Great Lakes Environmental and Economic Data Visualization Tool

GLRPPR is pleased to announce the release of the Great Lakes Environmental and Economic Data Visualization Tool, which was developed as part of an initiative to help pollution prevention technical assistance providers target their efforts by using public data. You can find publications from the initiative here.

The tool uses data from U.S. EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory, as well as the Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns data set.

The web page for the tool includes links to downloadable data sets, additional tools for targeting technical assistance, and a user’s guide.

GLRPPR’s data initiative was funded by U.S. EPA’s Pollution Prevention Information Network grant program.

ESRC’s Sustainable Business Training Series

The Environmental Sustainability Resource Center (ESRC), GLRPPR’s P2Rx partner serving EPA regions 3 and 4, is hosting a series of training webinars intended to enhance business operations through applied sustainability strategies. The four-part webinar series is designed to educate commercial and industrial facilities on the business case for environmental sustainability, identify building blocks for a successful program and provide examples and resources to help turn actions into outcomes.

Topics include:

  • Waste minimization
  • The “Cost of Doing Nothing”
  • Chemical substitution, reuse and waste exchanges
  • Evaluation tools and resources
  • Success story presentation
  • Technical assistance

You can find links to these and other P2 training opportunities on the Training Videos and Webinars page of the Pollution Prevention 101 LibGuide.

Presentations from the Toxic Use Reduction Institute’s Fall 2017 Continuing Education Meeting now available

The Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Institute recently hosted an continuing education meeting. The presentations from that event are now available on their web site. They include:

Strategies for Life Cycle Thinking and Product Sustainability at GE Plenary Speaker: Bill Flanagan, Aspire Sustainability
Partners Update – November 16, 2017
Session A
Materials Accounting Refresher Jeff Bibeau, Tighe & Bond
Session B
Reducing Chemicals in Water Demineralization Systems Maura Hawkins, Berkshire Environmental Consultants
Session C
Business Value of LCA at GE Bill Flanagan, Aspire Sustainability
Leveraging LCA to Improve TUR Tom Gloria, Industrial Ecology Consultants
Product Sustainability: An Intro to Life Cycle Assessment & Circular Economy Sebastian Birke, ThinkStep
Marketing Sustainability via LCAs Raymond Lizotte, Schneider Electric
Session D
Improved Operations and Maintenance:
The Low Hanging Fruit
Heather Tenney, Toxics Use Reduction Institute
A Workers Perspective; Transitioning  to Safer Chemicals Steve Gauthier, Gauthier Safety Consulting
Session E
Resource Conservation Planning & Saving Energy with Metering Tools Rich Bizzozero, MA Office of Technical Assistance
Saving Energy With Meter Data Lauren Mattison, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Session F
Pollution Prevention Options Analysis System Jason Marshall, Toxics Use Reduction Institute
Using P2OASys Alicia McCarthy, Toxics Use Reduction Institute
Options Evaluation Tool Pam Eliason,  Toxics Use Reduction Institute
P2OASys Activity 1
P2OASys Activity 2

Registration now open for 2017 Triple Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable in Minneapolis

email-savethedate

Registration is now open for the 2017 Triple Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable. The conference will be held in Minneapolis on May 2-4, 2017.

Sessions include:

  • Pollution Prevention 101 pre-conference training (half day)
  • Tour of Ecolab’s Schuman Campus in Eagan, MN (half day)
  • A full day of facilitated large and small group discussion centering on U.S. EPA’s National Emphasis areas.
  • Interactive workshops on engagement, and materials substitution
  • Hands-on training with a variety of online P2 tools.

For more information and to register, visit the conference web site.

Use EPA’s Safer Choice label to make better purchasing decisions

saferchoice_rgbFinding products that are safer for you, your employees, your family, and the environment should be easy. That’s why EPA developed the new Safer Choice label. Products with the Safer Choice label help consumers and commercial buyers identify products with safer chemical ingredients, without sacrificing quality or performance.

More than 2,000 products currently qualify to carry the Safer Choice label. You can find products for your home at retail stores, as well as products to use in facilities like schools, hotels, offices, and sports venues.

Participation in the Safer Choice program is voluntary. Companies that make products carrying the Safer Choice label have invested heavily in research and reformulation to ensure that their products meet the Safer Choice Standard. These companies are leaders in safer products and sustainability.

