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POLLUTION PREVENTION (P2)

Kent County Waste Exchange

Pollution Prevention: A Guiding Social Principle

Sustainable Business Practices

Government Actions

Cleaner Technologies and Processes

Safe Products

National Pollution Prevention Policy

Definitions of Pollution Prevention and Source Reduction

Specific Pollution Prevention Approaches

Benefits of P2 for Individuals

Pollution Prevention for Businesses

Benefits of P2 for State Agencies

Benefits of P2 for Health Departments

P2 and Greenhouse Gas Reduction

"Pollution prevention pays," say several of the nation's leading corporations. Increasingly, the nation is coming to understand prevention's value—as an environmental strategy, as a sustainable business practice, as a fundamental principle for all our society.

P2 is also a vehicle for "reinventing" traditional programs and devising innovative alternative strategies to protect public health and the environment. It is a key element of new initiatives to focus attention on reducing risks from persistent, bioaccumulative toxic pollutants in the air, in water, and on land; to promote environmental justice and urban environmental quality; to empower state and tribal programs; to lower the incidence of climate change; and to demonstrate the results and benefits of our labors.

In addition, incorporating P2 into programs that encourage environmentally preferable purchasing and corporate eco-efficiency, and using P2 as a building block for private sector environmental performance and sustainability is an important government function.

It was perhaps less than 20 years ago that the only measurable aspect of pollution prevention at EPA was its waste minimization activity. In the early 1980s, prevention was largely limited to a few specific facility projects, where some companies were able to identify and pick prevention's "low-hanging fruit." By the late 1980s, the prevention concept had attracted and galvanized EPA policy makers. P2 gained momentum with the passage of national legislation in 1990 and the implementation of a series of EPA prevention-specific programs.

By the mid 1990s, the Agency had shifted into a third phase—greater institutionalization of prevention approaches into its mainstream activities, including regulations, permitting, technical assistance, compliance and enforcement.

Though the Agency had made significant strides towards its pollution prevention goal, the ideal of making P2 the standard way of doing business has yet to be reached.

Pollution Prevention: A Guiding Social Principle

United States environmental policy is based upon the environmental management hierarchy, which directs us to prevent pollution in the first place, whenever feasible. Educating industry and the general public to the virtues of prevention is necessary to change from a culture that tolerates pollution to a sustainable one which increasingly eliminates pollution at the source. Kent County's objectives include the following:

	Foster prevention awareness across society, but especially among our children.
	Engage the environmental, environmental justice, labor, consumer, and other social sectors as partners in prevention.
	Promote P2 oriented community college and university instruction, especially for technicians, engineers, scientists and business students who will be primary prevention stewards.
	Partner with the public health community to demonstrate that "pollution prevention is disease prevention."
	Champion prevention as the environmental principle of first choice in the international community.

Sustainable Business Practices

Although American industry and business is responsible for much of the nation's pollution, these same institutions are also critical to prevent pollution in the future. Industry, through eco-efficiency, sustainable development and other movements, should play a leadership role in pollution source reduction. Kent County's objectives include the following:

	Increase partnerships with industry to advance eco-efficiency and other approaches that shift businesses "beyond compliance" and increase corporate environmental stewardship and private sector P2 infrastructure.
	Assist businesses to understand the full spectrum of their environmental costs, and to integrate environmental factors into their corporate cost and materials accounting and decision-making processes.
	Identify approaches and incentives to engage the larger financial sector (investment community, bankers, insurance underwriters, mutual fund managers, etc.) to support prevention.
	Support government small business assistance programs, who provide environmental information in a business context, to promote both source reduction and regulatory compliance.
	Utilize the rapid growth of corporate environmental management systems to promote prevention.

