National Pollution Prevention Week

WASHINGTON, DC – The 2007 recipients of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable’s (NPPR) Most Valuable Pollution Prevention (MVP²) awards reduced pollution by 200 million pounds, conserved more than 12 million cubic meters of natural gas, and reduced water consumption by 500 million gallons, while cutting costs by over $60 million. Jeffrey Burke, Executive Director of NPPR, stated, “These organizations have clearly demonstrated that pollution prevention is beneficial to both the environment and the economy. They are being recognized for their leadership and commitment to promoting a sustainable future.

The winners represent federal, state, and local government agencies, industries, non-profits, and individuals that have demonstrated significant accomplishments in pollution prevention (P²). These prestigious awards will be presented at a ceremony in Washington on September 20, 2007. Congressional representatives from the states and districts of the winners have been invited to meet with the recipients following the ceremony.

The 2007 MVP² recipients are: New Hampshire DES Green Yard Program, US Postal Services Northeast area’s P2 Program, Public Services of New Hampshire Northern Wood Power Project, Hospira VisIV Container, City of Dallas. “Writing 2005/2006 Annual Report, Washington Ecology, WMS, Ross, PPRC, Learning Manufacturing & Environment, Green Institute The Reuse Center & Deconstruction Services, IBM-Burlington Water Pattern Project, Sappi Cloquet LLC Energy Optimization Using Pinch Technology. This year’s writing and publications award goes to David Duncan “Writing “ Pollution Within”, “Volunteer of the Year” award goes to Cindy McComas, James Riordan will receive the “P²Champion” award.

We would like to thank everyone who applied for this year’s awards.

NPPR would also like to extend a special thank you to the judges of this year’s MVP² awards:

Cindy McComas, Minnesota Technical Assistant Program
Michel Russo, McGraw-Hill Construction
Thomas Vinson, Southwest Network for Zero Waste
Robert Jackson, Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality
Ken Zarker, Washington Department of Ecology
Ligia Moss, Montgomery Co. (MD) Dept. of Health

Jeffrey Burke, NPPR; Joe Talanges, Hospira; Henry Patrick, Public Service of New Hampshire; Chris Reed, Washington Ecology, WMS, Ross, PPRC; Michael A. Hitchko, Public Service of New Hampshire; William H. Smagula, Public Service of New Hampshire; Ruma Kohli, IBM-Burlington; Eric White, IBM-Burlington; Michelle Bolz, IBM-Burlington; John Kalinski, United States Postal Service; Cindy McComas, University of Minnesota; Janet Doyle, IBM-Burlington; James Riordan; Ann Goode; John Limoges, IBM-Burlington; John Ridgeway, Washington Ecology, WMS, Ross, PPRC; Kent Roberson, Sappi Cloquest LLC; James Procopio, IBM-Burlington; Krassimir Totev, Washington Ecology, WMS, Ross, PPRC; Jamie Heipel, Green Institute; Corey Binkema, Green Institute

University of Minnesota, Minnesota Technical Assistance Program, Director Developed and currently provides oversight to statewide program to assist businesses in Minnesota with pollution prevention and waste management. Programs developed include information clearinghouse, student intern program, research grant program, educational programs, materials exchange, and technology transfer. One of the founding members of the Roundtable, Cindy has been the Chair of the Board for the past two years, and was Vice Chair for two years prior to that. In the past year alone, she has: Worked on the 2007 and 2008 National Environmental Partnership Summit Planning Committee and Content Review teams; Participated on the NPPR Board Communications Committee, Membership Committee, and Financial Planning Committee; Represented NPPR at the Canadian P2 Roundtable, Mexican P2 Roundtable, and Western Regional P2 Network Conference. Conducted training in Michigan for 50 Retired Engineers on P2 Tools

James Riordan has over 25 years experience with the Canadian federal government and for close to 20 years with Environment Canada where he has spent the majority of that time promoting and championing the development and implementation of pollution prevention. James has been the Executive Director of the National Office of Pollution Prevention (NOPP) since 1993.

James is the Champion for pollution prevention in Canada. His work has resulted in the adoption of pollution prevention within Canadian federal legislation as pollution prevention is now the cornerstone of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999).

In addition to integrating pollution prevention into legislation he has directed the development and implementation of pollution prevention policies, strategies and guidelines to enable improved environmental performance of numerous Canadian industrial sectors (i.e. mining, forestry, chemical manufacturers). Under James’ direction, the National Office of Pollution Prevention became the centre of expertise for pollution prevention not only within Environment Canada but throughout Canada.

James’ work and influence has not been restricted to within Canada and his reputation extends into the international realm of pollution prevention and sustainable consumption/production. He has developed strong relationships within the pollution prevention community across many US states and has been a strong supporter of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable. James represents Canada in working relations with other countries and international organizations on issues of global environmental protection. He has been a member of the United Nations Environmental Protection committee on Sustainable Consumption and Production since 2003, which is leading the “Marakesh Process”. James also represents Canada on the Pollution Prevention Control Group and chaired the Working Party on National Environmental Policy at the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and was involved in the establishment of the Roundtable for the America’s for Cleaner Production.