Products have to meet stringent criteria in order to earn the Safer Choice label. In addition to product ingredients, the program also considers product performance, pH, packaging and more to ensure that products with the label are safer for you and your family. Once a product meets the Safer Choice Standard, EPA conducts annual audits to ensure that they continue to do so.

You can search for products that meet the Safer Choice Standard here. If you’re a manufacturer who wants learn more about qualifying for the program and applying for certification, EPA has more information here.

Call for authors: GreenBiz.com’s P2 Impact column

p2 impact long

P2Rx hosts P2 Impact, a monthly P2 column for the GreenBiz newsletter. We are seeking authors to write articles according to our guidelines. Articles need to be exclusive to P2Rx and GreenBiz among green-focused websites, with the exception of summaries appearing on your own company or personal site.

What We Want: Current topics relevant to P2 and sustainability program managers and to the green business community. We will accept both shorter (400-600 word) and longer (800-1,200 word) pieces across a range of topics. Examples include (but are not limited to):

  • Stories of companies or initiatives
  • Insights into business process, operations, or technologies
  • Profiles or Q&A with business leaders or thought leaders
  • Case studies and best business practices with respect to P2
  • Advice and how-to pieces

What We Don’t Want: Technical or scientific debates; politics, except to the extent it directly affects business strategy; reviews of consumer products; rants; or repurposed press releases.

Visit the P2 Impact archive to read past columns.

Send article proposals to l-barnes@illinois.edu by Friday, February 3 to have it considered for publication in calendar year 2017. Include a brief paragraph of the planned article theme, length, focus, topics covered and possible arguments. Include a short biography of the author including P2 experience.

For more information on the process and detailed guidelines, visit http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/glrppr/guidelines-instructions-for-submitting-articles-to-p2rx-greenbiz-column/.

Green Lunchroom Challenge Webinar Oct. 13: Waste Reduction with SCARCE

Join the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Thursday, October 13 for a Green Lunchroom Challenge Webinar, “Waste Reduction with SCARCE.” The webinar will be broadcast from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM Central, and will be recorded and posted to the Challenge web site for later viewing. Register online at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6855430088212534276.

School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education (SCARCE), is an environmental education and assistance organization based in DuPage County, IL. Kay McKeen, SCARCE Founder and Executive Director, and Erin Kennedy, Environmental Educator and LEED GA, will discuss resources and guidance available from SCARCE to help your school or district achieve food waste reduction and diversion goals.

Coordinated by ISTC with funding from US EPA Region 5, the Green Lunchroom Challenge is a voluntary pledge program for schools to improve the sustainability of their food service operations. By registering, participants are accepting the challenge to reduce and prevent food waste in their facilities. The Challenge involves suggested activities that range in complexity and commitment, to allow participants to best suit their situation, budget and available community resources. Participants are not required to complete activities, but with each activity that is completed successfully, they earn points and can be recognized as having achieved different levels of accomplishment. Learn more, and register your school or district, at www.greenlunchroom.org.

SCARCElogo

Tools for alternatives assessment

One way that manufacturers can reduce their environmental impact is by replacing a toxic or hazardous process chemical with a less hazardous or non-hazardous one. The following resources are useful when trying to identify less toxic alternatives.

SUBSPORT: Substitution Support Portal

SUBSPORT is a free-of-charge, multilingual platform for information exchange on alternative substances and technologies, as well as tools and guidance for substance evaluation and substitution management. It includes:

Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial Solvents (PARIS III)

PARIS III, developed by U.S. EPA, is a desktop/laptop application that allows users to find mixtures of solvents with specific physical and chemical properties that also have relatively low environmental impacts. The software helps users find replacements for solvent mixtures that are currently being used in industrial processes but have dangerous environmental side effects. The software can also be used to find solvents with lower environmental impact when designing new industrial processes, as well as more benign solvents that can be added to harmful solvents favored by industry to help reduce the harmful environmental impact of their processes.

CleanerSolutions Database

The CleanerSolutions Database, developed by the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, helps users select an alternative cleaner that meets their needs. The information is based on lab testing done by TURI. Use the tool to find a cleaner for a particular contaminant; replace a solvent; identify products based on safety and environmental criteria; and search by vendor information.

