1950; or Ron Santoro at DOE
at 202-586-8296.
New Air Pollution Prevention
Database On-Line
E PA’s newest pollution prevention
database, the “Air P2 Database,”
is now on-line. Designed to improve
environmental quality through
increased applications of pollution
prevention technology, the P2 Data-
base was up and running as of No-
vember 2, 1993. EPA’s Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards has
made the database publicly available
through the “COMPLI” bulletin board
system (BBS) of its Technology
Transfer Network.
The database will include items
such as full text and abstracted
documents on industry case studies,
regulatory actions, supplementary
environmental projects, professional
contacts and services, training and
educational opportunities, a calendar
of events, and dialogue and electronic
mail utilities.
Users can access the P2 Database
within COMPLI by logging on at (919)
541-5742. The database will be on-line
24 hours every day, except the first
half of the first work day each week.
For BBS assistance, call the Help
Desk at (919) 541-5384. For general
information and P2 assistance, call
Louis Paley at EPA at (703) 308-8723.
Note from the Pollution
Prevention Research Branch
Psssst — Here’s a Hot TIPPP
L ike other large landlords, the
federal government is concerned
about preventing pollution on its
properties. The solutions used by the
federal government can often serve as
a model for state and local govern-
ments and the private sector.
The Tidewater Interagency Pollu-
tion Prevention Program (TIPPP) is a
good example of what the federal
government is able to do. TIPPP is a
cooperative effort among EPA, DOD
and NASA to develop and demon-
strate innovative pollution prevention
opportunities at federal facilities in
the Tidewater area of Virginia.
The Waste Reduction at Federal Sites
program of EPA’s Risk Reduction
Engineering Laboratory provides
engineering support to conduct pollu-
tion prevention opportunity assess-
ments, reduce solid and manufacturing
wastes, improve energy efficiency, test
use of alternate materials, and reduce
nonpoint source problems from all
installation activities.
Projects successfully completed at
TIPPP include:
A demonstration at Fort Eustis that
commissaries can “go green” and
still make a profit;
January-February_1994
• Development by NASA Langley
Research Center of a new process to
make composite materials for use in
aircraft applications that eliminates
solvents and creates less waste;
• Use of a plural component paint
system at Langley AFB that reduces
the amount of hazardous materials
entering and leaving the base;
• Installation of aqueous parts
washers to reduce the use of
solvents at a Norfolk maintenance
facility and aboard the U.S.S.
Theodore Roosevelt.
For more information on the TIPP
program, contact Kenneth R. Stone at
EPA at 513-569-7474.
EPA and Commerce Join
Forces in Prevention Project
E PA and the Department of
Commerce have signed a five year
Interagency Agreement to provide
pollution prevention technical assis-
tance to small and medium-sized
businesses in the metal forming, metal
finishing and metal plating industries.
As part of the agreement, EPA is
providing $315,000 to DOC’s National
Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) for a pilot project with NIST’s
Great Lakes Manufacturing Technol-
ogy Center in Cleveland. The project
involves using EPA-developed
pollution prevention opportunity
assessment methodology, technology
demonstration and evaluation capa-
bilities and other technical informa-
tion and training that will enable the
NIST center to effectively deliver
pollution prevention technical assis-
tance to small manufacturers.
For more information, contact
Michael Baum at 301-975-2763.
To be added to our
mailing list, please write:
Pollution Prevention News
U.S. EPA
401 MStreetSW (MC 7409)
Washington, DC 20460
Editorial Staff:
Pollv Hunter, Editor
Gilah Langner
Joshua Katz
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January-Ft’lruary 1994
3 - Pollution Prevention News
Pollution Prevention Week in California
by Kathryn Barwick
and Dave Hartley
California Department of Toxic
Substances Control
California recently held a Pollution
Prevention Week to increase the
awareness of the public and private
sectors about the potential for pollu-
tion prevention to simultaneously
protect the environment and improve
economic competitiveness. The Office
of Pollution Prevention and Technol-
ogy Development of the California
Department of Toxic Substances
Control supported Pollution Preven-
tion Week by assisting in the plan-
ning, and by providing funding
through the Local Government
Commission. The first event of its
kind in the nation, Pollution Preven-
tion Week was held October 4-10,
1993, and was officially announced
through proclamations issued by both
Governor Pete Wilson and the state
legislature.
Local government environmental
and economic development programs,
industry associations, and environ-
mental groups held pollution preven-
tion events during this week to
highlight the importance of pollution
prevention as a new way of doing
business. In addition, organizers
hoped to raise the awareness and
support of local officials for the
development, continuance, and
expansion of local pollution preven-
tion programs.
Three activity planning guides for
business groups, local governments,
and environmental groups were
developed
and distributed
to interested
parties. The guides
describe what pollution
prevention is, explain how
various groups can support the
implementation of pollution preven-
tion in their community, and list
suggested activities. Additionally, a
detailed media outreach guide was
distributed to all organizations partici-
pating in Pollution Prevention Week.