Government Actions

Kent County's overall objective is to integrate P2 into its regulatory and other mainstream programs, so it truly becomes the Agency's "principle of first choice" in all its endeavors. More specific objectives include the following:

	Incorporate multi-media, prevention approaches or alternatives into key rules, permitting, and compliance assistance activities, and through regulatory enforcement efforts such as supplemental environmental projects.
	Target the top industrial polluters, and the worst pollutants, for special federal, state, tribal actions and private sector initiatives to promote pollution prevention.
	Improve the quality and quantity of P2 information and assistance available to state and tribal P2 Programs.
	Promote P2 in new programs, especially those undertaken protect children's health, improve urban environmental quality, and foster environmental justice.

Cleaner Technologies and Processes

Industry can hardly abandon standard chemical use and production processes without preferable and reliable options, and Kent County is helping to identify some innovative and successful alternatives. The County's overall objective is to help companies continuously identify and apply cleaner technologies and practices. More specific objectives include the following:

	Help industry make more informed environmental decisions about the use of alternative chemicals, processes, and technologies to prevent pollution.
	Foster chemical methods that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of toxic substance during the design, manufacture and use of chemical products and processes.
	Identify and reduce risks to human health and the environment from existing and future exposure to priority persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTs) in particular.
	Develop new P2 tools which increase the understanding and use of important P2 concepts, such as life-cycle assessment.
	Bring the influence of compliance and regulatory enforcement to bear on new prevention technology development and application.
	Promote P2 assessment methodologies that enable firms to make more informed and independent decisions about hazardous chemical use when there is very limited data on risk.

Safe Products

Although toxic emissions are decreasing, the creation and use of toxics in American society is on the rise -- and the source of these increased toxics is often the products we use. Consumers have a right to know what chemicals are in the products and services they purchase, and the hazards associated with those chemicals. Kent County's overall objective is to ensure safe consumer products and services including:

	Make information about hazardous chemicals more widely available to the public.
	Foster P2, empower consumer choice, and improve consumer understanding of safe use, environmental, and health information on household consumer product labels.
	Provide leadership through environmentally preferable procurement and other administrative processes.
	Working with the USEPA and DNREC establish a foundation of policy in defining environmentally preferable products for our society, with a particular emphasis on protecting children's health.

National Pollution Prevention Policy

Under Section 6602 (b) of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, Congress established a national policy that:

	pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source whenever feasible;
	pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an environmentally safe manner whenever feasible;
	pollution that cannot be prevented or recycled should be treated in an environmentally safe manner whenever feasible; and
	disposal or other release into the environment should be employed only as a last resort and should be conducted in an environmentally safe manner.

Definitions of Pollution Prevention and Source Reduction

Pollution prevention means "source reduction," as defined under the Pollution Prevention Act, and other practices that reduce or eliminate the creation of pollutants through:

	increased efficiency in the use of raw materials, energy, water, or other resources, or
	protection of natural resources by conservation.

The Pollution Prevention Act defines "source reduction" to mean any practice which:

	reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant entering any waste stream or otherwise released into the environment (including fugitive emissions) prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal; and
	reduces the hazards to public health and the environment associated with the release of such substances, pollutants, or contaminants.

The term includes: equipment or technology modifications, process or procedure modifications, reformulation or redesign or products, substitution of raw materials, and improvements in housekeeping, maintenance, training, or inventory control.

Specific Pollution Prevention Approaches

Pollution prevention approaches can be applied to all pollution-generating activities, including those found in the energy, agriculture, governmental, consumer, as well as industrial sectors. The impairment of wetlands, ground water sources, and other critical resources constitutes pollution, and prevention practices may be essential for preserving these resources. These practices may include conservation techniques and changes in management practices to prevent harm to sensitive ecosystems. Pollution prevention does not include practices that create new risks of concern.

In the agricultural sector, pollution prevention approaches include:

	reducing the use of water and chemical inputs;
	adoption of less environmentally harmful pesticides or cultivation of crop strains with natural resistance to pests; and
	protection of sensitive areas.

In the energy sector, pollution prevention can reduce environmental damages from extraction, processing, transport, and combustion of fuels. Pollution prevention approaches include:

	increasing efficiency in energy use;
	substituting environmentally benign fuel sources; and
	design changes that reduce the demand for energy.

