Pollution prevention program yields award winning results: Creating a sustainable future
In 1993, a large government facility set foot on the road to excellence in pollution prevention. The US Coast Guard Support Center at Governors Island, New York enthusiastically embraced pollution prevention (commonly referred to as P2) by aggressively implementing a broad spectrum of P2 initiatives. The most impressive accomplishment of the Support Center`s P2 efforts has been its significant improvement in hazardous materials management. The first step in implementing the program involved educating the procurement staff and end-users as to what types of products are considered green and which are unacceptable and why. Employees were encouraged to procure and test products that were either recycled, recyclable, or non-toxic, and where possible, biodegradable. To discourage the purchase of hazmat items, the new program placed responsibility for obtaining and submitting the necessary material safety data sheet (MSDS) on the requisitioner. The procurement staff was then trained to identify hazmat procurement requests by vendor, product name, and application. All hazmat procurements and the MSDS were extensively reviewed, and the chemical constituents compared against the EPA SARA Title III ``Consolidated List of Lists``. Where appropriate, if a non-toxic product could not be located, an acceptable alternative with a lesser degree of risk to the environment would be substituted. When no suitable product could be found, the Pollution Prevention Coordinator would search out individual manufacturers and suppliers to locate green products. Once a product had been tested and evaluated in use and found to meet the customer needs, the information was forward to GSA and DOD acquisition personnel for inclusion into the Federal stock system.
- OSTI ID:
- 367595
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951124-; TRN: IM9640%%341
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International environmental management and technology conference and exhibition, Long Beach, CA (United States), 7-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Eleventh annual environmental management and technology conference/West -- HazMat/West `95: Technical papers; PB: 597 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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