United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics
Washington, DC 20460
February 1992
*>EPA Pollution
Prevention
News
Inside:
Reports from
EPA Offices
Interview:
Mark Greenwood
2
3
/| Healthy Building
5
6
7
8
Corporate News
Case Studies
Small Business
Grants Awarded
Calendar
Editor's Corner
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Pollution Prevention News
U.S. EPA
401 M Street SW (PM-222B)
Washington, DC 20460
Editorial Staff:
Priscilla Flattery, Editor
Gilah Langner
Judith K. Rosenthal
Teresa Opheim
Moving Ahead with Prevention
Linda Fisher
Assistant Administrator,
Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and
Toxic Substances
Pollution prevention has changed
people's focus from one of simple compli-
ance with environmental laws to one of
environmental stewardship. Government,
industry, and the various public and private
organizations must work together if the
pollution prevention philosophy is to work
at all-
The time has come for a devoted cross-
media, cross-sector approach to prevention
activities. Here at EPA, we have made some
significant changes within the Agency to
recognize the importance of pollution
prevention.
The Pollution Prevention Division has
moved to join the Office of Toxic Substances
in a new Office of Pollution Prevention and
Toxics. A senior Policy Council has been
established for the Agency. The council is
chaired by the Deputy Administrator and
supported by a Pollution Prevention
Executive Committee. In addition, a small
Pollution Prevention Policy Staff has been
designated to work on prevention policy out
of the Administrator's office. These moves
are designed to ensure that pollution
prevention becomes the byword of our
activities, and receives the attention it
deserves, at all levels of EPA.
CFC Phase-Out Accelerated to 1995
The United States will phase out the
production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl
chloroform by December 31,1995 rather
than the deadline of 2000 agreed to in the
international treaty known as the Montreal
Protocol. The move comes in the wake of
new NASA studies showing that ozone
depletion may be progressing more quickly
than expected over the Northern Hemi-
sphere.
Measurements taken in January in the
stratosphere over eastern Canada and
northern New England as well as in north-
ern latitudes of Europe and Asia recorded
levels of the ozone-destroying CFC
byproduct chlorine monoxide (CIO) compa-
rable to or higher than levels observed
within the Antarctic ozone hole. Whether an
Arctic ozone hole develops will depend on
how long elevated CIO levels persist and on
weather conditions. The ozone layer in the
stratosphere screens harmful ultraviolet
radiation which can cause skin cancer,
cataracts, and damage to the immune
system.
Because of the impending phase-out of
CFCs, substitutes and alternatives for many
major CFC uses have been under develop-
ment for some time. Industry has already
cut CFC output by 42 percent since 1986.
President Bush has also called for a reexami-
nation of the schedule for phasing out
ozone-depleting CFC substitutes and will
consider recent evidence suggesting the
need to restrict methyl bromide. That
schedule and other matters are expected to
be taken up in April by an international
workgroup prior to a full meeting of the
Montreal Protocol signatories in November.
Printed on Recycled Paper

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Pollution Prevention News - 2
February 1992
Reports from EPA Offices
33/50 Program Making Strides in the Regions
More and more companies are joining EPA's 33/50
program, and EPA's regional offices have been instrumental
in encouraging industry's participation in the voluntary
initiative.
The 33/50 program challenges industry to reduce releases
and off-site transfers of 17 toxic chemicals by 33 percent by
the end of this year and 50
percent by the end of 1995,
EPA s regional offices	compared to 1988 levels. EPA
have taken a variety of has sent letters inviting
creative approaches to	participation from the 6,000
, , , , , largest dischargers of the
industry outreach. . ° ^
			 targeted toxics. As of Decem-
ber 1991, close to 500 compa-
nies had committed themselves to an average reduction of 50
percent by 1995, for a total reduction commitment of 290
million pounds. Many more companies have agreed to
participate in the program but have yet to announce the
amount of their promised reductions. The overall national
goal is to reduce releases of these chemicals by at least 700
million pounds by 1995, with an emphasis on source reduc-
tion to meet these goals.
