Pollution Prevention Program
Dept. of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control
March 1995
Thomas R. Carper, Governor, Delaware
Christophe A.G. Tulou, Secretary,
DNREC
Pollution Prevention Program:
Philip Cherry, Director
Andrea
Farrell, Manager
Diane Jackewicz, Graphics Specialist
Edits for Internet version by EPA 3/96 and by Ronald Lee Still, 11/13/96.
Government working cooperatively with industry to achieve common goals was the basis behind the establishment of the Pollution Prevention Program in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) in 1990. The Pollution Prevention Program works with businesses and industrial facilities to identify ways to move up the waste management hierarchy, from managing waste to reducing or eliminating waste generation:
| Waste Management Hierarchy | |||
| Environmental Impacts | Economic Impacts | ||
| Reduced or Eliminated | Source Reduction/Pollution Prevention | Productive Costs> | Savings |
| ^ Yes |
^ Recycling |
^ Costs/Savings |
|
| ^ Yes |
^ Treatment |
^ Non-Productive Costs |
|
| ^ Yes |
^ Disposal |
^ Non-Productive Costs |
|
Changes in waste management practices to source reduction/pollution prevention approaches often result not only in environmental benefits, but economic benefits as well. If waste is not generated, there are no costs involved in handling of disposing of it. Investments in pollution prevention are often recouped through reduced waste management costs in addition to potential process and product improvements.
Since its establishment, the P2 Program has focused both inwardly, within DNREC and other agencies in state government, and outwardly to the business, industrial, agricultural, educational and environmental communities to identify and eliminate barriers to pollution prevention and to create incentives for moving up the waste management hierarchy to pollution prevention. These efforts include providing various services in support of waste reduction efforts and evaluating new and alternative approaches by regulatory programs to facilitate pollution prevention.
This report discusses the P2 Program's activities during 1994, as well as future program plans and funding status. Accomplishments during 1991 through 1993 are included in previous annual reports.
The Pollution Prevention Industry Roundtable is a quarterly meeting of representatives form industrial facilities throughout the state to share information regarding their pollution prevention and recycling activities. Presentations are provided on topics of interest to the participants, such as solvent substitutes and employee awareness programs. Participation in the Pollution Prevention Industry Roundtable has included over 125 industrial representatives, with an average meeting attendance of 25-30 people. In 1994, the Majority of Roundtable meetings were hosted by industrial facilities, including Hercules' Middletown Plant, Delmarva Power's Indian River Power Plant and Kraft General Foods in Dover. AS hosts, the facilities provided tours of their plants as well as presentations on their waste reduction programs.
The first steps in moving up the waste management hierarchy are to identify where a company's wastes are being generated and to figure out if that generation is a necessary result of the activity or if it is preventable. In 1994, P2 Program staff began providing free, confidential, non-regulatory waste reduction assessments, Eight waste reduction assessments were conducted during this first year. Following each assessment, a confidential report was prepared for the facility identifying waste reduction opportunities. When possible, the reports calculate potential savings and costs associated with the recommendations, as well as sources of additional information.
In 1993, the P2 Program began a project to develop pollution prevention information and provide technical assistance to food processors on cost effective waste reduction opportunities. Direct on-site technical assistance, as discussed above, was provided to 5 food processing facilities in 1994. A Pollution Prevention Guide for food processors was developed, along with a food processing section for the Waste Reduction Manual for Manufacturers. These documents were provided to all food processors in Delaware.
As part of the food processor project, a joint project has been initiated with the University of Delaware Department of Agricultural Engineering to reduce water consumption during the processing of peas and lima beans. The project will evaluate potential modifications to harvesting equipment to both increase yield and reduce the amount of dirt and stones harvested along with the crop. This project would provide benefits to both the farmer and food processor.
A notebook-style Waste Reduction Manual for Manufacturers is also available to assist a facility in developing its own waste reduction program.
Waste reduction information is made available to all Delaware businesses through the DNREC Bulletin Board System and the Waste Minimization/Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse, a joint project of DNREC and the Delaware Economic Development Office (DEDO), is part of the Delaware State Data Center's On-line Database housed at DEDO. Information included on these electronic systems include reference bibliographies of technical documents available through the P2 Program's library, case studies, and the text of all P2 Program Guides and fact sheets.
Talks and lectures on pollution prevention have been presented at numerous business groups, as well as school, civic and government groups, P2 Program staff gave approximately 20 talks and lectures in 1994.
Delaware received 2 of the 11 NICE3 grants awarded nationally by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A total of $650,000 was awarded to DNREC on behalf of the Ionsep Corporation and the Chrysler Newark Assembly Plant. The money will be used by the companies to demonstrate innovative technologies which will reduce waste generation and energy usage while increasing economic competitiveness. Ionsep will conduct a demonstration project to reduce the hazardous waste generated from electroless nickel plating operations. Chrysler will replace its current painting operations for its anti-chip coating with a powder coating system, greatly reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds.
Environmental improvement and economic development are being addressed jointly through the Green Industries Initiative. A collaborative effort between DNREC and DEDO since 1992, the Green Industries Initiative offers financial and technical assistance to companies that significantly reduce their waste generation, utilize recycled materials in their manufacturing processes, process recyclable materials, or collect and distribute recyclable materials. By the end of 1994, there were 12 companies accepted into the Initiative. A renewed marketing effort for the Initiative will be undertaken in 1995, following the hiring of a full-time Recycling Economic Development Advocate at DEDO in December, 1994. The Initiative has won awards from the U.S. EPA, the Center for Policy Alternatives, and the Council of State Governments for its innovative approach to combining economic development with environmental protection.
The Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) is a system for reporting releases and transfers of toxic chemicals that result from manufacturing operations. Twenty of Delaware's TRI reporters are participating in the Voluntary Reduction Program. The goal of the Voluntary Reduction Program is to reduce all TRI emissions by 50% statewide by the end of 1995. Progress made in reducing these emissions is being tracked through the TRI reporting system.
The P2 Program's newest partner is the Delaware Manufacturing Alliance (DMA). Recognizing potential synergies in providing business assistance, the two groups have begun coordinating efforts. DMA staff have become a regular participants in the Pollution Prevention Industry Roundtable and have invited P2 Program staff on join assistance efforts. Plans for 1995 include two joint training projects and a cooperative effort to obtain additional federal support for DMA's waste reduction assistance efforts.
Multimedia permitting is often viewed as a means to facilitate pollution prevention. To evaluate the feasibility of implementing some form of multimedia permitting in Delaware, a Multimedia Permitting Pilot Project is underway to incorporate the requirements of the Air, Hazardous Waste, Solid Waste and Water Pollution Control programs. Managed by the P2 Program, the project is a cooperative effort with these regulatory programs and the DuPont Company, which has provided industrial perspective throughout the project's development. The project will develop a permit, and permitting process, with the flexibility necessary to facilitate pollution prevention projects. Pilot facilities are being identified, and the permitting process will begin in early Spring, 1995.
As part of the project, approximately 15 DNREC permit writers attended training on identifying opportunities for promoting pollution prevention during the development of permits.
Building on draft regulations which incorporate incentives for companies to utilize pollution prevention techniques to achieve compliance, a strategy was developed to further integrate pollution prevention into the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. The strategy includes staff training on providing waste reduction technical assistance, providing pollution prevention information with permit applications, identifying and addressing the additional information needs of the regulated community, providing waste reduction technical assistance and developing ways to identify money-saving pollution prevention opportunities during the permitting process.
The P2 and Air Programs are developing a strategy for incorporating pollution prevention into the air program. The strategy will address permitting and compliance activities, in addition to continuing to promote pollution prevention options during regulatory development.
To education homeowners and apartment dwellers on pollution prevention, P2 Program is developing a new booklet, P2 & You - A Guide to Environmentally Friendly Living. The booklet will include information on pollution prevention opportunities in the home, garage, yard, and workshop, being an environmentally conscious consumer, reducing the environmental impacts of cars, and saving money as well. The booklet is targeted for distribution on Earth Day, 1995.
To provide early education on protecting the environment and instill a waste reduction ethic in Delaware's youth, DNREC developed a pollution prevention curriculum for grades K-8. The curriculum ties reducing, reusing and recycling into the basic curriculum subjects, such as history, science, and math. Over 300 teachers have been trained in using the curriculum since 1991. These teachers have the potential to reach more than 7500 students each year.
All of the projects described above will be continued during 1995. Additional initiatives being undertaken by the P2 Program in 1995 include:
The P2 and Hazardous Waste programs will conduct pollution prevention workshops for auto repair shops in the late Summer, 1995. The workshops will present pollution prevention opportunities as well as ways to utilize pollution prevention to achieve and maintain regulatory compliance.
DNREC regulatory program inspectors and DMA staff will receive training on conducting waste reduction technical assistance assessments in March, 1995. One of the joint raining projects of the P2 Program and DMA, the course will provide training to assist participants in incorporating non-regulatory pollution prevention assistance into their jobs.
The Hazardous Waste and P2 programs will conduct an experiment to evaluate several methods for providing non-regulatory pollution prevention technical assistance in conjunction with hazardous waste inspections. Methods to be evaluated include concurrent P2 staff assistance efforts and hazardous waste staff inspections, utilizing a formal referral system from the Hazardous Waste program to the P2 Program, and having the hazardous waste inspector provide non-regulatory assistance.
The State currently provides funding for 1.3 staff members in the P2 Program. Costs of the other staff member and almost all of the Program activity costs have been covered by Federal funding sources.
Pollution Prevention Incentives for States Grants from the U.S. EPA have provided funding for technical assistance, the multimedia permitting and staff training projects, the P2 Program's involvement in internal DNREC projects and external partnerships, and printing costs for the waste reduction manual and pollution prevention guides. These grants will expire in March, 1996.
The food processing project, P2 & You, and auto repair workshops are being funded by grants from the EPA Non-Point Source Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Coastal Management Program. The EPA grant will expire in March, 1995 and the NOAA grant in September, 1995.
No continued federal funding is guaranteed following expiration of these grants.
The P2 Program is the embodiment of several of the key changes in philosophy and approach being incorporated into DNREC and government as a whole. By working in partnership with industry, we have been able to achieve environmental improvement in the most efficient and cost effective manner. In some cases, the improvement has gone well beyond what was required through regulations. By providing technical assistance and information, we are enabling companies to achieve environmental goals while maintaining or improving product quality and economic performance.
This is a publication of the Pollution Prevention Program of the State of Delaware. For more information on the Pollution Prevention Program, contact the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control at 739-3822 or 739-2411.
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