United States	Office of Pollution Prevention	Nov/Dec1990
Environmental Protection	Washington, DC 20460
Agency
syEPA
Prevention
News
Inside:
Reports from
EPA
1990 Success
Stories
Aiming
for Zero
2
3
4
5	Legislation
6
8
Surveys;
Looking Ahead
1991
Calendar
Small Business
Awards
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Pollution f'revention News
U.S. EPA
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Editorial Staff:
Priscilla Flattery, Editor
Suzanne Harris
Judith K. Rosenthal
Pollution Prevention Legislation Passed
¦
Late in October, Congress passed the
Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, calling
pollution prevention a "national objective"
and declaring that "source reduction is
fundamentally different and more desirable
than waste management and pollution
control." The Act establishes the pollution
prevention hierarchy as national policy,
stating that pollution should be prevented or
reduced at the source wherever feasible,
while pollution that cannot be prevented
should be recycled in an environmentally
safe manner. In the absence of feasible
prevention or recycling opportunities,
pollution should be treated; disposal or
other release into the environment should be
used as the last resort.
Among other provisions, the Pollution
Prevention Act directs EPA to facilitate the
adoption of source reduction techniques by
businesses and other federal agencies, to
establish standard methods of measurement
for source reduction, to review regulations
to determine their effect on source reduc-
tion, and to investigate opportunities to use
federal procurement to encourage source
reduction. The Act also establishes an $8
million state grant program to promote
source reduction by businesses, with a 50
percent state match requirement.
Source reduction is defined in the law to
mean any practice which reduces the
amount of any hazardous substance,
pollutant, or contaminant entering any
waste stream or otherwise released into the
environment (including fugitive emissions)
prior to recycling, treatment or disposal; and
continued on page 5
Editor's Corner
Where We've Been, What's Ahead
John Atcheson
Office of Pollution Prevention,
U.S. EPA
Twenty years ago, as the nation set about
establishing the Environmental Protection
Agency, there was widespread agreement
on what the environmental agenda should
be. There was a suite of obvious and acute
problems that needed to bo addressed,
including discharges of untreated municipal
and industrial wastes, releases of millions of
tons of particulates and sulfur into the
atmosphere unconstrained by any treatment,
and automobiles that emitted ten times more
pollution per mile of travel than today's
cars.
A decade later, EPA had programs in
place which were beginning to deal with
these obvious threats. At the same time,
improved methods of detection and better
toxicological capabilities were showing
toxics to be very nearly ubiquitous. Each
new scientific and technological advance-
ment seemed only to lengthen the environ-
mental agenda. Although subtle or invis-
ible, the concerns of the 1980s were no less
serious than the visible threats of the 1970s.
Risk assessment and risk management were
developed as tools to help allocate resources
to respond to the many threats and needs for
attention.
What lies ahead? The next twenty years
are likely to present environmental chal-
lenges radically different from the last
twenty, for several reasons. First, we are
continued on page 8
Printed on Recycled Paper

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Pollution Prevention News - 2
November/December 1990
Reports from EPA
Three Model
Communities Planned
As part of a cooperative agreement
between EPA and the Department of
Defense signed last April to promote the
environmental cleanup of military
facilities along the Chesapeake Bay,
three facilities in the Norfolk, VA area
have been selected to participate in a
joint initiative to develop a multi-media
pollution prevention "model commu-
nity" plan. Langley Air Force Base, Fort
Eustis (Army), and Norfolk Naval Base
will participate in the three to five-year
project that will address all wastes that
enter the air, land, and water.
The plan will include all sectors of the
base community — from using alterna-
tive fuels in fleet vehicles to enhancing
existing recycling programs. The project
will give EPA and DOD the opportunity
to work together as federal agencies to
identify and implement multi-media
prevention possibilities, and to transfer
them to other federal facilities as well as
states and local communities.
The project is intended to comple-
ment DOD's Pollution Prevention
Directive of July 1989, which directed
the full incorporation of pollution
prevention concepts into DOD activities.
