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Pollution Prevention (P2) is the new way American
industry is conducting business. It removes the potential to
pollute by reducing waste entering the environment. It also
increases the efficiency of operations and processes; thus,
reducing costs to industries. Reduced costs translates to
increased profitability, better competitiveness, and more
jobs.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
been tasked with protecting public health and the
environment through the enforcement of environmental
regulations. Today, EPA is entering a new era of changing
the way we conduct business. Rather than focusing on end-
of-pipe cleanup, we now stress preventing pollution before it
occurs. P2 is now an integral part of EPA. It is fundamental
in our improved federal, state, and local partnerships and is
incorporated in our environmental justice and sustainable
environment initiatives. However, just including P2 activities
in EPA initiatives is not enough. Organizations such as
TVA, EPA, states, and non-profits must work together to
form strong partnerships to promote the full incorporation of
the P2 ethic into our daily lives.
The P2 technical assistance centers across the
Southeast are the EPA's focal point for information
exchange. The Retired Associates who staff these centers
are essential in providing the necessary expertise to industry
representatives as they incorporate P2 strategies at their
facilities. EPA salutes these Retired Associates for their
experience and dedication in preserving our natural
resources and protecting public health. Their interaction
with industry and the public lay the foundation for our
pollution prevention efforts. As our technical assistance
expands, let us continue to support these dedicated
individuals and their P2 activities.
-Winston Smith, Director
Air, Pesticides, and Toxics
Management Division
EPA Region IV
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Contents
PAGE
Introduction 1
State Waste Reduction Assistance Programs 2
Alabama 2
Florida 3
Georgia 3
Kentucky 4
Mississippi 4
North Carolina 4
South Carolina 5
Tennessee 5
Alabama Study 5
Tennessee Study 6
Tennessee Valley Authority 7
EPA Region IV Clearinghouse 7
Retiree Conference 8
Guidelines for Starting a Retiree Program 8
Figures, Tables
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Introduction
Efforts by various levels of government to promote sound waste
management and environmental protection-typically through laws and
regulations-have often been less effective than desired and more costly to
enforce than expected. Understandably, industry has often been more
concerned about reducing compliance costs and their effects on profits
than about reducing wastes and their effects on the environment. The
threat of penalties has produced suspicion of inspections and
assessments, resistance to almost any prescribed changes, and, at best,
only grudging, minimal compliance with the letter of the law.
Many states have instituted Waste Reduction Assistance (WRA) or
Pollution Prevention Programs to address these problems and the
unserved need they represent. In contrast to regulation and enforcement,
the WRA approach is based on voluntary cooperation among industries,
university industrial extension programs, and state and federal agencies.
Only those small industries that request to participate in these joint projects
receive waste management assessments. Most of the state programs
offer this assistance as free, non-regulatory, non-binding, and confidential.
It is not the threat of enforcement penalties but the opportunity for
significant cost savings that motivates industries to make any changes that
may be suggested.
In EPA Region IV state WRA programs, assessments are specifically
made outside the context of regulatory and enforcement processes, and
the results are held strictly confidential to protect proprietary interests.
Also, industries are under no obligation to implement any of the suggested
changes. However, most industries are not only willing but even eager to
implement some or all of the changes recommended because they want to
take advantage of the associated opportunities for cost savings.
While this approach has obvious benefits for private industries, it is also an
effective and economical way for public agencies to accomplish their goals
of reducing production of hazardous and other wastes while at the same
time helping produce both environmental and economic benefits in the
region including such significant benefits as reduoed needs for future
waste disposal capacity and environmental effects monitoring.
The WRA approach does not compete with private enterprise. Such
assessments are not commonly available from private consulting firms in
the region, nor would many small indu8frte$ io male* the
speculative investment of contracting for such swym&z mm rfthsy were
available, because the extent of any potential saving cannot be identified
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until after the survey has been completed.
On the other hand, the project may actually stimulate demand for
commercial services. WRA assessments do not include designing or
constructing any facilities or equipment that may be needed or modifying
any processes or techniques as may be recommended. Industries must
either implement the waste reduction suggestions on their own or contract
with private consulting firms, construction contractors, or other commercial
services.