EPA's regional offices have been asked to help with
outreach to industry for the 33/50 program, and have taken a
variety of creative approaches. The regions share their ideas
and resources in regular teleconferences coordinated by EPA
headquarters. In Region 7 (IA, KS, MO, and NE), EPA staff
have joined together with state and local officials to approach
industry by community rather than by type of business. It
was hoped that neighboring companies would want to work
together to improve their local environment.
"We're very proud of this, because it's been very success-
ful" in drawing participation, says Region 7's Carl Walter. In
Wichita, KS, the first locale approached by Region 7, local
officials helped 26 companies set up a 33/50 steering commit-
tee that has advised its counterparts in other Region 7 cities
and is applying for a public/private partnership grant.
Region 7 also is involved in developing computer programs
that compare toxicity data for different zip code areas. The
program developed in Region 7 is also being used by Region 3
to target its 33/50 outreach to selected geographic areas.
Region 6 (AR, LA, NM, OK, and TX) now offers a toll-free
number (800-354-3350) for a 33/50 technical assistance
program sponsored by the region's Dallas office and the
Environmental Institute for Technology Transfer at the
University of Texas at Arlington. This "Techline" is intended
to give small and medium-size firms access to experts at UT
Arlington and a consortium of eight universities in the
region, as well as access to EPA and other government
databases and information services.
Region 1 (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, and VT) has been espe-
cially active in its outreach and follow-up efforts. The
Regional Administrator, Deputy Administrator, and staff
have made presentations at numerous industry meetings
throughout New England.
The regions are finding that not all companies need to be
pursued aggressively to participate in 33/50 efforts. The
Adolph Coors Company took the initiative to approach
Region 8 (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, and WY) to set up a meeting
about the program. As a result, Coors is now conducting an
air toxics inventory at all its facilities to determine the
feasibility of participation in the program.
For more information: contact the TSCA Hotline at 202-
554-1404.
High-Level Prevention Policy
Council Set Up
EPA has established an Agency-wide Pollution Prevention
Policy Council to provide the Administrator with advice on
setting priorities for pollution prevention and ensuring
adequate resource commitments. The Council is chaired by
the Deputy Administrator Hank Habicht and comprised of
the Agency's Assistant Administrators and the Regional, or
Deputy Regional, Administrators for Regions I, V, VI, and X.
An Executive Committee chaired by Mark Greenwood, Dir-
ector of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, screens
issues and prepares options for review by the Policy Council.
In December, the Council identified about 30 upcoming
rule-makings as "targets of opportunity" for integrating
prevention approaches into the Agency's regulatory frame-
work. Among the approaches that may be considered during
rule-making are basing standards on prevention technolo-
gies, incentives, negotiated or voluntary agreements, techni-
cal assistance, and information exchange.
The targeted rules fall into the following industrial
categories:
~	Pharmaceuticals production
~	Pulp and paper production
~	Rubber chemicals production
~	Printing/publishing (coating)
~	Paper coating
~	Plywood/particleboard manufacturing
~	Paints, coatings, and adhesives manufacturing
~	Paint stripper users
~	Integrated iron and steel manufacturing
~	Acrylic fibers production
~	Styrene butadiene rubber and latex production
~	Polystyrene production
~	Pesticide manufacturing/formulating
~	Degreasing operations
~	Reinforced plastic composite production
~	Machinery manufacturing and rebuilding
For more information, contact Julie Shannon at 202-260-2736
or Lynn Vendinello at 202-260-8612.

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February 1992
3 - Pollution Prevention News
Interview
Mark Greenwood, Director
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
In December 1991, the Pollution Prevention
Division at EPA moved within the Agency
to a new home in the Office of Toxic
Substances, now called the Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxics. PPN
asked Mark Greenwood, Director of the new
Office, to share some of his thoughts and
goals for pollution prevention at EPA.
How do you see pollution prevention
and EPA's toxic substances programs
fitting together within the Agency?
There is a natural synergy here,
because both programs are inherently
multi-media and multi-disciplinary.