The project also forms part of a larger
EPA initiative to fund pollution preven-
tion approaches for other model com-
munity programs, including university-
based programs at the Tufts University
Center of Environmental Management
and the Center for Hazardous Materials
Research at University of Pittsburgh;
and regional programs for the Great
Lakes and the Milwaukee River Basin.
For more information, contact Jim
Edward at EPA, 202-245-4164.
Displays and presentations at EPA's 20th
Anniversary Open House
ORD
Guidance
Manuals
Completed
EPA's Risk Reduc-
tion Engineering
Laboratory and the
Center for Environ-
mental Research
Information have
published seven
pollution prevention
guidance manuals,
developed in cooperation with the
California Department of Health Services.
The manuals review operational technolo-
gies, identify techniques that facilitate
waste reduction, and provide a set of self-
audit checklists to assist in setting up a
waste reduction program. The manuals
supplement EPA's generic waste reduc-
tion manual, Waste Minimization Opportu-
nity Assessment Manual.
To order any of the following manu-
als, call the Pollution Prevention Infor-
mation Clearinghouse at 800-242-9346 or
202-382-3000.
•	Pesticide Formulating Industry
(EPA/625/7-90/004)
•	Paint Manufacturing Industry
(EPA/625/7-90/005)
•	Fabricated Metal Products Indus-
try (EPA/625/7-90/006)
•	Printed Circuit Board Manufactur-
ing Industry (EPA/625/7-90/007)
•	Commercial Printing Industry
(EPA/625/7-90/008)
•	Selected Hospital Waste Streams
(EPA/625/7-90/009)
•	Research and Educational Institu-
tions (EPA/625/7-90/010).
Another 11 manuals are scheduled
for publication in 1991 on the following
topics: photographic laboratories;
fiberglass reinforced and composite
plastics; marine maintenance and repair;
pharmaceutical preparation; auto body
repair; automotive shops and repair;
thermal metal working; building
construction and trade; non-agricultural
pesticide use; precious metal reclama-
tion; and mechanical equipment repair.
EPA Administrators, past and present, participate in a panel discussion on
EPA's 20th Anniversary, December3,1990. From left to right, William Reilly,
Lee Thomas, Cus Speth, Julie Belaga, Russell Train and William Ruckelshatis.
Green Lights
As a first step in encourging energy
productivity and pollution prevention,
EPA has initiated the "Green Lights"
program, an aggressive, non-regulatory
effort to reach corporate decision-
makers with credible information on
new lighting system technologies and
the economic and environmental
benefits of efficient lighting. Current
projections indicate that improved
technologies already on the market can
slash the electricity used for lighting by
more than half. "Green lighting" costs
less over its life-cycle, offers better
quality lighting, and makes a significant
dent in pollution and global warming.
During the fall, EPA made over 100
presentations on Green Lights to
corporate audiences and found substan-
tial willingness on the part of industry to
commit to investments in cost-effective
lighting technology. In 1991, EPA will
be extending its presentations to over
200 additional corporations and will
begin "mass marketing" Green Lights to
businesses, institutions, and consumers
via paid advertising, major media
events, and consumer education.
As part of the program, EPA also will
be establishing a product testing and
verification procedure, compiling a
database of qualified contractors, and
conducting other activities to assist in
retrofitting and planning for efficient
lighting. For further information,
contact Bob Kwartin, Global Change
Division, 202-382-4992.
Pollution I

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November/December 1990
3 - Pollution Prevention News
1990 Success Stories
Dow Chemical's WRAP Winners	From To:
Each year Dow Chemical Company
recognizes outstanding waste
reduction projects at each of its U.S.
divisions under the WRAP program
(Waste Reduction Always Pays). This
year's six Outstanding Achievement
Awards represent about $7 million of
capital investment. Two award winners
are described here:
Dow^ Louisiana Division in
Plaquemine, LA recently installed a barge
vent recovery system that captures
hydrocarbon vapors released when liquid
hydrocarbon products are loaded into
low pressure barges. The hydrocarbons
are separated from nitrogen vapors and
returned to the production process for
reuse. The vapor recovery unit operates
at a recovery rate greater than 98 percent,
translating into more than 100,000 pounds
of annual hydrocarbon emissions that no
longer go into the atmosphere and a
lowered potential personnel exposure to
the hydrocarbon vapors.