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Practices Outside the Definition

Under the Pollution Prevention Act, recycling, energy recovery, treatment, and disposal are not included within the definition of pollution prevention. Some practices commonly described as "in-process recycling" may qualify as pollution prevention. Recycling that is conducted in an environmentally sound manner shares many of the advantages of prevention—it can reduce the need for treatment or disposal, and conserve energy and resources.

The goal of the Pollution Prevention Act is to reduce waste at the source, before it is generated. Kent County's P2 program is designed to facilitate the incorporation of pollution prevention concepts and principles into the daily operations of other government agencies, businesses, manufacturers, nonprofit organizations, and individuals.

EPA has a number of other P2 programs that Kent County supoports. These include:

	EPA's Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Strategy focuses attention on reducing risks from highly toxic substances that can build up in the food chain to levels harmful to human health.
	The EPA Green Products effort promotes environmentally preferable purchasing and safe labeling. These programs encourage the consideration of environmental factors in the purchasing and use of products.
	EPA's Business Practices Initiatives aim to facilitate adoption of P2 through changes in finance and business management. Featured programs include environmental assistance to small businesses, P2 Finance, the Voluntary Standards Network, and the Environmental Accounting Project.
	EPA's Design for Environment (DfE) & Green Chemistry are industry partnerships that fosters design and process modifications to reduce negative environmental impacts.
	EPA administers P2 Grants designed to promote P2 concepts and practices at the state, tribal, and local level. These grant programs include Pollution Prevention Incentives for States (PPIS), Pollution Prevention Incentives for Tribes, Environmental Justice through Pollution Prevention (EJP2), and the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2RX).

Benefits of P2 for Individuals

Individuals can undertake a wide range of P2 activities that offer environmental and economic benefits. The extraction and use of raw materials creates pollution and uses energy. By changing the way we use products and resources we can prevent pollution and often save money in the process. Specific benefits of P2 activities include:

	Cleaner air and water
	Less solid waste in landfills
	Conservation of natural resources
	Reduced soil erosion
	Savings on electric and water bills
	Increased property value

P2 Implementation

Have you ever wondered what you can do to prevent pollution? The following information allows you to incorporate pollution prevention into your daily life:

The following activities in the home help consumers prevent pollution in their communities.

Reduce driving time. Cars are big contributors to air pollution problems. Consider other possibilities whenever feasible: carpool, bike, walk, or use mass transit as part of your daily routine. If you drive, buy an energy-efficient automobile and keep its engine well-tuned.

Be careful with auto waste. Used oil can contaminate water supplies; used auto batteries contain lead, lead sulfate, and sulfuric acid which can leak into soil. Take used oil, auto batteries, and auto tires to a recycling center or an appropriate disposal facility.

Plant trees and shrubs. Trees in your yard may reduce heating and cooling costs and curb soil erosion. In addition, they beautify your property and may increase its value. Be sure to compost leaves, grass, and brush clippings and apply only as much fertilizer as needed.

Be an environmental consumer. The following items will help you be an environmental consumer:

	Reuse and recycle paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, scrap metal, and yard wastes.
	Look for recycling symbol on products you buy. Such symbols identify recycled or recyclable products.
	Avoid buying products that use unnecessary packaging - either plastic or paper.
	Buy household goods and foods in bulk to minimize packaging waste.
	Buy rechargeable batteries for flashlights, toys, and household items.
	Carry your own reusable shopping bag.
	Consider using reusable mugs, glasses, dishes, cloth towels and sponges.
	Encourage your community and your school to begin recycling.
	Maintain and repair products.
	Donate usable materials to charities or thrift shops.
	Patronize local businesses and buy locally-produced foods and goods, both to promote a vital local community and prevent pollution generated by travel and shipping.
	BUY green products whenever possible. For more information on buying green click on the link here Green Products.