Also, the orientation of toxics is to
approach environmental problems from
the front end — to look at the ways in
which chemicals are used — which is
very compatible with the pollution
prevention hierarchy.
EPA has said that it will make greater
use of the Toxic Substances Control
Act (TSCA) and especially section 6, in
seeking to prevent pollution. What
effect will the recent overturning of the
asbestos ban have on the Agency's
plans in this area? Will you be backing
off section 6 regulation?
No, absolutely not. But clearly, the
decision is causing us to stand back and
re-evaluate; it was a significant decision
on what was our biggest attempt to use
the section 6(a) authority. It's not clear
that asbestos is a model for what we'll
be trying to do in the future, because
few other chemicals represent such
pervasive problems as asbestos.
The issue for us for the future is
whether we will have to do a lot more
analysis to get a regulation out, and
how much time that will add to the
process. I don't think we really know
yet.
The most profound effect of the
decision may be the perception by the
public or industry that we don't have
the authority to act under Section 6.
After all, the authorities we have are
really part of the incentive structure for
getting people to move in the right
direction. I don't think we'll be chang-
ing our mission or the way we analyze
chemicals, but we may have to be more
creative in the tools we use to try to
influence behavior.
What is most exciting to you about the
33/50 Program?
The exciting part is seeing the
institutional change that accompanies
the technological change. We're seeing
companies build 33/50 goals into the
corporate bonus structure. How many
EPA programs get reflected in corporate
bonus programs?!
It looks like 33/50 is going to be very
successful. We are getting a high
number of commitments from mid-size
companies as well as large companies.
Last June when we got our first round
of commitments from 230 mostly large
companies, we thought that was going
to be the entire universe. However, we
have seen a lot of mid-size companies
stepping forward and deciding that it's
part of their corporate culture to make
voluntary commitments to the govern-
ment.
What is Design for the Environment?
This is a term we've used to refer to
several projects. The idea is to get
companies, at the time they are design-
ing products, systems, processes, to
think about environmental implications.
Long-range, we've funded the National
Pollution Prevention Center effort at the
University of Michigan to develop
university curricula in pollution preven-
tion for business, engineering and
natural resources schools. We're also
looking at funding a research effort to
study the way people design chemicals
and to build environmental implications
in at the beginning.
In the short-term, we're looking at
specific industrial processes, and seeing
if we can work with industry coopera-
tively to develop safer substitute
chemicals and processes. Right now we
have a pilot where we're trying to work
with the printing industry. It's a differ-
ent way of orienting EPA — in the past,
the toxics program was very much
oriented towards the people who
manufacture chemicals. Yet there are a
large number of people out there who
use chemicals, and they aren't particu-
larly interested in using toxic chemicals.
We want to help them make better
choices.
What's ahead for TRI?
It's going to take years to sort out all
the issues associated with the Pollution
Prevention Act. For example, we
certainly will have to start getting
clearer about what is emissions data and
what is in-plant data. Sometimes we
give the impression that all the data
that's in the TRI program is synony-
mous with emissions, yet we know that
not all of it is going into the environ-
ment.
Beyond that, we're seeing the so-
called Right to Know More campaign
which may turn into legislation. My
sense is that we may also be moving
towards materials accounting but that is
several years away.
How well is pollution prevention
succeeding within EPA itself?
Pollution prevention faces some of
the same problems as TQM, total quality
management. People get the basic
concept but it's not very meaningful to
them until they've worked with it
themselves. One of our goals is to get it
working in as many programs as
possible and to have some good work-
ing models. I think if they've had some
experiences with prevention, they'll be
more likely to try it again.

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Pollution Prevention News - 4
February 1992
AIA Issues Environmental
Resource Guide
Subscription Service
Architects Urged to Stop Specifying
Refrigerants with CFCs
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has published
the first installment in its Environmental Resource Guide
Subscription service. The ERG
Subscription is intended to dis-
ff	\	seminate environmental informa-
(	aMBBML tion that will help architects,
f-t—11;—engineers, and others in the
p	) building industry implement
% I v	environmentally sensitive design.