Chlorine Phased Out
at Madison Paper
Madison Paper Industries in Maine
has phased out use of chlorine in its
industrial processes. The chlorine had
been used to purify water from the
Kennebec River for use in pulp and paper
manufacturing. According to CEO Jack E.
Chinn, "Our engineers determined that
we could purify the water well enough
for our use by using sodium hypochlorite,
which can be described as industrial
strength Clorox."
Although sodium hypochlorite still
poses some risk to employees at the mill,
it represents a marked improvement in
terms of both worker safety and the
environment over the liquid and gaseous
forms of pure chlorine. Chlorine was
given top priority for replacement
because it was the most toxic material
used in the company's operations. MPI is
now in the process of substituting non-
caustic cleaners for those containing
potassium hydroxide. Contact: Hank
Magnuson at 207-696-3307.
Employees at the Chlorinated
Ethane Products Department in Texas
modified the plant's production process
to eliminate the use of excess ethylene,
which contaminated a hydrogen
chloride stream during production.
Through the use of some idle equip-
ment, the plant used the pure hydrogen
chloride to produce a high quality
hydrochloric acid for other Dow facili-
ties to use. The plant also improved the
separation of a by-product vinylidene
chloride. The combined waste reduction
efforts resulted in $2.6 million in annual
savings. Contact: Dan Fellner at 517-636-
5765.
Discarded toilets are recycled into roadbase
on Calle Real, Santa Barbara
At McDonald's. . .
Big Macs and McDLTs no longer
come in foam "clam-shells," thanks
to the work of a joint task force formed
by the McDonald's Corporation and the
Environmental Defense Fund.
McDonald's has announced it is phasing
out all foam packaging in its 11,400
restaurants, beginning with the sand-
wich containers that account for nearly
75 percent of its foam use.
"We've been testing packaging
options, and we're now confident we
have found some good alternatives that
address our customers' [environmental]
concerns while maintaining our strict
quality standards," said Ed Rensi,
president of McDonald's USA.
to
Roadbase in Santa
Barbara
Government officials in Santa Barbara
are happy to tell you that their road
system is going down the toilet.
To encourage water conservation, the
city and some surrounding jurisdictions
launched a creative rebate program. The
city would just about buy you a water-
saving, low-flow toilet (rebating $80 of
the $85 cost) if you would pay to have it
installed.
For a while, area residents exchanged
200 to 300 toilets each month under the
program, but a drastic increase in the
water rate in May resulted in exchanges
of 600 to 2,600 toilets per month — with
entire apartment buildings and hotels
converting all at once.
There was just one problem: the
county landfill was being inundated
with old toilets. Unlike glass, porcelain
cannot be melted down. County
officials hit on the idea of grinding up
the toilets and using them for roadbase,
the rocky layer that goes under the
concrete or asphalt when a road is built.
After approaching several grinding
companies, County staff found S.P.
Milling (a division of Beazer West) and
continued on page 4
"The company will continue to test
for the best alternatives for the remain-
ing packaging, and will phase them into
our restaurants as they become avail-
able," added Jim Cantalupo, president
of McDonald's International.
In phasing out the foam clamshells,
McDonald's joins rival fast-food chains
Wendy's and Burger King, which
already use other materials to wrap their
sandwiches. The Hardees chain, which
has purchased Roy Rogers, continues to
use foam clamshells.
The EDF-McDonald's joint task force
is working on other efforts in source
reduction, reuse, recycling and
composting for the restaurants.

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Pollution Prevention News - 4
November/December J 990
Aiming for Zero
Monsanto
"It is our pledge to reduce all toxic and hazardous releases
and emissions, working toward an ultimate goal of zero
effect. It may take time, but we will not be satisfied with
anything else."
So begins the first of seven pledges that comprise the
Monsanto Pledge announced by Monsanto CEO Dick
Mahoney earlier this year. Pledge No. 7 commits the com-
pany to search for technologies that will reduce or eliminate
waste, with top priority being given to not generating waste
in the first place. Other pledges — including ones relating to
sustainable agriculture, ground-water safety, and halting
deforestation — define a vision of "corporate environmental-
ism" that goes beyond compliance with regulatory standards
to embrace a notion of active stewardship of environmental
resources.
