DRAFT

PBT White Paper – Pollution Prevention and Voluntary Programs

Framework:

Why P2? (This is simplistic but maybe we need that to start. I think it could be said better)

P2 makes sense environmentally If a substance is harmful, preventing its introduction rather than monitoring/trying to prevent its negative impacts into the future is more environmentally protective.

P2 makes sense economically. P2 is cost effective in the long run and often cost effective in the short term because once the pollution is prevented at its source, you no longer have to invest in monitoring, tracking, regulating, cleaning up etc.

Often P2 efforts impact more than one contaminant so environmental and economic synergies exist.

Prevention requires:

Individual and collective action/commitment (buy in)

Continued improvement and maintenance

Behavioral Growth (I am not sure what behavioral growth is) and Change

Taking ownership/responsibility

Prevention results:

Improved long term health of the Great Lakes Ecosystem

Avoided costs

Partnerships that can create trust between groups/entities with different views

Applied problem solving

P2 Program successes in the Great Lakes, Basin wide examples

(list programs, goals and quantifiable data)

Tribal and other HHW collections

Tribal Burn Barrel strategies

Cleansweep Program

Mercury Reduction Programs

PBT Reduction

Waste Reduction and Elimination

Industrial Production

Increased profits, economic viability, improved safety records

Intentionally designed process and raw material changes/alternatives

Supply chain management/inclusion

Added value to the Human Capital

Shift from regulatory emphasis to R&D partnerships

Industrial Ecology

Improved Efficiency – shared resources, reuse and recycling

Improved ecosystem Human Health – the ecosystem includes humans

Increased consumer awareness

Alternative fuel/energy sources

Service programs

Environmentally Preferred Purchasing

DfE

Sustainability

Recognizes dimensions

Natural

Human

Ethical

Influences (I am not quite sure if this is influences on P2 or what P2 influences so if my additions here don’t make sense, that is why)

Collaboration

Healthier lifestyles

Interconnectedness with the natural living network

Recognition of unsustainable practices

Creative solutions to unsustainable practices

Sense of humans as being connected with/an integral component of the environment

Economic drivers