Limit household hazardous waste. Purchase products containing toxic ingredients only when you cannot avoid using them and buy only as much as you need. Store hazardous products and materials carefully. Recycle unwanted hazardous products such as oil-based paint or find alternative uses. The Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA) sponsors a HHW collection days. For a chart covering the proper way to handle household hazardous waste click here Household Hazardous Waste Chart. For a schedule of the nearest collection day, click here DSWA Home Page.

Be careful with pesticides. Apply pesticides such as insecticides and herbicides carefully if they must be used. When using pesticides in or around your home, purchase only the amount needed and follow the instructions on the package carefully. Whenever possible, use natural pest-control methods rather than chemical pesticides. Reduce run-off by maintaining ample grass cover and shrubs.

Be aware of the dangers of lead to children. Keep kids away from surfaces covered with lead-based paint and renovations of older buildings. Test your drinking water to be sure it does not contain harmful levels of lead or other contaminants.

Reduce smoke, radon, asbestos and other indoor-air pollutants. Many stores sell test kits for measuring radon levels. A reading above 4 picocuries per liter could indicate a problem. When combined with radon, tobacco smoke further increases one's chance of developing lung cancer. Make your environment a smoke-free environment.

Water Conservation

More efficient water use begins with individuals, in the home and place of work. Heating and pumping water requires chemicals and energy. When we waste less water, we conserve fuel, and reduce the pollution generated by burning fuel and treating water with chemicals. Taking these and other steps, and encouraging others to do so, makes good economic as well as environmental sense.

In the Bathroom

	Install a toilet dam or plastic bottle in your toilet tank.
	Install a water-efficient showerhead (2.5 gallons or less per minute).
	Take short showers and draw less water for baths.
	When you buy a new toilet, purchase a low flow model (1.6 gallons or less per flush).
	Check your toilet for "silent" leaks by placing a little food coloring in the tank and seeing if it leaks into the bowl.
	Turn off water while brushing teeth and shaving.

In the Kitchen or Laundry

	Compost your food scraps rather than using a garbage disposal in your sink.
	Keep a gallon of drinking water in the refrigerator rather than running the tap for cold water.
	Run your washing machine with a full load of clothes. Wash with warm water instead of hot, rinse with cold water instead of warm. Wash with cold water when you can. (When possible) hang your wash out to dry.

Outdoors

	Install a drip-irrigation water system for valuable plants.
	Use drought-tolerant plants and grasses for landscaping and reduce grass-covered areas.
	Cut your grass at least three inches high to shade the roots, making it more drought tolerant; keep your mower sharp for the healthiest grass.
	Try to water only in the evening or very early morning to minimize evaporation.
	If you use porous pavement (gravel is a good example) instead of asphalt for driveways and walkways, the rain can recharge groundwater supplies instead of running off and contributing to erosion.
	Use a broom instead of a hose to clean off your driveway or sidewalk.
	Wash your car less often or wash it at a car wash where they clean and recycle the water. If you do wash your car at home, use a bucket of soapy water rather than running the hose. Keep a spring-loaded nozzle on the hose. Back to Top Energy Conservation The following tips will help curb energy use at home: Turn down the Thermostat. Ideally, keep your home heated to 68 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 60 at night. Use extra blankets and sweaters instead of turning up the heat. Likewise, in the summer, dress cool to save on air conditioning costs and energy. Lower your water temperature. Turn your heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. You'll cut your water-heating costs by 6-10 percent. Purchase Energy Efficient Products and Equipment. By looking for the Energy Star label on products and equipment, you can reduce your energy bill by 30 percent and your electric lighting charges by 40 percent while cutting pollution. Insulate the house. Make sure your house is well insulated and, if heated or cooled, never leave windows or doors open. Raise shades on winter days; lower them in the summer. Seal all leaks. Block windows and doors with weatherstrip tape and inexpensive door sweeps and install blinds to reduce outside heat transfer. Install storm windows—they are added insulation for your home. Insulate pipes and fixtures. Insulate the hot water heater and heating and cooling pipes. An insulation blanket for a water heater will pay for itself in a year or less and will reduce heat loss by 25-40 percent. Seal little holes around water pipes and stuff insulation into big holes around plumbing fixtures. Also, by covering waterbeds, you produce insulation and save up to 1/3 of the energy it uses. Replace your showerhead. By using a low-flow showerhead, you reduce water consumption and energy usage to heat the water. They pay for themselves in only four months. Turn unused appliances and equipment off. Turn off equipment and lights at night and on weekend - unplug appliances when they are not in use. Use fluorescent lighting. By replacing your light fixtures with energy conserving fluorescent bulbs, you will save 75 percent of the energy used with incandescent bulbs. If you currently have fluorescent lighting, consider using a more efficient type that has an electronic ballast that burns cooler. Clean or replace filters regularly. Be sure to check furnace, air-conditioner, and heat pump filters regularly. By cleaning your heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, your units will last longer, avoid costly down time, and improve indoor air quality. Increase natural light. Paint your exterior and interior walls in a light color so more light is reflected. Paint the edges of the window in white so more light reflected inside. During the day, open blinds to bring in natural light instead of turning on lights. Reduce paper usage. By double siding on copiers, reusing single-sided paper, using electronic mail, and circulating documents with routing slips, an organization can save a significant amount of energy and natural resources. One ton of waste paper saves enough energy to power an average home for 6 months. Use public transportation or carpool. Not only does this save energy costs, but it extends the life of your vehicle Back to Top