James has taught courses on environmental ethics at the local community college sharing his real life experiences with students. The respect, encouragement, compassion and integrity shown to his staff, colleagues and students are a reflection of his commitment for an improved quality of life and a healthier environment for Canadians.

Reuse of cardboard containers for at least five (5) times is not only a significant economic benefit to the Postal Service, but it has also allowed us to prevent the needless disposal of over 28 million pounds of cardboard in 2006. Similarly, our national policy of using plastic pallets instead of wooden pallets for the transport of mail on tractor trailers has prevented the needless purchase of over 47 million pounds of wooden pallets in 2006 alone. Finally, our Intelligent Mail and Address Quality Division has implemented an Electronic Uncoded Address Resolution Service (eUARS) that enables the delivery force to correct submitted Change of Addresses that do not match an Address Management System (AMS) delivery point. This information is shared with the mailing industry through our Move Update products (i.e. specifically the secured National Change of Address link known as NCOAlink) and has resulted in a reduction of 6.9 million pounds of undeliverable standard mail during 2006. During 2006 the Materials Management Specialists in each of the Northeast Area’s eight districts recovered assets through reutilization (cost avoidance), redistribution and maintenance transfers within the Postal Service. Their efforts achieved $25,242,573 in recovered assets.

The Department of Environmental Services’ New Hampshire Pollution Prevention Program (NHPPP) and Solid Waste ProgramNH Green Yards program

Over 170 individual facilities have been evaluated for pollution prevention techniques as well as best management practices from 2003 to 2006. Twenty-seven Fact Sheets have been sent out to the identified MVSYs. Of the municipal workshops that have been held since 2003, over 110 towns have been represented. There have also been 20 Certified Yards, with a certification period starting again in the fall of 2007.

2 Certified Yards Overall	Gallons of Gas	Gallons of Oil	Gallons of Anti.
2 Certified Yards Overall	114,450	32,177.5	37,710

The Auto & Truck Recyclers Association of New Hampshire (ATRA) and NHPPP organized a voluntary program to remove and recycle mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles before they are shredded and smelted. Between 2003 and 2006, NHPPP collected almost 5,700 mercury switches, which is equal to about thirteen pounds of mercury. NHPPP also promoted the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recycling Program (NVMSRP) starting in mid-2006 and officially switched to the national program in January 2007, thirty-six yards have already signed up. Since January, the NVMSRP has collected 533 switches, removing one and a quarter pounds of mercury from the waste stream, which means just less than fifteen total pounds of mercury removed since the start of the program.

In April 2006, after several years of development, Hospira launched the VisIV™ flexible intravenous (I.V.) container – the first significant redesign of the I.V. bag in three decades. I.V. containers, which are commonly referred to as "I.V. bags." are used for the delivery of medications and solutions to patients by healthcare providers. Illinois-based Hospira is a leading global hospital products company. Despite significant advances in medicine over the past 30 years, the I.V. bag had been largely unchanged. The last major upgrade was the switch from glass containers to plastic flexible I.V. bags in the 1970s. Hospira completely redesigned the traditional I.V. bag to develop the VisIV container and help address three critical hospital needs: environmental waste, medical errors and caregiver safety. Through its multilayer plastic film, the VisIV container is the first plastic large-volume flexible I.V. container to require no overwrap. The container results in approximately 40 to 70 percent less waste than other flexible I.V. containers, helping reduce hospitals' environmental impact and disposal fees.

90 percent of all hospital patients having some form of intravenous (I.V.) therapy

The VisIV container results in approximately 40 to 70 percent less waste than other flexible I.V. containers.

Washington Department of Ecology/ WashingtonManufacturing Services (WMS) (Washington State’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd. (Ross), and the PollutionPreventionResourceCenter (PPRC).

Collectively, the pilot projects resulted in over $1.38 million annually in productivity and environmental savings for the three companies, while also reducing, at least:

The project participants utilized pollution prevention strategies during the course of lean manufacturing implementation to reduce wastes, increase manufacturing efficiency, and streamline operations. From a pollution prevention standpoint, the projects achieved reductions in raw material use, energy and water consumption, solid waste and hazardous waste generation, air emissions, water use and wastewater discharges, and use of toxic materials. From a lean standpoint, additional savings accrued in increased productivity, reduced defects, better use of floor space, and labor efficiencies.

The savings in material, waste, and labor for Canyon Creek are $1.1M per year with potential for additional savings when all pending actions are completed (labor savings are ~ $624K).

The savings in material, waste, energy, and labor for Lasco Bathware are about $132,000 per year, with potential for additional savings when all pending actions are completed (labor savings are ~ $31K).

· Reduced solid waste by 33,000 pounds/year including paint solids and shrink wrap;

· Reduced wastewater by 21,000 gallons/year by determining that all of the white wash water could be reused;

The cost savings in material, waste, wastewater, and labor for Columbia Paint & Coatings are about $138,600 per year (labor savings are ~ $91K).