Corporate executive vice president Nicholas Reding noted
in a recent speech that there is nothing simple about such a
shift in corporate culture, and that the transition period is
often difficult and replete with inconsistencies. Corporate
"Ultimately, environmental stewardship means
you will have more efficient processes, vastly
reduced disposal costs, and broader community
support."
— Nicholas Reding, Monsanto
environmentalism and voluntary initiatives cost money,
Reding notes, "and our business managers logically ask why
they should be non-competitive — when they are already in
compliance."
Reding's response: "If you're in business for the long term,
corporate environmentalism makes excellent business sense.
Ultimately, [it] means you will have more efficient processes,
vastly reduced disposal costs, and broader community
support." In 1988, Monsanto voluntarily announced a goal to
reduce its toxic air emissions by 90 percent by the end of 1992.
Earlier this year, Monsanto's chemical company reassigned 50
research staff to work strictly upon waste elimination,
elevating the status of such research within the company's
corporate culture.
Numerous Monsanto projects are showing the fruits of the
company's approach. The Marshalltown, Iowa facility of
Monsanto's Fisher Controls International received one of five
1990 Iowa Energy Leadership Awards for two innovations —
regular mopping of the floors to reduce use of waste oil
absorbents and installation of a coolant filtration system
which helped reduce the disposal of waste coolants by 90
percent. Fisher set a zero discharge goal in 1988, and has
since reduced process water consumption by 50 percent, non-
hazardous waste by 50 percent, and hazardous waste by 90
percent. By 1992, the Marshalltown plant expects to eliminate
all hazardous wastes, which previously have been landfilled.
General Dynamics
Zero emissions has been the policy and long-term goal at
General Dynamics' nine divisions and several subsidiaries since
1984. The initial aim was to eliminate manifested waste from
each General Dynamics facility. Since then, General Dynamics
has recorded a reduction of over 160 million pounds of hazard-
ous waste while sales increased from $7.3 billion to $9.5 billion.
The company produces defense systems and owns businesses
in construction, aviation, and coal mining.
At the company's Fort Worth Division, a 70 percent
reduction in hazardous waste was achieved between 1985
and 1990. An example of a successfully implemented project
is the use of new sorbent materials. Hydrocarbon and oil
residues, drips, leaks, and spills encountered during machin-
ing and metal working operations are controlled using
organic materials that have a much higher sorptive capacity.
Housekeeping is imporved and labor is reduced, while
wastes can be incorporated as industrial furnace fuels. Cost
savings are projected to run $140,000 annually.
Fort Worth's Environmental Resources Management Task
Group reconvened in 1989 to establish a new five-year air,
water, and waste emissions reduction plan. Several projects
currently being implemented are expected to result in 95-
100% emissions reductions. They include:
•	Aluminum ion vapor deposition — replacing
cadmium plating used for corrosion protection of steel;
•	Vapor degreaser replacement — replacing
trichloroethylene vapor degreasers with hot aqueous
immersion cleaners;
•	Chromium process solution recycle — using
electrodialysis and ion exchange, chromium from metal
finishing solutions and associated rinsewaters is
recovered and recycled, and rinsewaters are reused;
•	Low VOC general purpose cleaner — this patent-
pending cleaner, when combined with a waste management
system, replaces a CFC 113-hydrocarbon blend,
resulting in 100% reduction of CFC 113 emissions
and over 60% reduction in VOC emissions.
For more information, contact Bill Rosenthal, 817-777-6919.
Santa Barbara
continued from page 3
conducted a trial run. "It turns out it makes excellent
roadbase," said Wilson Hubbell, manager of solid waste
operations for the Santa Barbara County Public Works
Department.
The city and county have scored a pollution prevention
double-play: the city has achieved its desired 45 percent
reduction in water use, while the toilets are finding a useful
home under roads, instead of inside a landfill.