Pollution Prevention for Businesses

P2 practices can improve a business's bottom line through reduced raw material and energy costs, treatment and disposal expenses, and associated labor costs. Many P2 strategies, such as substituting toxic materials with safer alternatives, are simple and inexpensive.

P2 practices reduce or eliminate:

	Treatment, disposal, and associated and labor costs
	Wildlife and habitat damage
	Property devaluation
	Remediation costs
	Civil and criminal fines
	Permit fees
	Insurance costs
	Process disruption
	Down time

Other key P2 benefits include:

Enhanced Public Image. Consumers more favorably view businesses that adopt and practice P2 strategies, and the marketing of these practices can increase profits.

Increased Productivity and Efficiency. P2 assessments help organizations identify opportunities to decrease raw material usage, eliminate unnecessary operations, increase throughput, reduce off-spec product generation, and improve yields.

Doing More With Less

United Musical Instruments in Nogales, Arizona, worked with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's Pollution Prevention Unit to implement a closed loop system that reduced water use by 500,000 gallons per year, cut lab fees, and decreased sludge generation. These activities reduced hazardous waste by 58 percent in 3 years and saved the company $127,000 in the first year alone.

Reduced Regulatory Burden. Improving environmental performance and reaching performance goals that go beyond compliance are ways to reduce regulatory burdens.

Decreased Liability. Handling hazardous and toxic materials brings high liability should an accident occur. Organizations that substitute toxic materials with safer alternatives reduce the liability and high costs associated with an unsafe environment.

Improved Environmental and Health Quality. P2 methods can help reduce the air, water, and land pollution that results from waste generation, treatment, and disposal, reduce worker and resident health risks and the environmental risks associated with pollutant emissions, and conserve natural resources and landfill space.

P2 Implementation

Workplace P2 A to Z

Below is an A to Z listing of how to encourage pollution prevention in the workplace.

Assign life cycle responsibility to production management, linking cost and liability.

Be the unsinkable champion of source reduction.

Charge the true cost of waste created to the operating units and make them responsible for liabilities, management, and costs of the waste stream.

Design products for the environment with zero ultimate waste potential and cradle to grave functionality.

Educate each individual on what pollution prevention means.

Focus on optimizing the use of resources consumed in your process.

Goals for pollution prevention need to be established so that everyone in the organization feels empowered to put them into practice.