Costs are kept low because many assessments are conducted by retired
senior-level engineers, who are specially recruited and given intensive
supplemental training to identify and report opportunities for waste
reduction. Although these retirees are reimbursed for travel expenses and
are paid a modest hourly honorarium to supplement their retirement
income, essentially, they volunteer their services as a means of passing on
to the next generation the benefit of their specialized expertise and
experience. Becfcruse the pool of available assessors contains specialists
with many years of experience in almost every possible Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) code it is usually possible to choose expertise that
closely matches th£ needs of any particular industry. Because the pool is
large, it is usually possible to reduce travel costs by selecting weH-qualified
retirees who live Hi the vicinity of almost any industry scheduled for
assessment.
State Waste Reduction Assistance
Programs
The services of the retirees are coordinated in many different ways in
Region IV. Each state WRA program has adopted the method that best
fits its own unique situation. This document briefly describes each method
now being used.
IR Alabama a nonprofit 501 (3)e corporation, the WRATT
Foundation, has been formed. It is a consortium of regulated and
regulator, private and public. It includes on Its board of directors the
Tennessee Valley Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency, the
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Business Council of Alabama, the Alabama Chemical Association, and the
Alabama Department of Environmental Management. It is administered by
retired professionals rehired full time or part time under contract to the
Foundation. Pre-assessments are done by the full-time retirees. The
WRAs are performed by the part-time retirees. The WRA team drafts the
report. The full-time retirees polish it and issue it. Follow-up is the
prerogative of the full-time retirees. A study by Auburn University showed
that the industries that have used this program have praised its
professionalism and service. The Foundation Outreach Program has
provided direct assistance in recruiting, training, marketing, and total
program development/implementation to several other states, plus
overseas assignments. Published commendations have stimulated strong
national arid international interest in the Alabama model and foundation
approach. A study of 35 assessments by the WRATT Foundation showed
a 20:1 benefit to cost ratio that included overhead expenses. See the
WRATT Foundation Study for details Contact the Director; John Shields,
at 205-386-3633 for additional information.
In Florida the WRA program is called the Waste Reduction
Assistance Program (WRAP). It is administered by a non-regutatory part
of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection. The retirees are
assigned a company that has requested a WRA. They perform the entire
WRA and copy the report to the WRAP. Dade County (Miami) also has a
Pollution Prevention Program which makes use of the pool of retirees in
Florida. The program in 1995-1996 was inactive due ttHack of funded.
Contact Julie Abcarian at 904-488-0300 for addltidnaf information about
the Florida Program and Nicole Hefty at 305-372-6825 for further
information about the Dade County Program.
In Georgia the WRA program is called the Pollution Prevention
Assistance Division (P2AD). It is administered by a non-reguiatory arm of
Georgia's Department of Natural Resources. Retirees are used on a
limited basis for assessments in Georgia. P2AD relies primarily on fytt-
time staff and partnerships with other technical assrstance providers in the
state to conduct WR assessments. Contact Bob Donaghue, Director, at
404-651-5120 for further information.
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In Kentucky the WRA program is part of the Kentucky Pollution
Prevention Center (KP2C) at the University of Louisville. The KP2C offers
environmental training, applied research, and on-site waste reduction
assessments to help Commonwealth manufacturers reduce cost and
waste.
The WRA program began in 1988 and is administered through an
agreement with the State of Kentucky and funded by a hazardous waste
generation fee. Program staff oversee and direct industrial pre-
assessments. Retirees conduct the entire on-site assessment on their
own, in pairs, or with program staff depending on the client needs.
Retirees prepare draft reports which program staff review and finalize.
Companies receive final reports form the Center.
The KP2C contracts with approximately 10 retirees as of February, 1996.
Contact Cam Metcalf, Executive Director; at 502-852-0965 for further
information.
In Mississippi the WRA program is called the Mississippi
Technical Assistance Program (MSSTAP). It is administered at Mississippi
State University (MSU) under an agreement with the state of Mississippi's
Pollution Prevention Program in the Department of Environmental Quality.
The retirees are assigned a company that has requested a WRA. Retirees
and MSU professors conduct pre-assessments and, at times, have follow-
up meetings to assist the companies. Retirees are also being used in
conjunction with the Air Division - Small Business Ombudsman Program.
Contact Caroline or Donald Hill, Directors, at 601-325-8454 for further
information.