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November/December 1990
5 - Pollution Prevention News
Legislation
At Last, a New Clean Air Act
The extensive revisions of the nation's air pollution law
passed in the closing days of the 101st Congress have
produced the most comprehensive environmental statute
ever enacted. Running at about 750 pages, the new Clean Air
Act incorporates innovative strategies and a preventive
approach to tackle some of the most serious air pollution
problems, including acid rain, urban smog, stratospheric
ozone depletion, and toxic air emissions.
Key provisions of the Amendments include:
Reduced emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides,
the components of acid rain. By 2,000, the Act will result in a
permanent 10 million ton reduction in S02 emissions from
1980 levels. Electric utilities, whose burning of fossil fuels
produces most of the SO2 emissions, will be allowed to buy
and sell credits to release certain amounts of SO2.
Tighter pollution standards for emissions from automobiles and
trucks. Beginning in model year 1994, tailpipe emissions of
hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides will be
reduced.
Improved fuel quality. The Act's requirements include sale
of cleaner burning reformulated gasoline in the most smog-
ridden cities beginning in 1995.
Phase-out of substances that deplete stratospheric ozone.
Production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons will be
phased out beginning in two
years, and EPA will be required
to ban the use of unsafe substi-
tutes.
Reduced emissions of toxic air
pollutants. EPA will be required
to prepare a list of industries that
emit any of 189 designated
pollutants — many of them
carcinogens, mutagens, or
reproductive toxins — in signifi-
cant amounts. Emissions
standards must be issued for
each industry category based on
the "Maximum Achievable
Control Technology" (MACT) for that industry.
"The new provisions will encourage source reduction and
changes in production processes," said David Doniger, a
lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Often
these measures will be less expensive and more effective than
simply using 'add-on' pollution controls." Utilities are
expected to substitute low sulfur coal and natural gas for
current energy sources, and many other industries are likely
to make changes in their products or processes to comply
with the MACT emission standards.
An important characteristic of the Act is that it relies more
on incentives and less on command-and-control strategies
than earlier legislation. The system of tradable allowances for
S02 emissions, for example, gives electric utilities an incentive
to go beyond minimum federal standards. "There are
Oil Spill Legislation
In early August, Congress passed a comprehensive oil
spill law that will require double hulls on all new oil
tankers and boost pollution liability eightfold for large
vessels. Legislative action was prompted both by the
frequency of oil spills in the last two years and the oil
industry's responses to the spills, particularly in the case
of the Exxon Valdez disaster. The double-hull provisions
of the new law were opposed by shippers, but the Na-
tional Transportation Safety Board estimates that the
Exxon Valdez spill would have been almost negli-
gible if the ship had had a double bottom. Under the Act,
single-hull tankers will be phased out by 2010. Many
tankers are currently reaching the end of their design life
and the U.S. law should have a marked effect on a new
generation of tanker construction. Finland is currently
the only other country with a national policy favoring
double hulls.
incentives throughout the bill for companies to prevent
pollution and receive credit for being in compliance," said
Tim Mohin of EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards.
The new law will bring under EPA's authority thousands
of businesses that have never before been subject to govern-
ment restrictions, including dry cleaners, printing shops, and
bakeries. Generators of pollution will be required to obtain
operating permits like those required by other environmental
programs. The permits will consolidate in one document all
of the federal and state air pollution control requirements that
apply to a particular generator.
The Act also requires new research initiatives including
development of technologies and strategies for air pollution
prevention from stationary and area sources and studies of
alternative fuels.
Pollution Prevention Act
from page 1
which reduces the hazards to public health and the environ-
ment associated with the release of such substances, pollut-
ants, or contaminants.
Under the Act, facilities required to report releases to EPA
for the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) must also now provide
information on pollution prevention and recycling, including
the quantities of each toxic chemical entering the waste
stream and the percentage change from the previous year, the
quantities recycled and percentage change from the previous
year, source reduction practices, and changes in production
from the previous year.
EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention will be providing
supplemental guidance concerning pollution prevention
grants for states that incorporate the new Act's requirements.
Grants already awarded are not affected by the legislation.
AMOCO
Amoco test markets reformulated
gasoline.