The idea for Pollution Prevention
Week came from the Consortium of
California’s Pollution Prevention
Committees. Members of the consor-
tium include city and county environ-
mental health agencies, wastewater
treatment plants, fire departments,
local planning agencies, economic
development agencies, and other local
entities. A total of 204 agencies
participated in Pollution Prevention
Week statewide, and 143 organiza-
tions passed resolutions or proclama-
tions declaring pollution prevention
week.
Highlights of Pollution Prevention
Week include:
• Pollution prevention articles in
local newspapers;
• Pollution prevention displays in
public places such as libraries, fairs,
malls, and city halls;
• School awards programs honoring
pollution prevention activities;
• Pollution prevention public service
announcements for public access
television;
• The Department’s “Why Waste?”
video on public television;
• Distribution of pollution preven-
tion videos to local video stores for
free use by the public;
• Multi-agency regulatory
assistance fairs;
• Pollution prevention
workshops and training
sessions;
• Radio talk shows
discussing pollution
prevention; and
• Model facility tours.
The overwhelming response from
organizations statewide demonstrated
that pollution prevention is becoming
an essential part of these organiza-
tions’ approaches. The Department
and local agencies have already begun
planning for the second Pollution
Prevention Week, to be held in 1994.
For more information on the
California Pollution Prevention
Week, contact Dave Hartley at
916-324-1815.
Correction
In the article entitled “Chicago
Funds Alternatives to Automobiles”
in the July/August 1993 issue of
Pollution Prevention News the
amount of the Congestion Mitiga-
tion & Air Quality funds for FY 1993
used for non-traditional projects
was 85 percent.
Job Opening
The non-profit National Roundtable
of State Pollution Prevention Pro-
grams has an opening for an Execu-
tive Director. The position will be
available on March 21, 1994.
Direct all written inquiries to the
Roundtable’s Personnel Committee,
P.O. Box 7219, Silver Spring, MD
20910. Phone inquiries may be di-
rected to Mr. Philip Cherry, Chair-
man, at 302-739-6400.
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Pollution Prevention News - 4
January-February 1994
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOLID WASTE?
A Special Section on Solid Waste Prevention and Reduction
EPA’s WasteWi$e Program Works with
Businesses to Reduce Solid Waste and Save Money
E PA Administrator Carol Browner
recently launched an ambitious
partnership program to help compa-
flies generate less solid waste and
make a dent in the country’s munici-
pal solid waste (MSW) disposal
problem.
The commer-
cial sector throws
out 40 percent of
the country’s
MSW and greatly
influences the
remaining 60
percent. This
waste represents
an inefficient use of resources that is
costly to both companies and commu-
nities. Many companies have found
that cutting waste represents big
savings, sometimes millions of dollars
per year. EPA’s WasteWi$e program
is a voluntary, nonregulatory effort to
help businesses put their waste
reduction ideas to work.
Administrator Browner began the
program by sending letters to the
Fortune 1000 manufacturing and
service companies, inviting them to
join WasteWi$e. Companies that
become members commit to making
significant progress in three areas:
waste prevention, recycling collec-
tion, and buying or manufacturing
recycled products.
To accomplish this, each
WasteWi$e participant is asked to
conduct a waste assessment to find
out how much and what types of
waste it is generating. This assess-
ment, which can be a quick “walk
through” or a detailed evaluation of
company operations, helps identify
the specific waste prevention and
recycling measures that would be
most effective in the company.
Based on the results of their
assessments, member companies will
select the waste prevention, recycling
collection, and purchasing or manu-
facturing actions they intend to
implement and send a copy of their
goals to EPA. Each year, participating
companies will report to EPA on their
achievements to date, contributing to
a national progress report. EPA will
also provide technical assistance and
recognition to member companies.
For more information, call 1-800-
EPA WISE (372-9473) and ask for the
brochure entitled Waste Wi$e: EPA’s
Voluntary Program for Reducing
Business Solid Waste.
WASTE
W E
Companies that become
members commit to making
significant progress in three
areas: waste prevention,
recycling collection, and
buying or manufacturing
recycled product.
EPA Proposes TRI Expansion
(Continued from page 2)
on these additional chemicals, which
is not currently available.
“By doubling the size of the list,
EPA has created a more effective tool
that can be used by the public to
further reduce risk and measure
results of efforts to curb pollution,”
said EPA Administrator Carol
Browner. “An informed public is the
foundation of comprehensive environ-
mental protection.”
EPA officials reviewed 1,000 chemi-
cals before determining which should
be added to TRI. The proposed addi-
tion of these chemicals is based on
their acute human health effects and
their environmental effects. The new
additions vary greatly and include
nicotine, nitric oxide and malathion. Of
the 313 proposed additions, approxi-
mately 170 are active ingredients in the
formulation of pesticides.
Later this year, EPA plans to
announce a second phase of the TRI
expansion, which will broaden the list
of facilities that must report releases of
these chemicals under TRI. Currently,
only manufacturing industries are
required to report under TRI. EPA is in
the process of identifying non-manu-
facturing industries associated with
significant releases, such as mining and
wholesale distribution, to determine
their suitability for TRI reporting.
