Pollution prevention possibilities for small and medium‐sized industries: Analysis of the WRITE projects

Abstract

VRIi@, an EPA pilot program with sljc (6) states and one (l> local government, to identifv priority needs at the respective governmental level, find promising waste minimization technologies and perjorm an evaluation to determine pe@ormance, pollution prevention ( P a impact and costs. The research concentrated on environmental problems and P2 opportunities for small to medium-sized industries, technology at pilot-or fullscale, and use of volunta y business/sate/EPA partnerships. A total of 41 technologies were tested and evaluated. The types of industries andprocesses included were coating, depainting, electronics, metal plating and finishing, printing, suflace cleaning, steel, and a number of miscellaneous categories. Many of the technology a p plications evaluated were able to list cost savings coupled with reduced or eliminated waste streams. It was found that technology benefits are largely application specific. However, favorable (or even unfavorable>findings for one application can be useful as a beginning for estimating other beneficial uses.