\j~*	JanuarY 1992 issue features
^	materials analyses of aluminum
and particleboard, as well as a
discussion of background material on the guide, reference
listings, and special reports.
Among the recommendations in the first installment of the
ERG Subscription are five action items (see box), including a
recommendation that architects immediately stop specifying
refrigerants with ozone-destroying CFCs in their projects.
Randy Croxton, member of the AIA Board of Directors, noted
that gas and steam absorption systems using lithium bromide
are available for refrigeration, as well as for a growing
number of heating and air-conditioning applications.
The subscriptions will be published quarterly, with topics
updated as new information becomes available. Upcoming
issues in 1992 will cover energy topics (April), building
ecology (July), and tropical rainforests (October).
For information on ordering the ERG Subscription service,
contact AIA/ERG Project, 1735 New York Ave. NW, Wash-
ington, DC 20006. Tel: 202-626-7331 or 800-365-ARCH.
Advice on Healthy Building
Architects and builders becoming more aware of the
need to make pollution prevention an inherent part of
their work might turn for inspiration to Healthy Building
for a Better Earth, a new book that features essays and
practical advice from their colleagues at the forefront of
environmentally sensitive construction.
The book presents the proceedings of the First Na-
tional Conference on Environmental Sensitivity in
Construction, held in May 1990 and organized by
Tennessee environmentalists Charles A. Howell III and
James Summerville.
The book urges planners to consider the life-cycle cost
of choices in building, not just the up-front cost.
Healthy Building for a Better Earth is available for $9.95
(including shipping) from Trust for the Future, 2704 -
12th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37204.
Suggestions for Architects
¦ Aluminum
Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!
•	Specify aluminum products fully or partially made
from recycled scrap (many alloys cannot be made
from 100 percent recycled scrap).
•	Consider designs that will facilitate recycling of
aluminum later. Avoid using mixed-material
assemblies.
•	Consider less energy-consuming alternative materi-
als in applications where the advantageous charac-
teristics of aluminum are not needed.
I Particleboard
•	Specify low-emitting UF bonded particleboard
(ANSI A208.1-89) where practical.
•	If large amounts of unfinished particleboard are to
be used, such as floor underlayment, consider
sealing or encapsulating UF particleboard or using
phenol formaldehyde bonded particleboard.
•	In areas that will regularly experience high tempera-
tures, humidity, or moisture, such as in bathrooms
or over below-grade concrete slabs, avoid using UF
particleboard.
•	Consider all potential sources of formaldehyde
emissions, including cabinetry and furniture.
Source: AIA Environmental Resource Guide
Materials analysis sections of the ERG Subscription are sponsored by
EPA and include analyses of environmental impacts, natural resource
depletion, and energy consumption.
Five Actions in Support
of the Environment
The following five actions were approved by the AIA
Board of Directors last year as being immediately
applicable to the practice of every architect:
1.	Maximize your clients' participation in all utility-
sponsored rebate/incentive programs.
2.	Immediately stop specifying any cooling systems that
contain a refrigerant with CFCs.
3.	Provide leadership to the building team through your
active support of total energy planning and life cycle
as an essential methodology.
4.	Endeavor to specify woods you know to be the product
of "sustainable forests," those that are in a continuing
cycle of growth, management, and harvest.
5.	Meet or exceed ASHRAE '90 Standards for outside air
in all projects you undertake (approximately 20 cfm
per person).

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February 1992
5 - Pollution Prevention News
Corporate News
Manufacturing Consortium
Pools Resources to Solve
Pollution Problems
In an effort to increase global competitiveness, a group of
corporations and the National Center for Manufacturing
Sciences are pooling resources to improve the environmental
performance of their manufacturing operations.
Launched in April 1991, the Environmentally Conscious
Manufacturing Strategic Initiative has 121 members, includ-
ing such companies as General Motors, Ford, AT&T, Digital
Equipment, Texas Instruments, Rockwell International,
Baxter and United Technologies. Each member company
pays dues from $2000 up to $250,000 a year, based on sales,
and then contributes money, expertise, materials and technol-
ogy toward specific projects.