In conjunction with these expan-
sion programs, EPA is considering
whether to make other adjustments in
the scope of TRI. EPA received
petitions from the Small Business
Administration and the American
Feed Industry Association seeking an
exemption for facilities that file TRI
forms with zero or small release
estimates. EPA will provide the public
with a report on its regulatory options
by the end of January, and will hold a
public meeting to discuss the report in
February. EPA then will design a
regulatory strategy with the objective
of minimizing unnecessary data
collection and reporting by facilities.
For more information call the
EPRCA Hotline, 1-800 -424- 3 46 .
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January-February 1994
5 - Pollution Prevention News
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOLID WASTE
Keep America Beautiful Closes the Recycling Loop
K eep America Beautiful has
initiated 15 model community
projects to build awareness of the need
for businesses, institutions and private
organizations to purchase products
containing recycled materials. KAB, a
membership organization with over
500 local affiliates, wants to stimulate
the market for recyclables, thereby
demonstrating the viability of waste
recycling as a solid waste management
tool in communities. This KAB effort,
created under a cooperative agreement
with EPA, complements EPA’s Waste-
Wi$e program. Fifteen of KAB’s local
affiliates are working at the grassroots
level to foster the “buy recycled” ethic
among local businesses and institutions.
The Close-the-Loop Campaign is
directed at local businesses, govern-
ments and institutions as well as
individuals. Local businesses were
selected as the target of the effort
because they are at a central point in
the manufacturing-distribution-
purchasing chain; local businesses both
influence and respond to manufactur-
ers and consumers. The program also
seeks to reach institutional consumers,
such as government agencies, and
individual consumers. By stimulating
the purchase and use of products made
with recycled materials, KAB will
enhance the market for recyclables,
helping to “close the loop.”
Along with the “buy recycled”
ethic, KAB affiliates also promote
waste prevention and recycling
collection. This effort targets smaller,
local businesses in the same way that
EPA’s WasteWi$e is concentrating on
Fortune 1000 companies. In fact, KAB
will be urging businesses to join the
WasteWi$e effort as well.
The affiliates are taking the “buy
recycled” message to their communi-
ties through campaigns which will
include posters and window stickers
for participating businesses and
agencies. Several plan to work through
school systems to make students aware
of the need to buy recycled. KAB will
sponsor “Buy Recycled” fairs and
workshops for local businesses.
Businesses which participate in the
effort will be given publicity in local
media. The fifteen affiliates will
document their approaches, successes
and lessons learned in order to provide
guidance for future efforts in other
communities.
For more information contact
Sharon Oxley at Keep America
Beautiful at 203-323-8987.
The Tifton/Tift County (Florida) Clean Community Commission’s mobile recycling education vehicle
will add a “Buy Recycled” component under the EPA grant.
Recycling Businesses Set Up in Two Pilots
F inding uses for materials col-
lected as part of recycling efforts
is the continuing challenge to
municipal recycling programs. To
help solve this problem, the Munici-
pal and Industrial Solid Waste
Division of EPA’s Office of Solid
Waste has funded two pilot projects
to spur recycling-oriented businesses.
The City of Philadelphia Depart-
ment of Commerce received a grant
for three years of economic devel-
opment tied to recycling. Philadel-
phia has created a Recycling
Economic Development Consor-
tium to advise the city on recycling
development issues and to assist in
creating the necessary markets for
the products. The Consortium
includes representatives from city
departments, non-profit groups,
academia and the private sector.
The city hopes to identify potential
feedstocks and markets, and then
identify target enterprises for
expansion and attraction.
. The Institute for Local
Self-Reliance (ILSR)
$ also was awarded a
U 1 r1 grant to fund a
recycling and eco-
nomic development
program. ILSR’s tn-city project will
focus on Washington, D.C., Rich-
mond, Virginia and Baltimore,
Maryland. The project seeks to create
new jobs and launch scrap-based
businesses and manufacturing
enterprises. In addition, ILSR will
demonstrate the economic impacts of
its effort to close the recycling loop,
including reduced disposal costs and
increased tax bases. The study also
will examine the relationship among
recycling programs, market develop-
ment and community economic
growth.
For further information, contact:
Deb Gallman at EPA at 202-260-
4683; Mjenzi Traylor of the City of
Philadelphia at 215-686-8488; or Jane
Buckley at ILSR at 202-232-4108.
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Pollution Prevention News - 6
January-February 1994
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOLID WASTE
EPA’s In-House Source Reduction Program
by Mia Zmud
EPA Office of Solid Waste
and Michael E. O’Reilly
Office of Administration and
Resource Managment
P racticing what it preaches has
become official policy at EPA
under Executive Order 12780 on
Recycling and the more recent Execu-
tive Order 12873 on Recycling, Acqui-
sitions and Waste Prevention. These
Executive Orders require that all
federal agencies promote and inte-
grate cost effective source reduction
and recycling into their solid waste
management programs.
The source reduction programs and
initiatives in practice in EPA’s head-
quarters offices and most regional
offices include:
Dual-Sided Copying Policy— In
August 1989, EPA began requiring
dual sided copying by all employees,
whenever the machine capability
allows. EPA estimates that this policy
has reduced paper consumption by 10
percent, and saved on
postage fees and filing
space.