I n North QeiroRrTd the WRA program is the Office of Waste
Reduction, a non-regulatory arm of North Carolina's Department of
Environment, Health, and Natural Resources and the oldest state program
in the country. Since it iSuQhysieaUy centered in Raleigh, at the eastern
end of the state, additional resources were needed at the western end of
the state. The state program provides technical oversight for retiree
assisted WRAs in western North Carolina. The Land-of-Sky Regional
Council (LOS) in Asheville administrates the Western North Carolina
Waste Reduction and Technology Transfer (WNC WRATT) Program. The
Tennessee Valley Authority provided funding for the initial program. A pre-
assessment is performed by the retirees. They conduct the assessment
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and submit a report to the company. The retirees also conduct "water only
media" assessments under an agreement between LOS and the Asheville-
Buncombe County Water Authority. Contact Gary Hunt; Director, at 919-
571-4100 for further information about the state's program. Contact Tom
Elmore at 704-254-8131 for further information about the WNC WRATT.
In South Carolina the WRA is called the Center for Waste
Minimization. It is a non-regulatory arm of South Carolina's Department of
Health and Environmental Control.. The program is staffed by retired
professionals rehired full time or part time as state employees. Contact
Bob Burgess at 803-734-4715 for further information.
Retirees are also used in special industrial sector projects, such as the
textile industry. Contact Bob Mussro at Clemson University, Office of
Continuing Education, at 864-656-0870 for further information.
In Tennessee the WRA program is called the Waste Reduction
Assistance Program. It is administered by the University of Tennessee's
Center for Industrial Services under a contract with Tennessee's
Department of Environment and Conservation. This was the first retiree-
assisted WRA in the country. The retirees assist the full-time staff (several
of whom are rehired retired professionals) to conduct the WRAs. Some of
the retirees conduct the entire assessment by themselves and submit a
draft report to the staff to be finalized. Others assist the staff in conducting
assessments and in training. See the "Tennessee Study" below for the
benefits of retiree-assisted WRAs. Contact George Smelcer, Director, at
615-532-4912 for further information.
Alabama Study
In 1995, the WRATT Foundation began asking -past clients to report on
cost-effectiveness of implementing recommendations of the WRATT
assessment teams. Of the first set of 50 companies, responses were
received from 35. Though only a fractkm of the total number of
recommendations were implemented, the total savings reported by these
companies was almost 3.5 million dollars. In addition, the ewTipaniea that
did report acknowledged that other savings have been realized but cannot
be quantified at this time.
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The 50 assessments conducted at 35 companies cost WRATT a total of
$126,844 and resulted in reported savings at assessed industries of
$3,480,293. The overall benefit to cost ratio for this work was 27:1 and the
average savings per company assessed was about $102,000.
Tennessee Study
The Tennessee Study was the first project to document the benefits of
using retirees for WRA work. The services of retirees were coordinated
and administered under the oversight of the Waste Reduction Assistance
Program (WRAP) at the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial
Services, which coordinated the joint pilot project in Tennessee. The
Tennessee Valley Authority supplied the funding and oversight for this pilot
program in Tennessee beginning in 1989. The study reviewed and
documented results of assessments for 32 industries that volunteered to
participate.
In 1992, the study requested follow-up information from the 32 industries
involved in the pilot project. Five of the 32 industries declined to
participate in the study. The remaining 27 industries agreed to allow
publication of their results as anonymous case studies.
These 27 industries documented a combined annual saving of almost
$2,400,000 (Table 1) from changes based on these assessments.
Rounded, that equals an average saving of almost $90,000 per industry
per year.
In this pilot project, retirees conducted about 75% of the total assessment
work; staff from the Center for Industrial Services provided the remaining
25%. Therefore, the portion of the total annual saving for the 27 reporting
industries that was attributable to retiree assessments was about
$1,800,000, or an average annual benefit of almost $67,000 per industry.
Retiree assessment costs were not available on a directly comparable
basis, that is, for just the 27 reporting industries. However, the
assessment services provided by retirees for the 32 industries contacted
for the follow up study totaled $59,000, or an average cost of $1,844 per
industry.
Even on that basis, if the resulting rate of saving had been realized for only
a single year, there would be a 36:1 ratio between the average benefits
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and average costs for the pilot project (Table 2 and Figure 1). In other
words, $36 was saved for every $1 spent, including not only the direct
costs for assessment time and associated travel reimbursement but also
all the costs for program development, training, overhead, and reporting.
In fact, the benefitcost ratio is continually increasing, because the costs
were one-time costs while incremental savings continue accumulating year
after year.