Saving the Bay Through P2

In 1998, 250 businesses participated in the "Businesses for the Bay" program and prevented more than 74 million pounds of waste from entering the Chesapeake Bay watershed. They also saved more than $900,000. Participants, ranging from marinas and gas stations to utilities and chemical manufacturers, developed preventive maintenacnce programs, improved procurement practices, modified manufacturing processes, and used alternative, less toxic products to achieve these results.

Have pollution prevention incorporated into performance evaluations for middle management.

Incorporate pollution prevention into the development of new products and processes.

Just instill a philosophy of continuous improvement.

Keep working hard with the non-believers - be patient.

Link zero discharge, total quality management and pollution prevention into your program.

Management support needs to be enlisted. Have Management demonstrate their support by providing a written policy statement.

Never let leaks persist.

Organize innovative trainings for teaching pollution prevention concepts.

Plan your waste reduction work and work your waste reduction plan.

Quickly shift from paper systems to paperless communications.

Recycling structures can be created that also compliments source reduction.

Seek fundamental understanding of the sources of waste.

Think about sharing the money saved through pollution prevention with the originator(s) of the idea.

Use and develop life cycle studies for processes and products.

Value personnel input on ways to improve the processes.

Work at publicizing your pollution prevention accomplishments.

Xeriscape - use low water consumption, drought resistant native plants and low impact irrigation in landscaping

You need to establish a culture of not-wasting.

Zero waste should be the goal.

Kent County has also developed a Waste Exchange for companies who have surplus materials, off-specification materials, unusual wastes and think that another company may require these as raw materials for their operations. To go to the Waste Exchange page click here Waste Exchange.

Benefits of P2 for Governmental Agencies

Governmental agencies can reap many of the same benefits that businesses get from implementing P2 strategies. Additionally, agencies often find that integrating P2 into their enforcement and compliance activities helps improve the effectiveness of those programs.

	P2 helps decrease the amount of regulatory work needed in the first place. By integrating P2 into the permitting process, agencies encourage regulated businesses to improve environmental performance and move beyond compliance.
	Integrating P2 into enforcement proceedings can improve the long-term effectiveness of permitting. By requiring violators to implement P2 practices as part of an enforcement action, regulators can provide them with a long-term solution to the initial problems.
	Like businesses, agencies often find that implementing P2 techniques in their own operations can improve efficiency and productivity, while also helping the environment.

P2 Implementation

Examples

To learn more about the kinds of P2 activities state agencies have implemented, visit the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable's (NPPR) Innovation and Integration page by clicking here NPPR Web Page.

The NPPR site also contains a State Regulatory Integration Activities page that provides links to state environmental agencies that have successfully included P2 in their regulatory programs.

Benefits of P2 for Health Departments

Pollution prevention brings environmental protection together with disease protection. When we prevent environmental problems we protect human health in a variety of ways.

The philosophical framework of pollution prevention parallels that of public health, with its focus on primary prevention, education, technical assistance, and voluntary action.

Below are just a few examples of how pollution prevention and public health intersect:

	By reducing the hazards of certain industrial processes, we prevent workers from being exposed to those hazards
	By minimizing or eliminating the use and production of hazardous substances we can prevent those substances from entering the air, water, soil, and food chain.
	By finding alternative and substitute products for hazardous materials used in industrial processes and by consumers, we reduce the overall harmful effects both to human health and to the environment.

P2 Implementation

Assessing of Pollution Prevention Opportunities:

	Identify where the opportunities for pollution prevention exist: small businesses in the community which use toxic materials, small and large quantity hazardous waste generators, and wastewater treatment plants.
	Identify groups in the community dealing with toxic waste and its reduction, local chambers of commerce, and local departments of labor. Work with these groups to address P2.
	Measure the community's perceptions, attitudes, and needs to find out where and how pollution prevention efforts are or can be most effective.
	Identify practices within the health department (in both business offices and clinics) that create environmental hazards and/or raise the need for increased energy efficiency.