Merchant Mug
Program— Since 1990,
vendors at EPA head-
quarters have offered a
five cent discount
when EPA employees
bring their own mug
for coffee, rather than
use a nondurable one.
This program has been
expanded to soft drink
purchases in some
stores. This has helped
to reduce the amount
of food packaging waste generated in
offices.
Surplus Supply Reuse Program—
On an Agency-wide basis, EPA’s
supply store offers surplus used
supplies to employees at no cost, and
encourages them to return used laser
cartridges and typewriter ribbons so
they can be reconditioned by the
supplier. These measures cut down on
waste generated in offices and reduce
purchasing costs.
Moving Box Reuse Program— In
EPA headquarters, corrugated card-
board boxes are being reused at least
3-4 times before they are recycled. In
order to further reduce this waste, the
Agency is evaluating the use of
durable moving boxes which could be
used over 200 times.
Use of Non-Petroleum Inks— The
EPA headquarters print shop now
uses non-petroleum, vegetable-based
inks on all of its black ink printing.
Steps are being taken to expand the
use of these inks to other colors.
Paper Reduction Measures—
Common strategies to reduce paper
use include: storing documents on
computer disks rather than printing
hard copies; using electronic commu-
nication; maintaining central files of
technical documents; editing docu-
ments on computer screens; returning
EPA publications to the originating
office for redistribution; and posting
documents in central locations or
routing documents to reach multiple
readers.
Paper is Next Target
EPA is preparing to go beyond its
current source reduction efforts with a
new initiative to be launched in
Spring 1994. This new campaa gnwill
target paper, the largest component of
EPA’s (and most federal agencies’)
waste stream. The goal is to reduce
consumption of office paper by 15
percent Agency-wide.
The campaign will promote “wise
and selective use of paper.” The
campaign will focus on photocopy
centers, where employees will be
encouraged to consider alternatives to
pa per for Agency communications,
and to alter their paper consumption
habits.
The campaign also will give
individual headquarters and regional
offices the opportunity to create and
carry out an office-wide paper reduc-
tion strategy. This will allow offices to
target their specific problem areas.
The office-specific strategies will serve
as a pool of ideas, and at least one will
be selected each year for agency-wide
implementation.
In addition to reducing a major
component of EPA’s waste stream,
EPA anticipates cost savings from
avoided paper purchases, reduced
mail costs, and reduced costs associ-
ated with document storage.
EPA employees are required to u e
dual-sided copying when possible.
EPA has made recijc!ing cans and bottles easier
by placing recycling containers throughout the
headquarters building.
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January-February 1994
7 - Pollution Prevention News
VVHATS HAPPENING IN SOLID WASTE
WasteCap Operates in Tn-State Area
A New England program funded
partly by EPA has successfully
used a business-helping-business
approach to promote solid waste
minimization. Tn-State WasteCap
operates in Vermont, Maine and New
Hampshire, to enhance businesses
efficiency and reduce the amount of
pollution generated.
WasteCap was started by Associ-
ated Industries of Vermont in 1990.
After the success of the Vermont
program, Vermont assisted the Maine
Waste Management Agency and the
Business and Industry Association of
New Hampshire in expanding the
program. In the three years that it has
operated in the tn-state area,
WasteCap has worked directly with
200 businesses on waste minimization
and pollution prevention strategies.
Tapping the expertise of peers,
WasteCap provides non-regulatory,
on-site waste assessments at no charge
to the business. WasteCap’s efforts
have led to changes in business
operations in a range of areas includ-
ing: inventory and maintenance
practices; quality control procedures;
raw material use; packaging use; and
bulk purchasing.
The three main tools WasteCap uses
to assist businesses are an interactive
computer model, fact sheets, and on-
site assistance. WasteCap developed
the WasteCap Interactive Computer
Model, known as WICM, to educate
people about recycling methods that
may be applied to their businesses.
WICM is a first-in-the-nation, waste
reduction, computerized modeling tool
for industry waste stream and recy-
cling evaluation.
WICM enables businesses to track
seven recyclable commodities—
aluminum, corrugated cardboard,
glass, HDPE plastic, newspaper, PETE
plastic, and white office paper. To use
WICM, the business enters informa-
tion—being as general or specific as it
desires. Within seconds, WICM
estimates the company’s solid waste
generation, disposal costs, waste
stream composition, and potential
recycling related cost savings.
For more information, contact:
Gayle Briggs, Maine Coordinator, at
207-287-5300; Emily Hess, New Hamp-
shire Coordinator, at 603-224-5388; or
Connie Leach Bisson, Vermont Coordi-
nator at 802-223-3441.
News from EPA’s Waste Minimization Branch, Office of Solid Waste
Waste Minimization
Roundtables
A four-day Roundtable was held in
November 1993, with approximately
100 observers and 120 participants
representing environmental and
public interest groups, technical
assistance centers, state and federal
regulators, generators of hazardous
waste, and owners and operators of
hazardous waste treatment, storage
and disposal facilities. Participants
discussed source reduction and
recycling goals, and some of the
specific regulatory and non-regula-
tory mechanisms available to help
reach those goals.