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a regional federal agency that assisted
(along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the University
of North Carolina - Asheville) in starting the first retiree-supplemented
Waste Reduction Assistance program. A significant goal of TVA's Waste
Reduction Assessment and Technology Transfer (WRATT) program was to
assist state and local governments in developing similar programs. The
recognition the program received in several national publications resulted
not only in many additional requests for industrial assessments but also in
requests to assist state and local governments in developing and
implementing similar waste reduction programs. Such programs have now
been adopted not only in Region IV by the states of Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Tennessee (Figure 2) but also by Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Michigan, and the city of Los Angeles, California. Several other state
programs have either started retiree-assisted programs or are
contemplating doing so. TVA accesses the retirees in the Tennessee
Valley and elsewhere to assist in their Waste Reduction activities when
needed. Contact Steve Hillenbrand at 423-632-8489 for further
information.
EPA Regions III and IV Clearinghouse
Called the Waste Reduction Resource Center (WRRC), it is housed with
the NC state WRA program in Raleigh. It provides free waste reduction
information to anyone requesting it in Regions III or IV and elsewhere. It is
staffed by previously retired professionals rehired full time. The WRRC is
supported by EPA Regions 111 and IV, TVA, the state of North Carolina, and
the National Caucus and Center on Black Aged - Senior Environmental
Employment. Contact Vic Young, Coordinator, at 800-476-8686 for further
information.
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The Annual Southeastern Waste Reduction
Retiree Conference
Co-hosted by TVA and EPA Region IV, its purpose is to provide
networking and training opportunities for retired professionals working in
WRA programs in the Southeast. All retired professionals assisting state
WRA programs in EPA Region IV are invited. It was initiated to help keep
these retirees current on waste reduction issues and advancements.
Guidelines for Starting a Retiree Program
Listed below are suggestions that should be tailored to accommodate a
specific situation.
Pick the brains of programs that operate similarly to the way you
plan to function.
Place a classified advertisement in the newspapers in the locality
where you wish to attract retirees. It could read :"Retired engineers
to work part time helping companies save money by reducing their
wastes. Industrial experience required. Training, small hourly
honorarium, and expenses provided. Send resume to 1
Interview the applicants with the skills you require. Especially look
for ability to interact, write reports, and pick up new ideas.
Decide if you want the retirees to be under contract or employees
of your organization. If they are contractors, consider how you need
to handle social security and income tax withholding, expenses (what
is covered, limits), and workman's compensation. Contact Steve
Hillenbrand at TVA for the latest options available.
Provide general training in waste reduction techniques. Be
prepared to provide additional specialized Waste Reduction training.
TVA offers excellent generalized training for a reasonable cost.
Keep your retirees busy. If you do not meet their expectations, they
will become disillusioned and drop out of your program. Always let
them know that you appreciate their efforts.
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Tables
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Table 1. Documented Annual Savings for TVA-
Funded
Waste Reduction Projects in Tennessee, 1989-1992
TVA
Documented
project
annual
No.
savings ($)
8
240,000
9
8,000
10
7,560
11
14,800
12
95,000
14
68,500
15
0
16
65,000
17
8,000
18
20,000
19
3,480
20
10,000
21
49,000
22
15,000
23
3,000
24
0
27,28
960
29
0
31
179,019
33
19,000
34
4,500
35
4,382
36
1,800
37
15,600
40
1,298,025
250.000
27 projects
2,380,626
No data were available for 5 projects
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Table 2. Benefit:Cost Analysis For TVA-Funded
Retiree-Assisted Waste Reduction Assessments
Given:
Total cost of retirees for 32 audits = $59,000
Total documented annual savings for 27 audits = $2,380,626
Fraction of audit work done by retirees = 3/4
Results:
$2,380,626/27 audits = $88,171 average annual benefit/audit
$88,171 average annual benefit/audit x 0.75 audit/benefit from retirees =
$66,129
$59,000/32 audits = $1,844 average retiree cost/audit
$66,129 average annual benefit from retiree/$1,844 average direct retiree cost =
benefrt.cost ratio = 36 : 1
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Figures
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mMMmm
AVERAGE ANNUAL
BENEFIT :COST RATIO
36:1
—— —
• : : : ¦ ^
¦
$66,130
ANNUAL
BENEFIT
TO INDUSTRY
$1,844
ONETIME
COST OF
ASSESSMENT
FIGURE 1. AVERAGE ANNUAL BENEFIT: COST RATIO FOR
TVA FUNDED RETIREE ASSISTED WASTE REDUCTION
ASSESSMENT PROGRAM IN TENNESSEE 1989-1992
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FIGURE 2. WASTE REDUCTION PROGRAMS
WITH RETIREE ASSISTANCE
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