The initiative has defined and set budgets for a number of
goals, including efforts to reduce lead use in manufacturing,
remediate industrial wastes and find substitutes for harmful
manufacturing solvents. According to Donald J. Walukas,
director of the program, the group also is interested in life-
cycle design for environmental compatibility, which includes
"the design considerations for disassembly, recycling and
reuse." "For the longest time, the mindset was, 'let's just meet
the regulations/" Walukas says. "Now companies are saying
that we have to do more than the regulations call for."
A recent material compatibility project shows the
initiative's potential for success. According to Walukas, Texas
Instruments and United Technologies had independent plans
to test some CFC substitutes. Through the Environmentally
Conscious program, they agreed to do the testing together,
and AT&T, General Motors and Ford decided to join in. The
five companies have set a testing protocol and have divided
up the work for the project; for example, one company will
supply all of the materials and another company will do all
the testing of a solvent. According to Walukas, the project's
first phase will cost the five companies $750,000, a charge
each company would have borne in full if it had gone ahead
with the testing on its own.
For more information, contact the Environmentally
Conscious Manufacturing Center for Manufacturing Sciences
at 900 Victors Way, Ann Arbor, MI 48108-1779, Tel: 313-995-
0300.
Corporations Offer Multitude of Green Products and Services
Corporations are flooding the marketplace with new
environmentally friendly products and services. Companies
are using a combination of toxic use reduction, recovery, and
re-use to appeal to a more environmentally conscious public
while trying to beat the competition. Recent corporate
environmental efforts include:
•	Home Depot, the nation's largest home center retailer, is
discontinuing the sale of lead solder from the plumbing
departments of its 162 stores in an effort to safeguard drink-
ing water. Home Depot's decision was prompted by EPA's
Hardware Store Education Initiative, a public information
effort that promotes lead reduction in hardware supplies as
part of the Agency's strategy to reduce nationwide exposures
to lead.
•	Frito-Lay, the second largest
producer of industrial potato
starch in the United States,
collects the starch from its sliced
potatoes as they are washed,
dries the starch and then sells it
to industrial manufacturers. The
company recovers almost 20
million pounds of starch annu-
ally from the process and has
reduced its discharges to municipal wastewater treatment
plants by 35 percent. Frito-Lay also collects potato and corn
solids, such as potato peelings and broken or cracked corn
kernels, from the process wastewater stream. Annually, close
to 20 million pounds of these wet solids are sold to U.S.
livestock and dairy farms for use as a feed supplement.
•	Louisiana-Pacific's panel plants in Oroville, CA are using
up to one ton a day of telephone books collected in the
Sacramento area to mix with wood shavings, sawdust and
chips to make hardboard and medium-density fiberboard.
Louisiana-Pacific also has developed a new wallboard, called
FiberBond™, of which about 30 percent of each panel is made
with recycled newspaper collected from East Coast cities.
•	Valvoline expects to collect nearly 100 million gallons of
used motor oil during the next four years through a newly
formed recovery and reuse subsidiary, Ecogard™, and its
collection division, First Recovery. "The First Recovery
service means that Valvoline has created a closed system, a
cradle-to-grave approach to motor oil sales and recovery,"
according to Carl Frey, a senior vice president for Valvoline.
•	In October 1991, Apple Computer began shipping prod-
ucts in brown (kraft) cardboard boxes, thereby eliminating
the bleaching agents used in manufacturing Apple's tradi-
tional white boxes. Shifting from bleached to unbleached
packaging "will mean that Apple's packaging will release
fewer toxins—toxic organochlorine compounds, formed in
bleaching, such as dioxin, furans and chloroform—into the
environment," according to Scientific Certification Systems,
an independent environmental consulting firm.
Starch recovered from Frito-Lay's
manufacturing process.