The participants felt that EPA
needs to emphasize the multi-media
aspects of pollution prevention, to
assure that reductions are real and
pollutants are not shifted from one
medium to another. Also, there was a
desire for EPA to set priorities for
pollution prevention activities, based
on areas of highest risk concern. The
participants also agreed that there was
a need for EPA to clearly identify and
communicate its pollution prevention
expectations.
EPA will hold at least three more
smaller Roundtables, in Texas,
California and Ohio. For more
information, contact Sandy Farrell
at 703-308-8679.
Measuring Source
Reduction and Recycling
OSW’s Waste Minimization Branch
entered into cooperative agreements
this past summer with four states—
Alaska, Ohio, Oregon and Washing-
ton—to examine the adequacy of the
methods and data available to
measure source reduction and
recycling progress. Many states
have statutory deadlines for
meeting pollution prevention goals,
and many states have been devel-
oping their own methods for
meas.iring progress towards these
goals. EPA would like to facilitate
the transfer of sound measurement
methods among the states, and to
better understand the methods that
exist to determine if improvements
are necessary. The four participat-
ing states will look closely at they
methods used by states and by
industry, and at the quality of the
Toxics Release Inventory, the
Biennial Report System data, and
state annual report data.
For more information, contact
Becky Cuthbertson at 703-308-8447
(morc NEWS, page 9)
At the presentation of the 1993 WasteCap Waste
Reduction Award are (1 to r): Merrill R. Hohman,
Director, Region I EPA Waste Management
Division; Commissioner Robert Varney, New
Hampshire Department of Environmental
Services; Emily Hess, Director, New Hampshire
WasteCap; Muriel Lajoie, Manager of
Environmental Services, Monadnock Paper Mills;
Thomas Burack, WasteCap Steering Committee
and Esquire, Sheehan Phinnei Bass & Green.
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Pollution Prevention News - 8
January-February 1994
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SULIU VVMb I L
Pay as You Throw: Unit Pricing Reduces Solid Waste
C ommunities report that programs
that link the cost of household
garbage disposal with the amount of
garbage thrown away are encouraging
a reduction in household garbage.
Many communities have successfully
implemented some form of “unit
pricing” in order to offer an economic
incentive for recycling and reduction
in trash.
Traditionally, charges for waste
collection have been paid for through
property taxes or sewer bills, thus
effectively hiding the costs from the
user and offering no incentive for
environmentally responsible behavior.
Under this type of system, the charges
remain the same whether a family
throws out six bags of trash and never
recycles, or the family throws out two
bags and recycles one.
Unit pricing, sometimes called “pay
as you throw,” can help address these
problems. With this type of rate
system, each household pays for the
amount, by weight or volume, of trash
thrown away. This harnesses market
forces and sends a clear price signal to
encourage consumers to seek ways to
reduce household waste.
By providing a continuous economic
incentive for consumers to reduce and
reuse products and packaging, unit
pricing can help reduce the amount of
garbage consumers send to a landfill. It
further helps the environment by
sending signals up the waste stream to
manufacturers and designers, motivat-
ing them to develop products and
technologies that create less waste. All
told, unit pricing encourages a large-
scale reduction of the amount of
natural resources necessary to meet
our needs.
Three states—Minnesota, Washing-
ton and Wisconsin—require unit
pricing in local communities. Over
(Continued on next page)
Smithsonian to Exhibit Trash
by Jan Canterbury
Office of Solid Waste
T he Smithsonian Institution is
exhibiting trash. That’s right, in
the Spring of 1995, the Smithsonian
will launch a traveling museum
exhibit on Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW). The new exhibit, entitled “The
Rotten Truth (about Garbage),” offers
an engaging view of the problems of
too much trash.
The goal of The Rotten Truth (about
Garbage) is to help visitors evaluate
issues and pursue practical solutions
in daily life, in order to help reduce
our solid waste problems and to
conserve natural resources. The broad
view of trash spans both the history of
the world and the life-cycle of a
consumer product. The exhibit will
begin with stories about trash in the
natural environment back to the 1700s.
It then progresses to the present-day
journey of a consumer product from
the forest or a mountain to our homes,
and finally to the product’s disposal.
“The Rotten Truth (about Garbage)”
uses a variety of approaches to capture
viewers’ attention, and may include:
• An exhibit which focuses on life
cycle analysis and gives people a
sense of the environmental trade-
offs involved in the production of
various products;
• A “trash timeline,” spanning the
Bronze Age to the present;
• An interactive computer program
and quiz;
• Humorous displays, for example
taking a tongue-in-cheek look at
how a product journeys from raw
material to refuse.
EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and
Region 3 are providing partial funding
for the exhibition organized by the
Smithsonian Institution Traveling
Exhibition Service in cooperation with
the Association of Science-Technology
Centers. “The Rotten Truth (about
Garbage)” will travel around the
country to 12 museums or science
centers over a three year period. It is
expected that about three million
people will view the exhibit.