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Pollution Prevention News - 6
November/December 1990
Consumer Environmental Trend Continuing
But consumer behavior and knowledge often fail to match concern
A survey conducted this past summer
by the Roper Organization shows that
Americans are more concerned than
ever about the environment. At the
same time, the survey, sponsored by
Johnson and Johnson adds to the
evidence that most Americans know
very little about effective ways of
preventing pollution and conserving
energy. This suggests that the public
may be receptive to learning more, but
the environmental message must be
made clearer.
The Roper survey shows, for ex-
ample, that Americans think the four
biggest contributors to the solid
wastestream are: disposable diapers,
plastic packaging, plastic bottles, and
aerosol containers. In fact, these amount
to about 10 percent of the material in
U.S. landfills. Conversely, the survey
shows that Americans think that four of
the smallest contributors to solid waste
are wastepaper, paper plates and
napkins, food scraps, and yard waste,
which in fact make up more than 46
percent of the solid wastestream.
In another study conducted in March,
the National Energy Education Develop-
ment Project in Reston, Va. surveyed
25/)00 students and found that two-
thirds were unaware that heating and
cooling homes uses more energy than
lighting, refrigeration, and heating
water. Other recent reports say that
most people tend to overestimate the
energy savings of immediate actions,
such as turning off lights, and underesti-
mate the value of longer-term actions,
such as insulating, weatherstripping,
and investing in energy-saving compact
fluorescent bulbs.
According to Roper, the proportion of
Americans who say that major efforts
are needed to improve the environment
has gone from 56 percent in 1987 to 78
percent in 1990, the largest increase in
concern by far for any of 12 national
problems surveyed.
A nationwide study of actual con-
sumer purchasing behavior released in
October by Abt Associates in Cam-
bridge, MA found that 51 percent of
Americans 18 or older had made a
decision to purchase or boycott a
product based on environmental
concerns in the previous six months.
Again, however, consumers may be
relying on questionable or partial
information. Many participants re-
ported making purchases based on
claims of biodegradability or the lack of
aerosol content in the products; few
participants were aware of energy
efficiency as an environmental reason
for purchasing decisions.
Looking Ahead . . .
Pledges, plans, and programs for source reductions in the coming years
+ Plans for voluntary reductions
in toxic air emissions were
announced in September
following 10 months of negotiations
between EPA and nine major compa-
nies. The reductions, totaling almost 83
percent of recent emission levels or
nearly 9.5 million pounds annually, are
expected to be fully implemented by
December 1993. Participating companies
are: BASF, Dow Chemical, Exxon,
General Electric, Goodyear, Occidental,
Reichhold, Texaco, and Texas Petro-
chemical. The reductions cover 40
plants in 14 states, and address six
chemicals: butadiene, ethylene oxide,
carbon tetrachloride, methylene chlo-
ride, chloroform, and ethylene dichlo-
ride. For more information, contact
Dave Ryan at 202-382-2981 or James
Weigold at 919-541-5642.
Lin a Pollution Prevention Partner-
ship formed in June, industry,
government, and environmental-
ists in Colorado are targeting ways to
reduce and eliminate trichloroethane, an
industrial cleaning solvent that is a
suspected carcinogen and that has been
linked to ozone depletion. The partner-
ship includes EPA Region 8, the Colorado
Department of Health, Adolph Coors Co.,
Martin Marietta Corp., Hewlett-Packard
Co., Public Service Company of Colorado,
the Colorado Public Interest Research
Group, and the League of Women Voters.
The American Institute of
Architects is developing an
Environmental Resource Guide to
help its 55,000 members evaluate the
environmental consequences of their
design decisions. "Every choice an
architect makes, from specifying building
materials to window placement, affects
the environment," according to Robert
Berkebile, director of the project. In-
tended as a comprehensive, easy-to-use
reference manual for architects, engineers,
and other building and design profession-
als, the guide will contain information on
site issues, energy conservation, and
materials included in the 16 Construction
Specification Institute categories. The
entire guide is expected to take several
years to complete. Contact Doug
Greenwood, 202-626-7463.
