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               598                                                                   Pollution Prevention from Chemical Processes


































                                             FIGURE 7  Waste generation versus business cost.

               steep. Further reducing waste generation, then, requires  is, the business controls its own destiny. However, as the
               a significantly greater capital investment, e.g., replacing  level of waste generation increases, so does the amount of
               large piece(s) of equipment or unit operations. Instead, to  governmental oversight. As a result, business leadership
               further reduce the level of waste being generated while  has less control of their business and is less able to respond
               simultaneously reducing the cost to generate this waste,  to various business factors that might improve their bottom
               new chemistry or new engineering technology is required  line. The de minimus point for a regulatory “zero” is nor-
               (i.e., a new process). This is indicated by the broken curve  mally below that for the economic “zero,” yet a business
               on Fig. 7.                                        still might voluntarily choose to spend additional capital
                 Federal, state, and local governments are demanding  investment to increase control.
               more and more information from manufacturers: not only  Recognizing the value of pollution prevention to the
               the size, composition, and properties of waste streams that  business and the customer, progressive companies are de-
               are generated, but also what chemicals are added to the  veloping corporate goals to motivate their employees to
               process to manufacture the final product, and descriptive  reduce the amount of waste being produced. Examples
               information on how these chemicals are used within the  include  the  3M  Corporate  Environmental  Conservation
               process. The third major driver for pollution prevention,  Policy and the DuPont Company’s Safety, Health and the
               then, becomes control of the business. When a business  Environment Commitment of zero waste generation and
               does not make any waste or is below a de minimus level,  emissions, which is shown in Fig. 9.
               then only a minimum amount of information is required  The environmental group Grassroots Recycling
               by  the  governing  bodies;  hence,  business  information  Network is developing a Zero Waste Policy Paper for
               is  conserved.  Thermodynamic  principles  govern  that  consumer products. The net result is that society is
               zero waste is not possible, and the technical challenge is  beginning to expect that the products and processes of
               develop manufacturing processes that produce minimum  the future will not generate waste and are recyclable or
               waste.                                            biodegradable.
                 Figure  8  depicts  schematically  the  degree  of  control  For the businesses that have implemented pollution pre-
               business  leadership  has  over  a  business  versus  govern-  vention programs, the amount saved or earned has been
               mental control as a function of the amount of waste be-  quite dramatic. For example, in the 3M Company, the Pol-
               ing generated by a process. Normally, there will be a de  lution Prevention Pays (3P) Program netted $350 million
               minimus level of waste generation below which the regu-  for their U.S. plants from 1976 through 1987 while reduc-
               lations require only minimal governmental oversight, that  ing waste generation by more than 425,000 tons per year.
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