I ,
I ’
This image from The Rotten Truth (about Garbage) offers a
glimpse of the pride some communities have had in their landfills.
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January-February 1994
9 - Pollution Prevention News
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SOLID WASTE
How to Get the Most Out of Technical Assistance
by Janice Johnson
Office of Solid Waste
T echnical assistance is a valuable
tool for pollution prevention, and
is most effective when offered through
existing business organizations. That
was the finding of a pollution preven-
tion pilot project funded by EPA’s
Office of Solid Waste (OSW).
In 1992, EPA awarded five grants to
state organizations with the goals of:
(1) characterizing industrial non-
Unit Pricing
(Continued from previous page)
1000 cities across the U.S., from
Perkasie, PA to Pasadena, CA success-
fully use some form of “pay as you
throw” garbage collection rates. In
addition to promoting the “Three Rs”
— Reduce, Reuse, Recycle — unit
pricing gives people a greater sense of
fairness and control over their waste-
related expenses.
Some communities have been
reluctant to try unit pricing due to the
fear of illegal dumping to avoid fees,
concern that administration may be
complex, and the need for a positive
cash flow for MSW programs. Commu-
nities that have faced these challenges
have found that they can be overcome
by public education, early planning
and an effective rate structure design.
To help communities solve their
MSW problems by implementing this
economic incentive approach to
source reduction and recycling, EPA
will publish a “Pay As You Throw”
guide in the Spring of 1994. The guide
is based on a unit pricing Roundtable
held in December 1992 in which a
dozen communities brainstormed the
benefits and barriers to unit pricing.
Additionally, OSW will sponsor unit
pricing workshops in 1994 to serve as
a catalyst for information exchange in
communities around the country.
For information on unit pricing,
contact Jan Canterbury at OSW at 202-
260-2349.
hazardous waste (INHW); (2) identify-
ing and implementing source reduction
and recycling technologies; and, (3)
developing markets for any recovered
products. INHW includes solid wastes
generated by manufacturing processes
and commercial operations that are not
otherwise defined as hazardous or
municipal waste. The projects are to be
completed by June 1994.
OSW held a meeting in November
with groups which had INHW pro-
grams to discuss the results of their
projects. The groups noted that they
were most successful in convincing
businesses to participate in pollution
prevention projects when they had a
prior connection with that business.
For example, the Illinois Hazardous
Waste Research and Information
Center (HWRIC) relied upon its
strong relationship with the American
Foundryman’s Society and the Illinois
Cast Metals Association in getting
foundries to participate in its pollu-
tion prevention programs. Another
asset for groups such as HWRIC is
their non-regulatory status.
The trade associations provided
HWRIC with background information,
assisted in locating interested found-
ries, and helped to disseminate
information to their members.
In another case, the University of
Tennessee’s Center for Industrial
Letter to Large
Quantity Generators
OSW’s Waste Minimization Branch
recently sent a letter from Adminis-
trator Browner to approximately
10,000 chief executives of large
quantity generators of hazardous
waste, reminding them of their
regulatory requirement to certify
that a waste minimization program
is in place. The Administrator’s
letter asked the CEOs to demon-
strate their leadership and commit-
Services (UT) worked with chambers
of commerce and solid waste control
authorities in 12 counties to convene
solid waste focus groups. The focus
groups allowed local business people
to share information on pollution
prevention and recycling options.
Participants also discussed their waste
streams in an attempt to find potential
markets. UT estimates that 36 tons per
day of solid waste could be reduced as
a result of the 12 focus groups estab-
lished so far.
Another example of the benefits of
utilizing existing relationships is
demonstrated by a program con-
ducted by the Northeast Industrial
Waste Exchange (NIWE), a listing
service that matches companies
holding unneeded commodities—
surplus materials, off-spec goods, or
manufacturing by-products—with
companies that can make use of those
materials. NIWE evaluated non-
hazardous waste streams of the iron
and steel foundry industry in order to
help companies market their wastes.
To increase participation in its project,
NIWE representatives contacted
NIWE board members, existing waste
exchange clients, and trade and
manufacturing associations.
For more information on the grants,
contact Janice Johnson at EPA at 202-
260-7559.
ment to pollution prevention by
making these waste minimization
plans public.
In the Spring of 1994, EPA will
publish a list of large quantity
generators that were required to
certify in 1991 that they had such a
program in place. The list will be
compiled using the 1991 data
because it is the most recent RCRA
data available.
For information, contact the
RCRA/Superfund Hotline at 1-800-
424-9346.
News from the Waste Minimization Branch
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Pollution Prevention News - 10
January-February 1994
DfE
- -
DfE Begins Metal Finishing Project
by Deborah Boger
Design for the Environment
E PA has begun a joint project with
the Industrial Technology Institute
and the Cleveland Advanced Manu-
facturing Program. This project is
funded as a Technology Reinvestment
Project, and its purpose is to develop
an integrated Energy, Environment,
and Manufacturing (EEM) assessment
methodology for certain sections of
the metalworking industry.
EPA’s Office of Research and
Development (ORD) and Design for
the Environment (DIE) program are
both participants in this project.