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Pollution Prevention News - 6
February 1992
Case Studies from the Pollution Prevention Research Branch
Manufacturing Heating, Ventilating,
and Air Conditioning Units
A plant manufacturing approxi-
mately 700,000 commercial and residen-
tial heating, ventilating, and air condi-
tioning units was evaluated as part of
EPA's Waste Minimization Opportunity
Assessments Program. The plant
produces fan coil units, electric heat
components, air treatment units,
accessory components such as air
volume control units, and air terminal
units.
Waste Generation &
Management Activities
Although manufacturing the fan coil
and air terminal units is a major source
of waste, the paint line generates the
greatest amount of waste. All wastes
from the manufacturing processes are
considered hazardous; annual waste
generation is described below.
Manufacturing of the fan coil units
generates several wastes. As aluminum
sheet is drawn through the fin press to
form fins for the heat exchanger compo-
Resources
Case Studies in Waste Minimiza-
tion compiles 68 industry case
studies from Government Institutes'
monthly newsletter, "Hazardous
and Solid Waste Minimization and
Recycling Report as well as case
studies developed by EPA's Risk
Reduction Engineering Lab. Cost:
$55. To order, call 301-921-2355.
Public Citizen has released a
directory, Renewable Energy: A
National Directory of Resources,
Contacts, and Companies, with
over 1500 names and addresses of
organizations involved with
renewable energy technologies (i.e.,
solar, wind, biomass, solar-hydro-
gen, geothermal, and hydroelectric)
($25). Send prepaid orders to: Public
Citizen, 215 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E.,
Washington, DC 20003.
nent of the fan coil unit, 37,500 gal of
lubricating oil from the fin press
evaporates. Eventually, after several
intermediate processing steps, the fin
and coil components are assembled into
fan coil units. The assembly is per-
formed with adhesives. 107 barrels of
solvent-based adhesive on paper
(overspray) and defectively glued
insulation board are disposed of at a
cost of $23,250. 43 barrels of water-based
adhesive contaminated material (paper
from overspray and insulation board)
are disposed of as municipal (non-
hazardous) waste at a cost of $2,365.
Adhesive application requires the use of
a carrier. This generates 345 gallons of
carrier waste lost due to evaporation.
Production of the air terminal units
generates waste as well. Final assembly
of the parts to form the air terminal
units results in the generation of 64 bars
of ethylene-vinyl acetate adhesive waste
(paper and insulation board) disposed
of at a cost of $13,905. Paint application
generates additional waste. The
overspray is collected in water and the
water is separated and recycled. The
remaining 6,875 gal of paint sludge are
disposed of as hazardous at a cost of
$72,375.
Waste Minimization
Opportunities
Three different opportunities were
suggested for minimizing the adhesive
overspray, the defectively glued
insulation board, and the adhesive
carrier vapor problems:
•	Attach insulation to sheet metal parts
with screws, not adhesives. Waste
would be reduced 100%, and the
savings would be $58,350. The pay-
back period for the $6,400 implemen-
tation cost would be 0.1 year.
•	Replace all solvent-based adhesives
with water-based adhesives. (An
overhead conveyor would deliver
dry, glued parts to the next opera-
tion.) The amount of waste would be
the same but would be nonhazard-
ous; all vapors would be eliminated;
and the net savings would be $25,690.
The payback period for the $31,740
implementation cost would be 1.2
years.
• Spot glue 10% of the surface area
with quick-drying solvent-based glue
and 90% with slow-drying water-
based adhesive. The vapor would be
reduced 90%; the waste would be
nonhazardous; and the annual
savings would be $23,120. The
payback period for the $5,100
implementation cost would be 0.2
years.
To minimize paint sludge, the
exhaust air flow rate from the paint
booth could be cut back to reduce the
waste 25% at an annual savings of
$44,914. The payback period for the
$2,100 implementation cost would be 0.1
years. By improving painting techniques
(through retraining), overspray could be
reduced 5% and $8,810 could be saved
annually. The payback period for the
$3,500 implementation cost would be 0.4
years.