As recycling programs take off
around the country, recycling
y* goals set by EPA and other
organizations appear more likely to be
achieved. EPA's municipal solid waste
strategy targets 25 percent of municipal
solid waste for recycling and reduction by
1992. In a draft update to the Agenda for
Action, EPA has proposed a 40 percent
recycling goal by 1996 and a goal of 10
percent source reduction by 2000. EPA's
latest study of the municipal waste stream
shows that recycling stood at 13 percent
in 1988, up from 10 percent in 1986. Cities
like Seattle, WA are setting the standard
for recycling. Seattle reports an overall
municipal solid waste recycling rate of 36
percent (residential plus commercial),
according to a recent study by the
Institute for Local Self-Reliance entitled
Beyond 40 Percent. Earlier this year, the
American Paper Institute set a goal for the
paper industry of achieving a 40 percent
recycling rate by 1995.

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November/December 1990	7 - Pollution Prevention News
——	-	—	7—|	.. ¦ —	—
Calendar of Events
Title
Sponsor
Date/Location
Contact
Haz. Waste Management &
Pollution Prevention Course
Applied Environmental
Technologies Corp.
Jan. 9-10/Rochester, NY
Feb. 6-7/Grand Rapids, MI
Mar. 6-7/Burlington, MA
Kimberly Moore
800-926-1AET
Future Directions for
Pollution Prevention R&D
Engineering Foundation,
AIChE
Jan. 27- Feb. 1
Santa Barbara, CA
Charles Freiman
212-705-7835
AESF/EPA Environmental
Control Conference
American Electroplaters &
Surface Finishers, EPA
Jan. 28-Feb. 1
Orlando, FL
AESF Educ. Serv.
407-281-6441
Intl. Seminar on Plastic Waste
Minimization/Source Reduction
Ansum Enterprises
Jan. 28-30
Deerfield Beach, FL
S.P. Wolsky
407-391-3544
First Annual Green
Marketing Summit
Advertising Age, Good
Housekeeping, GSD&M Advert.
Jan. 29
New York, NY
Maureen Macke
312-245-9011
CERMA National Symposia
(Center for Earth Resource
Management Applications)
Recycled Glass:
Recycled Paper
Feb. 21-22/Los Angeles, CA
Apr. 23-24/St. Louis, MO
Ellen Kopelman
703-941-4490
Hazardous & Solid Waste
Minimization Course
Government Institutes, Inc.
Feb. 21-22/Orlando, FL
May 2-3/Monterey, CA
Terri Green
301-251-9250
Pollution Prevention
Strategies
American Ecology Services
Inc./Geraghty & Miller
Feb. 26-27/Seattle, WA
May 9-10/Houston, TX
Richard Miller
212-371-1620
Poll. Prevention thru Waste
Minimization, Recycling, Reuse
Air & Waste Management
Assn.
Feb. 27-Mar. 1
Dallas, TX
Debbie Riechert
412-232-3444
Designing & Implementing a
Recycling Program (course)
American Public Works Assn.
Educational Foundation
Mar. 11-12/Houston, TX
Mar. 14-15/Santa Clara, CA
Ron Sears
312-667-2200x534
1991 Env. Technology
Expo & Conference
Interface Group
Mar. 13-15
Las Vegas, NV
Will Cowen
617-449-6600
Global Pollution
Prevention '91
Chemical Manufacturers' Assn.,
EPA, Dept. of Energy, others
April 3-5
Washington, D.C.
Herb Quinn
703-761-6160
Environmental Technology
Exposition
Pollution Engineering
Magazine
April 8-11
Chicago, IL
Jill Vanderlin
708-390-2427
10th Annual New England
Resource Recovery Conf/Expo
New Hampshire Resource
Recovery Assn.
June 4-7
Springfield, MA
Theresa Walker
603-224-6996
Coastal and Ocean
Management: 7th Symposium
Coastal Zone Fdn.,
NOAA, others
July 8-12
Long Beach, CA
Orville Magoon
707-987-0114
Forum on Integrated
Municipal Waste Mngmnt.