The EEM assessment methodology
is intended to be an auditing tool that
will allow businesses to conduct
energy, environment, and manufac tur-
ing assessments. Three separate tools
will be developed, each designed for a
slightly different audience and
purpose.
EEM Audit Tool
The first tool is the Integrated EEM
Assessment Protocol. To develop this
protocol, EPA, the Industrial Technol-
ogy Institute, and the Cleveland
Advanced Manufacturing Program
will review existing tools for manufac-
turing, environmental and energy
auditing; they will take the best
features of these tools and combine
them into a single, detailed, data
intensive assessment suitable for
sophisticated companies. The result-
ing information will be very specific
due to the detail of the assessment.
The second tool is a simplified
version of the Integrated EEM Assess-
ment Protocol. It is intended for
owners and managers of small busi-
nesses or companies that do not have
the resources to carry out a full
assessment. The tool will be simple
and easy to use, and it will take into
account the realities and constraints of
small businesses. The results will not
be as detailed as for the EEM Assess-
only general areas with potential for
major improvement.
The third tool is an EEM bench—
marking tool that will allow a com-
pany to see how it compares to its
competitors. The tool provides bench-
mark data on a variety of factors such
as energy costs per square foot, waste
generated per unit production, and
value added per worker. The project
will then generate a curve of industry
averages based on a survey of manu-
facturers, and it will allow a company
to compare itself to its competition.
Once the assessments have been
completed and businesses have
identified areas in which they need to
improve, ORD will fund research on
technologies that have the potential to
serve as alternatives in these areas and
will demonstrate the performance of
these technologies. ORD will concen-
trate its efforts on searching for broad
process alternatives for large segments
of the metal finishing, metal forming
and stamping, and screw machine
industries. The product will be useful
for companies that can afford entire
replacement technologies, as well as
companies that are just starting up.
DIE will concentrate its efforts in
evaluate the comparative, multi-media
risks of alternative chemicals, pro-
cesses, and technologies. The DIE
process begins with an evaluation of
specific steps in metal finishing
processes to target those of highest
risk. In order to do this, DfE will work
through the Industrial Technology
Institute to engage the metal finishing
industry as a partner in the project. A
metal finishing industry profile will
be developed which will provide
background information on the
industry and help select target areas.
Assessing Substitutes
Once a target for developing
alternatives has been selected, indus-
try and DIE will develop a Cleaner
Technology Substitutes Assessment
(CTSA). This assessment will evaluate
the comparative multi-media risk of
substitute chemicals, processes and
technologies. To the extent possible,
this work will incorporate data
developed by the ORD effort.
The CTSA is developed through a
process in which participants identify
alternatives and conduct an evalua-
tion. The evaluation will include
environmental risk, cost, and perfor-
mance information on each of the
alternatives. The resulting document
is intended to be widely distributed
among metal finishers to enable them
to make environmentally informed
business decisions. Data collection
and outreach efforts will complement
other aspects of the program. The
Industrial Technology Institute will
manage the project and coordinate the
sharing of information and outreach
systems.
The benefits of this project to
industry are twofold: 1) industry will
receive information on the environ-
mental risk trade-offs of identified
alternatives, and 2) industry will have
a methodology for evaluating the
comparative, multi-media risk of
alternatives in other areas.
For more information, contact Brian
Sweeney at EPA at 202-260-0720.
Metal plating facilities will benefit from the new
EEM assessment methodology.
ment Protocol; rather, they will show
the metal finishing industry. DfE will
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January-February 1994
11 - Pollution Prevention News
DfE Accounting and Capital Budgeting
Project Takes Major Step Forward
by Marty Spitzer
EPA Pollution Prevention Division
A dvoca tes of pollution prevention
have long recognized that pollu-
tion prevention can make good
economic sense. EPA’s Design for the
Environment Program (DfE) has begun
to develop partnerships with the
financial community to integrate
environmental thinking and pollution
prevention into management account-
ing, project evaluations (capital
budgeting), lending, and insurance/
risk management. When these commu-
nities understand the benefits of
pollution prevention, they can become
a powerful force to strengthen the
economy and protect the environment.
In December, the Accounting and
Capital Budgeting for Environmental
Costs Project reached its first major
milestone. Building on more than a
year of planning, EPA and its partners
in the business, accounting and
engineering community held the first-
ever national workshop on integrating
environmental costs into management
accounting and capital budgeting
practices. The workshop was designed
to stimulate a cross-disciplinary
dialogue, identify and discuss issues
and needs, and most importantly,
develop a “stakeholder’s” Action
Agenda. The Action Agenda, which
will be widely distributed beginning
in April, is the culmination of the
agenda-setting phase of EPA’s project.
Action Agenda Underway
Developed with the input of
approximately 90 national and inter-
national experts, the Action Agenda
will identify priority needs and
actions for each of the major stake-
holder groups. All of the recommen-
dations are intended to build on
efforts already underway and to
maximize cooperative partnerships
that encourage rather than regulate
businesses. The Agenda will include
recommendations for business ac-
counting, finance, engineering and
environment staffs, the trade and
professional societies who represent
and educate these professionals, as
well as government and academia.