To minimize the lubricating oil vapor
from the fin press, a recirculating air-oil
condensing system could be installed to
reclaim the evaporating oil. Waste
would be reduced 50%, and $56,250
would be saved. The payback period for
the $7,400 implementation cost would
be 0.1 years.
This assessment was performed by
the University of Tennessee Waste
Minimization Assessment Center. An
environmental research brief entitled
"Waste Minimization Assessment for a
Manufacturer of Heating, Ventilating,
and Air Conditioning Equipment"
(Doc # EPA/600/M-91/019) is available
from the U.S. EPA Center for Environ-
mental Research Information, Cincin-
nati, OH 45268. The EPA contact, Emma
Lou George, can be reached at U.S. EPA,
Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory,
Pollution Prevention Research Branch
(MS-466), Cincinnati, OH 45268.

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February 1992
7 - Pollution Prevention News
Case Studies from the Pollution Prevention Research Branch
Waste Minimization Assessment for a
Manufacturer of Aluminum Cans
A plant producing 1 billion 12-ounce
aluminum cans each year was evaluated
as part of EPA's Waste Minimization
Opportunity Assessments Program.
Waste Generation and
Management Activities
Once the cans are formed, they pass
through automated spray washing
machines where they are cleaned and
rinsed. The can is surface treated so the
outside will receive a base coat of paint,
a printed insignia, and a final coat of
clear lacquer. The inside receives a
water-sealed vinyl coating. Between
these steps the cans are dried.
Most of the hazardous waste comes
from the can washing operation. The
rinse water from this operation contains
oil, hydrofluoric acid, sulfuric acid,
nitric acid, and ammonium
fluozirconate. The water is treated on-
site and discharged to the sewer. The
sludge precipitated from the rinse water
treatment process is laden with ammo-
nium fluozirconate and must be hauled
off-site for hazardous waste disposal.
Printing and inking operations
generate additional wastes. Tap water
from rinsing operations generates
30,699,000 gal/yr. Sludge precipitated
from the treated tap water is accumu-
lated at the rate of 888,300 lb/yr. Also,
painting operations yield 5,400 gal of
paint waste. The total cost to treat and
dispose of these three sources of waste
is $249,850.
The company already recycles its
scrap aluminum, keeps to a minimum
its use of water and chemicals in the
washing operation, uses a filter press to
reduce the water content of the hazard-
ous sludge before shipment off-site, and
collects waste oil from the extruder
coolant system.
Waste Minimization
Opportunity
An opportunity for waste minimiza-
tion was identified for the hazardous
sludge. By substituting a nonhazardous
reagent for the currently-used 2% to 4%
ammonium fluozirconate, the need to
dispose of the sludge at a hazardous
waste disposal facility would be elimi-
nated, and $133,060 would be saved.
Because there are no implementation
costs, the payback period is immediate.
This assessment was performed by
the Colorado State University Waste
Minimization Assessment Center. An
environmental research brief entitled
"Waste Minimization Assessment for a
Manufacturer of Aluminum Cans"
(#EPA/600/M-91/025) is available from
the U.S. EPA Center for Environmental
Research Information, Cincinnati, OH
45268. The EPA contact, Emma L.
George, can be reached at U.S. EPA,
Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory,
Pollution Prevention Research Branch
(MS-466), Cincinnati, OH 45268.
Fourteen Small Business Grants Awarded
EPA has selected 14 small businesses out of 203 proposals
to receive awards of up to $25,000 to demonstrate innovative
pollution prevention techniques and technologies. Research
briefs based on the demonstrations will be distributed to
encourage technology transfer of successful pollution
prevention methods.
