Review these daily P2 tips and help us celebrate National Pollution Prevention Week.
Pollution prevention activities you can start today!
Whether you are just beginning to think about implementing sustainability in your workplace or are looking for additional changes you can make toward an improved triple bottom line, here are six concepts that will help get your started or get you back on track with your sustainability goals.
- Design - if you are planning any new equipment look for equipment that incorporates environmental controls or operates more efficiently, producing less pollution.
- Process change or elimination - review operations and materials used. Does equipment operate even when no product is being produced?
- Materials substitution - can a less volatile or hazardous solvent be used, reducing air pollutants?
- Material reuse - can process water be reused for cleaning? Can the solvent be distilled for reuse?
- Resource efficiency and energy reduction - do you have motion-sensor lighting in office rooms where employees do not frequent or in rooms not in constant use?
- Improved work practices, housekeeping and inventory control - is shot media observed on the floor around the blasting unit? Are you storing chemicals or materials that will not be used again?
Getting started today on any single concept above can reduce your air emissions and generation of hazardous waste. For assistance identifying pollution prevention opportunities at your facility, contact us at 1-800-578-8898 or email.
Pollution prevention week history
September 18, 2017, through September 24, 2017, is national Pollution Prevention Week. In 1990, Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act, which required EPA to establish a source-reduction education and assistance program. K-State's Pollution Prevention Institute, or PPI, has been assisting Kansas businesses with pollution prevention since 1989.
In 2006, PPI launched its pollution prevention, or P2, intern program, linking engineering and environmental sciences students with business and industry, and collaboratively focusing on projects to reduce energy and water use, and emissions and wastes, benefiting both companies' bottom lines and the Kansas environment. Since 2006, intern projects have identified the following potential savings:
- 73 million kWh of electricity and natural gas
- 310 million gallons of water
- 15,000 tons of solid and hazardous waste
- $9.5 million in operating/disposal costs
- 40,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent
To learn more about assistance available through PPI or the P2 intern program, contact us at 1-800-578-8898, or email us at sbeap@ksu.edu or the P2 coordinator at kmoluf@ksu.edu.
Compressed air detection and repair
Does your facility rely on compressed air for any of its processes? Did you know that leaks in your air system could be costing you hundreds, or even thousands of dollars annually, as well as wasting electrical energy? Air pollution in the form of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulfur dioxides (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and greenhouse gases (GHG) are emitted from fossil fuel-fired electrical generating facilities. By implementing an ongoing air leak detection and repair program at your facility, you can reduce your electrical usage and help reduce the amount of pollution created from electric production. K-State’s Pollution Prevention Institute has two ultrasonic handheld acoustic units that may be loaned to any Kansas small business for conducting a leak detection audit at their facility. Contact our specialists at 1-800-578-8898 or email us for more information.
What are others in your industry doing to prevent pollution?
Being competitive today in business requires knowing the latest innovations in your industry sector, as well as how your competitor may be saving money by utilizing less volatile or hazardous chemicals and reducing air, water and hazardous waste pollution. US EPA has compiled P2 data on their Toxic Release Inventory Pollution Prevention (P2) Search webpage. Through this data search engine, you can choose specific industry sectors, select specific chemicals or chemical groupings, including hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and VOCs that are listed on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, (CERCLA) hazardous substances list, and choose the state(s) in which you want to conduct the search. The search engine provides information about changes made to a facility that resulted in pollution prevention. The search engine currently has data for the years 2007 – 2015.
For assistance with pollution prevention at your facility, contact us at 1-800-578-8898 or email.