As EPA begins implementing those
parts of the Action Agenda that
government is best suited to address
(phase II of the project), the Agency
will be looking to all of these groups to
pick up those pieces of the Agenda that
they can best address. If everyone takes
on a portion of the Agenda, we will
build on our strengths and expertise
and reach our common goals —
environmental protection and a
strengthened economy. With workshop
co-sponsors including the Business
Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber Com-
merce, the American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants, the
Institute of Management Accountants,
AACE Ii ternational (an association for
Total Cost Management), many
opportunities lie ahead.
For updates on EPA’s Accounting
project or other DfE projects, informa-
tion on tools, techniques, case studies,
recent publications and reports avail-
able from EPA and other organiza-
tions, or to join EPA’s Environmental
Network for Managerial Accounting
and Capital Budgeting, please contact
EPA’s Pollution Prevention Informa-
tion Clearinghouse at (202) 260-1023.
Anyone interested in helping
implement the Action Agenda and
exploring opportunities to contribute
should call EPA at (202) 260-4164.
The financial community
can become a powerful
force to strengthen the
economy and protect the
environment.
Accounting for
Pollution Prevention
Whether a business manager is de-
ciding what equipment to buy, try-
ing to understand what it costs to
produce a product, or setting up
performance and compensation sys-
te s, environmental costs should
be part of the calculation.
Managers who do not know what
they are spending on the environ-
ment cannot easily reduce those
costs. Improving accounting prac-
tices so that they identify and allo-
cate environmental costs to the
products and processes responsible
for them is an essential step in re-
ducing those costs. Similarly, when
managers, financial analysts, or
project engineers do not fully con-
sider environmental costs in deci-
sions on what products to produce
or new equipment to buy, they will
inevitably miss opportunities to re-
duce costs and environmental im-
pacts. Like other aspects of pollu-
tion prevention, assembling a cross-
functional team is an excellent way
to address these issues.
The level of detail for any ac-
counting or capital budgeting sys-
tem will depend on the needs of the
company and the complexity of the
project at hand. For example,
projects addressing “low-hanging
fruit” — easy to do, low cost, pre-
vention measures — may only need
simple payback analysis to justify
the expenditures. As projects in-
crease in sophistication and cost,
more elaborate analyses are needed
to ensure that cleaner technologies
can be evaluated fairly against end-
of-pipe alternatives. At a minimum,
a project evaluation should identify
all direct and indirect costs, allocate
them to the processes or products
responsible for them, qualitatively
assess reductions in liabilities and
other intangibles, and use appro-
priate financial indicators and time
horizons to ensure that pollution
prevention investments receive a
fair hearing.
DfE
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Pollution Prevention News - 12
January-February 1994
Calendar
Title
Project ROSE Used Oil
Management Conference
Global Climate Change: Science,
Policy and Mitigation Strategies
Federal Environmental Restoration
and Waste Minimizaton Conference
First International Congress
on Liquid Waste Recycling
32nd Annual International
Solid Waste Exposition
Sponsor
Project Rose
(Recycled Oil Saves Energy)
Air & Waste Management
Association
Hazardous Materials Control
Resources Institute
National Oil Recyclers
Association
Solid Waste Association
of North America
Date/Location
March 13-15
Birmingham, AL
April 5-8
Phoenix, AZ
April 25-29
New Orleans, LA
May 23-27
San Francisco, CA
Aug. 1-4
San Antonio, TX
Telephone
205-348-4878
412-232-3444
301-251-1900
301-738-2330 (fax)
216-791-7316
301-585-2898
Conference to Showcase
Radiation Technology
Fueled by the need to reduce
volatile organic compound emis-
sions, ultraviolet (UV) and electron
beam (EB) curing technology has
been growing rapidly. New tech-
nology applications will be high-
lighted at the RadTech '94 UV/EB
Conference and Exhibition, May 1-5,
in Orlando, Florida, sponsored by
RadTech International North
America, the association for the
advancement of UV/EB technology.
For more information, contact
Anita Sapp at RadTech International,
tel: 708-480-9576, fax: 708-480-9282.
1994 Red Clay
Conference
The University of Georgia Law
School in Athens is sponsoring the
1994 Red Clay Conference in April.
The student-organized conference
will focus on pollution prevention
and include workshops on energy
efficiency, poverty and the environ-
ment, endangered species protec-
tion, growth control strategies,
RCRA developments, prosecution of
environmental citizen suits, and
strategies toward sustainability.
For final dates and a conference
brochure, contact the law school at
706-542-5182.
DOE Pollution
Prevention Conference
The Department of Energy is spon-
soring its tenth Pollution Prevention
Conference, May 3-5 in Denver, CO.
The Conference will focus on creat-
ing policies within government and
industry that encourage pollution
prevention initiatives and innova-
tion, and improved communications
across levels of government.
To present a paper or attend the
conference, contact Linda Jo
McDonald at 615-435-3415 or Linda
Malinauskas at 615-435-3507. For
exhibits, contact Janet Ventola at
301-601-5381.
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