ASTSWMO
July 15-17
Las Vegas, NV
Kerry Callahan
202-624-5828
Haz. Waste Minimization
Technology Exhibit
City of Los Angeles
July 31-Aug. 1
Los Angeles, CA
Debbi Dodson
916-448-1198

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Pollution Prevention News - 8
November/December 1990
Editor's Corner from\ page 1
learning that the biophysical systems we
depend on to support and sustain us are
extraordinarily fragile and exquisitely
complex. For example: CFCs, present in
the atmosphere at less than one part per
billion have caused a hole in the ozone
layer above the Antarctic the size of
North America. We are detecting
pesticides in the Great Lakes which have
never been used in the United States or
Canada. The hydrologic cycle ties our
global commons — the air, the land, the
sea — together in a planetary web of
unimaginable detail.
Second, the scale of human impact on
the world and the pace of change is
unprecedented in human history.
Human beings have become as influen-
tial on the earth's biophysical systems as
any of the forces we call nature.
Worldwide, for example, we are
destroying 100,000 square kilometers of
rain forest each year. E.O. Wilson
estimates that this in turn results in the
loss of 4000 to 6000 species per year. To
paraphrase a remark of this noted
scientist; It is as if we were piloting a
plane and periodically reaching down to
toss out some piece or part, with no idea
what that part may do, or how that part
may contribute to the function of flying.
The environmental risks that loom
over the next decades — global climate
change, sea level rise, species and habitat
losses — are different in magnitude,
complexity, and irreversability than
anything we have faced until now. So
too, the "triage" approach that we have
-		Llj:	!
used until now in dealing with specific
environmental ills — from contaminated
rivers to urban smog — may be neither
feasible nor sane in the face of environ-
mental threats to the entire planet.
From a policy perspective, the next
twenty years will thus require a fairly
fundamental shift in our approach —
from the acute to the systemic, from local
to global, from exploitation to steward-
ship, from reaction to proaction. We can-
not afford to continue orienting our funds
and efforts towards trying to mitigate the
consequences of our mistakes; we must
start preventing the mistakes.
We are encouraged by the progress
that has been made over the last 20 years;
by the speed with which pollution
prevention has been taking hold just in
the last year or two (see inside for some
1990 pollution prevention success stories);
and by recent legislation which sets
pollution prevention as a national policy.
The legislation in particular sets an
important new direction. Although we
are becoming accustomed to the need
for preventive technologies, we are just
beginning to recognize the need for
preventive policies, on the part of both
government and private institutions.
Such policies would give serious
attention to the monitoring of ecological
systems, to forecasting environmental
trends, to sustainable development and
a reasonable valuation of natural
resources.
There's a long way to go, but as 1990
closes, we seem to be making a good start.
Small Business
Awards
EPA has awarded 17 grants for 1991
under the Agency's Pollution Prevention
By and For Small Business Grant
Program. The grants, up to $25,000
each, are intended to assist small
businesses in developing and demon-
strating new pollution prevention
technologies. Selections were made by
EPA's Office of Small and Disadvan-
taged Business Utilization from a total of
176 applications submitted to the Center
for Hazardous Materials Research
(CHMR) at the University of Pittsburgh
which administers the program for EPA.
The grantees are:
Briggs Nursery, Inc., Olympia, WA
Hydro-Separation Systems, Inc., Fort Worth, TX
Ink Engineering Services, Columbus, OH
Interconnect Systems, Inc., Simi Valley, CA
Lewis Engineering Services, Verona, PA
McCollister and Co., Council Bluffs, lO
Miniature Casting Corp., Cranston, RI
Omnific International Ltd., Poughkeepsie, NY
Orbel Corp., Phillipsburg, NJ
PAC Recycling, Maryville, TN
Pier-Sol, Inc., Baltimore, MD
STAC Corp., San Marino, CA
Technical Support Services, Chester, MD
The PROTEUS Corp., Albuquerque, NM
The 3R Corp., Pittsburgh, PA
Utility Development Corp., Livingston, N]
Walton Agri-Service, Upper Sandusky, OH
Applications for a second round of
funding on this program will be avail-
able in mid-1991. For further informa-
tion, contact CHMR at 1-800-334-CHMR.
United States Environmental
Protection Agency (PM-219)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
FIRST CLASS MAIL
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT NO. G-35

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