An Industrial Perspective on Pollution Prevention

To environmental professionals, pollution prevention has been a part of the lexicon for over a decade. In the traditional EPA definition, pollution prevention is the practice of reducing the generation of waste at the source, rather than treating the waste stream after it has been created. Waste minimization, the initial regulatory requirement for pollution prevention, focused on decreasing the volumes and types of hazardous waste generated, however, industry also applied the same concept to air and wastewater sources.

Over time, it became increasingly clear that the task of preventing pollution was more complex than simply reducing waste from industrial process sources. Modifying existing manufacturing processes did not address the broader environmental issues associated with material supply chains, product use, and product disposal. As a result, industry’s approach to pollution prevention is beginning to address these and other challenges. One of the more significant ways that pollution prevention has changed is in the breadth of our solutions. Consider this: the original waste minimization approaches focused on local problems caused by isolated point sources from single facility manufacturing processes. Now, pioneers in new fields of study such as Industrial Ecology, are proposing sweeping changes to link together our entire industrial system in order to create sustainable solutions to global environmental and social problems.

To further examine this idea of changing breadth of solutions, consider five different approaches to managing waste:

• End-of-pipe Solutions
• Waste Minimization
• Design for the Environment (DFE) or Green Engineering
• Eco-efficiency
• Industrial Ecology

The table below summarizes some of the characteristics of each approach. The End-of-pipe approach offers the narrowest perspective, using technology to control pollutant releases or transfers, usually from the manufacturing step of the product life cycle. Waste Minimization, the next evolutionary stage, was an improvement over End-of-pipe treatment in that it reduced waste at the source. Waste Minimization, however, was still relatively narrowly focused on the manufacturing step.

The next generation of pollution prevention, Design for Environment (DfE) or Green Engineering, addressed some of the shortcomings of Waste Minimization. In DfE, a design team reviews the environmental impact of a product at each step in its entire life cycle before the product or the manufacturing process is designed. This enables the team to design the product in a way that considers the environmental impacts of the product during manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal.

The next two approaches represent a step change in pollution prevention philosophy inspired, in part, by the sustainability movement. Eco-efficiency takes DfE beyond the factory walls. Companies practicing Eco-efficiency try to maximize not only the efficiency of the entire product life cycle (material use, energy consumption, waste reduction), but also enhance their products by stressing durability and service intensity. Activities may include greater efficiency across the product life cycle including raw material substitution, alternative fuels, and greenhouse gas reduction.

There are those who believe, however, that while Eco-efficiency, is effective at reducing cost and improving efficiency it is, ultimately, not sustainable. It is argued that even the impacts of highly efficient and effective product life cycles are not projected far enough into a future where human activity will overwhelm available resources. Many consider Industrial Ecology as the ultimate of the proposed pollution prevention approaches, in which the linear product life cycles of each industry are interlinked, effectively closing the loop between waste from one process and raw materials for the next. In this way, the total materials cycle can be optimized, much like nature optimizes its self-sustaining, cyclical growth cycles.

The concept of pollution prevention has evolved from a sound justification for realizing cost savings in industrial processes to a broader approach linking industries, consumers, and the environment. Industries worldwide have embraced the idea of building pollution prevention into the basics of running their businesses, and have benefited. As a result, leading companies are exploring ways to build greater sustainable value through internal (product and process life cycle) and external (industry linkages) integration of our natural environment and business planning. Fresh thinking and an independent perspective will be critical in guiding businesses in this new, high-stakes frontier.

For additional information, contact Mr. Don Salmond at (781) 895-1053, slamondd@battelle.org.