P2OASys Tool to Compare Materials

Sometimes changing chemicals or processes can have unintended environmental and health impacts. TURI’s P2OASys is an Excel based tool that allows companies to assess the potential environmental, worker, and public health impacts of alternative technologies aimed at reducing toxics use. The goal is more comprehensive and systematic thinking about the potential hazards posed by current and alternative processes identified during the TUR planning process. The tool can help companies:

  •  Systematically examine the potential environmental and worker impacts of options, examining the total impacts of process changes, rather than simply those of chemical changes
  •  Compare options with current processes based on quantitative and qualitative factors.

Chemical Hazard Assessment Database

The Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2) Chemical Hazard Assessment Database enables users to search for GreenScreen® and Quick Chemical Assessment Tool (QCAT) assessments. The purpose of this tool is to promote awareness of assessments conducted on chemicals of high concern, facilitate transparency and discussion, and reduce duplication of effort. IC2 also has alternatives assessment resources, including a guide and links to other assessment materials.

Safer Chemical Ingredients List

The Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL)is a list of chemical ingredients, arranged by functional-use class, that U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice Program has evaluated and determined to be safer than traditional chemical ingredients. This list is designed to help manufacturers find safer chemical alternatives that meet the criteria of the Safer Choice Program. Safer Choice also has other resources available for manufacturers.

Environmental, Health and Safety Data Resources

Although chemical manufacturers provide material safety data sheets with their chemicals, sometimes this information isn’t enough. TURI’s librarian created this guide to assist in researching environmental, health and safety information for chemicals.

Happy Pollution Prevention Week! (Sept 19-23, 2016)

p2week2016In 1990, Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act. Pollution Prevention (P2) Week, celebrated during the third week of September each year (September 19-23, 2016),  highlights the efforts of EPA, its state partners, industry, and the public in preventing pollution right from the start. Here at GLRPPR, we’ll be publishing a P2 related blog post each day and will also be spreading the P2 message on Twitter using the hashtag #P2Week.

The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have information about events occurring throughout the country. NPPR also has a handy P2 Week Toolkit from 2014 for organizations looking for ways to participate.

Within the region, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will hold its 19th Annual Pollution Prevention Conference and Trade Show on September 27-28 in Plainfield, IN. The theme is “P2 & Sustainability: Looking to the Future.” The conference will also include presentations of the Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has compiled a P2 Week Planner, which includes a sample resolution and press release.

What are you doing to celebrate P2 Week? Share your activities in the comments.

Workshop: Pollution Prevention and Lean Principles for Food Manufacturers, July 27, Chicago

July 27, 2016, 8 am-5 pm
Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, Lake Huron Room
77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604

Cost: $125 (Lunch on your own)

Register at http://go.illinois.edu/P2andLeanWorkshop

Questions? Contact Laura Barnes

This workshop will help you improve the efficiency of your organization by identifying ways to limit pollutants and apply lean principles within an environmental management system.

Lean operating principles help your company improve the bottom line, reduce your regulatory burdens, and increase the overall efficiency of your organization.

Food manufacturers achieve significant savings when they put pollution prevention into practice.

  • Cargill, a major US meat manufacturer, reduced 7,800,000 pounds of methane gas and reduced natural gas by 20-35% by investing in an automated biogas capture system, which saved them $750,000 dollars.
  • Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) used a P2 approach to save over $69,000 in reducing air emissions while generating over $250,000 per year by re-using boiler ash as a raw material used for cement, concrete blocks, and other products.
  • Anheuser-Busch installed a multi-stage residuals evaporator which reduced the amount of BOD loadings to the sewer by nearly 23,000 pounds annually saving them $1,500,000.

Although this workshop is targeted at food manufacturers, attendees from other industrial sectors are welcome.

Who should attend?

  • Facility managers
  • Environmental & safety managers & directors
  • Environmental health & safety (EHS) personnel
  • Environmental specialists, planners, and coordinators
  • Environmental engineers
  • Environmental project & program managers
  • Anyone responsible for environmental activities in your organization

Workshop Facilitator

Thomas Vinson, Zero Waste Network

Thomas Vinson has worked for over two decades in the environmental field where he has become known for finding the connection between good business practices, and environmental quality management.

Thomas works closely with a national network of pollution prevention and lean specialists and the EPA to find ways that businesses can save money by reducing waste. Over the past two years, he has worked on projects that have helped companies identify ways to save over 1.5 million dollars, while reducing nearly 7 million tons of waste, three million gallons of water use, and over a million kWh of electricity use.