Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The initiation of pollution prevention efforts occurs within organizations and represents
a form of change, or innovation. To succeed it is important to get the science right and the
innovation must (1) be testable and implementable at small scales, (2) represent an observ-
able improvement over existing conditions, (3) be culturally acceptable (in the corporate/
organizational and social senses), (4) be economically feasible, and (5) be convenient to
implement. These five conditions characterize successful innovations (Rogers 1995).
What follows is a planning process based on the experiences of implementing a suc-
cessful pollution prevention effort at a major manufacturing company (Rogers et al. 2006).
This process contains the basic elements of plans, incorporates scientific aspects of the
geologic environment and contaminant properties, and recognizes the social context for
implementation.
13.3.1
Step 1: Establishing Objectives and Gathering Background Data
Establishing objectives or goals for pollution prevention provides a baseline for measuring
success. Making decisions with better information can avoid the specification of arbitrary
objectives and goals, and this information can be obtained with targeted data collection
and evaluation. This workflow will help with the attainment of goals and focus on limited
resources where they will produce maximum benefit. It is recommended these data are
collected:
• Mass and volumes of each type of solid wastes generated, including
• Solid wastes such as wood and paper products, plastic, metals, glass, etc.
• Regulated solid wastes
• Regulated hazardous wastes
• Mass and volumes of liquid wastes generated, including
• Stormwater volumes and content
• Sanitary discharge volumes
• Industrial wastewater volumes and contents
• Regulated liquid wastes in containers
• Regulated liquid hazardous wastes in containers
• Mass and volumes of air emissions generated, including
• VOC emissions
• Particulate emissions
• Heavy metal emissions
• All other identifiable air emissions
• Energy
• Sources, types, consumption, and rates through time
• Energy loss
• Purchasing habits
• Bulk containers compared to smaller containers and amounts
• Types of containers (e.g., gallon containers vs. spray cans)
• Packaging (plastic vs. cardboard or biodegradable material)
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