Twelve of the winning proposals are in the category of
Source Reduction Methods, and two will demonstrate
Reuse/Recycling Techniques. The grants were awarded to:
~	Acro-Tech, Inc. Tigard, OR:
Vented dual stage valvingfor internal combustion engines
~	Climatran Corp., Englewood, CO:
CFC-free, indirect-direct evaporative air conditioning for
transit buses
~	Crown City Plating, El Monte, CA:
Reformulation of buffing compound
~	Earth Safe Industries, Inc., Belle Mead, NJ:
Formaldehyde-free biological preservative
~	Ecoprint, Inc., Silver Spring, MD:
Reducing heavy metal content in offset printing inks
~	Environmental Pesticides Group, Pasadena, TX:
Substitution of natural products for pesticides to kill fire ants
~	Global Plating, Inc., Fremont, CA:
Reusing zinc plating chemicals
~	IonEdge Corp., Fort Collins, CO:
Waste reduction and pollution prevention in cadmium plating
~	Lacebark, Inc., Stillwater, OK:
In-ground production system to reduce nitrate and phosphorous
solution
~	Production Machinery, Inc., Bend, OR:
Hydrocarbon emissions reduction in wood veneer drying
operations
~	Summit Resource Management, Inc., Fort Wayne, IN:
Environmentally safe fountain solution for printing industry
~	S.R. Taylor and Assoc., Bartlesville, OK:
Reuse of metal fabrication wastewaters via ultrasonic
coalescence process
~	Utility Development Corp., Livingston, NJ:
Replacing solder with conductive polymer composites
~	Water Equipment Technologies, Inc., West Palm Beach, FL:
Reduction or elimination of cooling tower chemicals
This is the second year of the Pollution Prevention By and For
Small Business grant program. Reports from the 17 projects
selected last year in this program are due out this spring. For
more information, contact Karen Brown, Office of Small and
Disadvantaged Business Utilization, 703-305-5938, or the
Center for Hazardous Materials Research at the University of
Pittsburgh which administers the program, 800-334-CHMR.
•U.S. Government Printing Office: 1992—620-384

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Pollution Prevention News - 8		February 1992
Calendar
Title
Sponsor
Date/Location
Contact
Toxics Use Reduction:
Challenge to Maine
Univ. of Maine, The Maine Waste
& Toxics Use Reduction Committee
March 11
Waterville, ME
207-581-1491 or
207-581-1488
New England Environmental
Conference
Tufts University
March 21-22
Medford, MA
617-627-3451 or
617-627-3291
Pollution Prevention and
its Economic Implication
VMI Research Laboratories
April 7-8
Lexington, VA
Tel: 703-464-7331
Fax: 703-464-7618
Reaching Out: Improving
Environmental Services
to Small Communities
U.S. EPA Region 10
April 16-17
Portland, OR
Andrea Lindsay
206-553-8178
International Composting
Research Symposium
U.S. EPA, Ohio State
University, others
May 27-29
Columbus, OH
Sarah Seiling
614-292-8571
CFC & Halon Recycling
Program; World Recycling
Conference & Expo
CMC
Recycling Today
June 2-4
Rosemont, IL
Bob Mignarri
203-852-0500
Second U.S. Conference on
Municipal Solid Waste Mgt.
U.S. EPA
June 3-5
Arlington, VA
Tel: 202-250-6263
Fax: 202-260-4196
85th Annual Meeting &
Exhibition
Air & Waste Management
Assn.
June 22-26
Kansas City, MO
Debbie Reichert
412-232-3444
WpkiwiTpthoRociricmtial Symposiums j 33/50 Proqram
Building Market
March 13-15, Leominster, MA
The 9th Annual Quality Building Conference, sponsored
by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, New
England Electric System, and Energy Crafted Homes, will
feature a Builder's Forum, and sessions on healthy homes,
solar design, air infiltration, water and energy conserva-
tion. Contact NESEA at 413-774-6051.
April 9, Edison, NJ
EPA's Pollution Prevention Research Branch has been
holding a series of one-day symposiums to explore
reducing 33/50 chemicals in selected industries. The April
9th symposium will focus on metal finishing and fabrica-
tion; printing; and industrial organic coatings. Additional
symposiums may be held in May, July, and September.
Contact: Rita Jones, Peer Consultants, 513-252-1222.
Moving?
Please send mailing label and new address to:
United States Environmental
Protection Agency (PM-222B)
Washington, DC 20460
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