Since inception, our activities have resulted in the diversion of 37,500 tons (75 million pounds) of construction materials from area landfills. We currently divert approximately 6,000 tons of material annually, which is measured indirectly by estimating the volume and weight of our average inventory at the stores (and on-site sales) and multiplying by the number of inventory turns during the year.

Much more impressive, but challenging to fully document, are the resource savings (energy and materials) and the pollution prevented (solid and hazardous waste and CO₂ emissions) from substituting reused materials for new products.

Over 10 years, the ReUseCenter and DeConstruction Services have saved our customers and donors over $33 million. Roughly $29 million in savings have been realized by our customers who on average receive a 75% discount versus an equivalent new product. Over $2 million have been saved by our donor base that is eligible for tax deductions equal to the value of the materials. Another $2 million has been saved by our donors, many of whom would be paying tipping fees of $30-$70 per ton to dispose of these materials in local C&D landfills.

With financial assistance from EPA Region 5, in 2003 the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Environmental Science and Services Division (ESSD) began working to promote best management practices and stewardship for parks through the State Park Stewardship Initiative. In early 2004, as a result of this ESSD initiative, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Parks and Recreation Division (PRD), in partnership with ESSD, formed a Green Initiatives Team charged with researching and testing environmentally preferred management practices and products for use at state parks, recreation areas, boating access sites, and state harbors.

The State Park Stewardship Initiative - Green Initiatives Team project has proven very successful at furthering pollution prevention in Michigan by increasing awareness among park officials of the consequences that their operation can have on the environment and their future operations, as well as serving as the first step in promoting pollution prevention to the 28 million people who visit Michigan’s state parks each year.

The reduction of fossil fuel consumption has led to a significant reduction in air emissions (both criteria air pollutants and greenhouse gases). Assuming that the reduction in fossil fuel usage all comes from natural gas, the pinch project has resulted in a decrease of ~65 tons of criteria air pollutants and a decrease of ~50,250 tons of CO₂ emissions annually.

Additionally, through internal water reuse and recycling projects, fresh water savings of ~1.0 million gallons per day, a decrease in effluent flow to the regional POTW (Publicly Owned Treatment Works) of ~1.6 million gallons per day and a decrease in average effluent temperature of 7^° Fahrenheit were achieved.

The total project cost, including both phases and the engineering studies, was $4,500,000. The primary project savings come from reducing natural gas consumption, fresh water usage and wastewater treatment fees.

Reducing waste generation and improving process efficiencies in its semiconductor manufacturing operations has been a continual focus at IBM Burlington. Each year, many thousands of silicon wafers reach the end of their useful life or are rejected for a number of reasons before being shipped to a customer. Historically, the scrap silicon from wafer manufacturing operations was ground and sent to a landfill for disposal. IBM monitor wafers at the end of their life are now being sold to the manufacturers of solar panels as raw material for the production of photovoltaic cells. Patterned product wafers, however, presented a challenge, as wafers bearing recoverable chip architecture could not be used. IBM Burlington’s engineers designed a technique for removal of the proprietary patterns from product wafers through a novel process, allowing their reuse for solar cell manufacturing. Normal pattern stripping would involve the use of corrosive acids such as H2SO4, HF, HNO3, and Ozone. The new process avoids the use of corrosive chemicals, removing the pattern using an abrasive pad, water and slurry with the pattern materials coming off as a solid. By requiring fewer processing steps at the reclaim vendor, this project provides chemical and manufacturing cost savings beyond the IBM Burlington plant operations. The project continues to have significant environmental benefits for IBM -- reducing the amount of waste disposed and contributing to the development and manufacture of alternative energy devices, i.e., solar panels -- and the potential of creating similar benefits within the semiconductor industry worldwide.

IBM Burlington also received honorable mention awards for its energy and water conservation programs.

By converting to wood power, the NWPP meets the definition of pollution prevention by:

- Reducing the use of coal, a fossil fuel; instead using wood, a renewable, carbon-neutral fuel

- Reducing air emissions by thousands of tons each year (including reducing nitrogen oxide

emissions by more than 75%, sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 95%, and mercury

- Reusing existing plant rather than building a new plant with all associated new equipment

- Recycling a waste product, low-grade wood, turning it into a “green power” fuel

The NWPP is now one of the lowest-emitting biomass power plants operating in New England.

This article provides insight to the increasing concerns about “body burden” associated with persistent toxic chemicals. These chemicals build up in food, animals and people. This article highlights a technique known as body burden testing, or biomonitoring, to study the levels of toxic chemicals. The National Geographic deserves recognition for printing this article to increase public awareness of how toxic chemicals are building up in our bodies. By creating awareness, the public will better understand the need to address the need for reforming chemicals policy in the United States.

This report not only details the efforts of one of the largest cities in the US to address its environmental impact, but serves as a model for other municipalities, regardless of size, on the various components of an Environmental Management System. With P2 as the cornerstone of its efforts, Dallas is implementing it s EMS city-wide.

Kentucky Division of Complaince, P2 Center, and Business Environmental Assistance Program