Building Pollution Prevention into Policy Development:

	Use information gained through the assessment process to determine the need for resources and areas where pollution prevention policies could strengthen efforts to reduce use of and human exposure to hazardous substances.
	Draft local ordinances encouraging substitution and other pollution prevention methods by individuals and businesses in areas with high rates of exposure to toxic substances.
	Work with local and state legislative bodies to develop incentives for local businesses engaged in pollution prevention efforts.
	Draft internal procurement and disposal procedures which prevent pollution for all local agencies.

Ensuring Community Access to Pollution Prevention Strategies and Resources Through:

...Partnership activities:

	Work with businesses, schools, environmental organizations, community groups, and others who may already be implementing pollution prevention strategies.
	Form partnerships with the private sector, and reward companies and businesses that implement pollution prevention activities.
	Work with the numerous regional, state, and local agencies which have an interest in pollution prevention.

...Community outreach/environmental justice:

	Ensure that all populations in the community in need of information on pollution prevention get timely and accurate assistance.
	Target pollution prevention activities to communities which face exposure to multiple pollutants and hazards.

...Educational activities:

	Be an advocate of reducing risks through pollution prevention.
	Be aware of P2 information resources and act as information broker and resource for others in the community.
	Continue to educate the public on ways to eliminate household hazardous waste and substitute safer products for toxic ones.

...Enforcement activities:

	Encourage increased compliance with Federal and state environmental regulations; in some cases, encourage companies to go beyond compliance through pollution prevention.
	Educate the regulated community on ways to achieve compliance through pollution prevention.
	Report environmental health and safety risks in order to find opportunities for pollution prevention.
	Help reduce the waste from small quantity hazardous waste generators, and help those operators better manage the waste they generate.
	Hold accountable those who have committed to pollution prevention activities.

...In-house activities:

	Prepare your department to be a community resource. This can be achieved by maintaining a data bank of the latest environmentally sound technical innovations, a list of safer product substitutions, and other pollution prevention information to share with the public.
	Reduce energy use.
	Promote reuse of raw materials over recycling.
	Substitute products that harm the environment with existing safer alternatives, such as non-bleached paper, water-based industrial solvents which do not emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), renewable fuels, and other products.

P2 and Greenhouse Gas Reduction

Many human activities generate carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. Listed below are the reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that result from ten major P2 activities at home.

10. Plant a couple of additional trees around your home.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 20 LBS/YEAR

9. Use a push mower to cut your lawn instead of a power mower.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 80 LBS/YEAR

8. Replace your home's refrigerator with a high-efficiency model.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 220 LBS/YEAR

7. Buy food and other products with reusable or recyclable packaging instead of those in non-recyclable packaging.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 230 LBS/YEAR

6. Replace your current washing machine with a low-energy, low-water use machine.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 440 LBS/YEAR

5. Install a solar hot water system to help provide your hot water.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 720 LBS/YEAR

4. Recycle all of your home's waste newsprint, cardboard, glass, and metal.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 850 LBS/YEAR

3. Leave your car at home two days a week (walk, bike, or take the bus or subway to work instead).

CO₂ REDUCTION = 1,590 LBS/YEAR

2. Insulate your home, tune up your furnace, and install energy-efficient showerheads.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 2,480 LBS/YEAR

1. Purchase a fuel-efficient car (rated at 32 mpg or more) to replace your most frequently used automobile.

CO₂ REDUCTION = 5,600 LBS/YEAR

If your family did all of the items above, you could cut CO₂ emissions by more than 11,000 lbs per year!

DNREC has published a number of pollution prevention guides for several industries. You can view these by clicking the link below:

DNREC P2 Guides

POLLUTION PREVENTION (P2)

P2 Implementation

Water Conservation

Energy Conservation

P2 Implementation

Workplace P2 A to Z

P2 Implementation

Examples

P2 Implementation

Assessing of Pollution Prevention Opportunities:

Building Pollution Prevention into Policy Development:

Ensuring Community Access to Pollution Prevention Strategies and Resources Through: