The Utility of the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) in Tracking Implementation and Environmental Impact of Industrial Green Chemistry Practices in the United States

Gaona, Sandra D.

doi:10.5772/intechopen.70716

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Future studies can conduct industry specific analysis through surveys to develop recommendations. For example, Gaona [46] shows that information on P2 techniques can be used to track green chemistry practices in the United States. Future analyses can extend our findings to chemical manufacturing to examine the effect of adopting P2 techniques related to green chemistry on pollution substitution.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can adoption of pollution prevention techniques reduce pollution substitution?

Lee

2019

PLoS ONE

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Pollution prevention (P2) has become an integral part of the U.S. environmental policy that emphasizes the benefits of preventing pollution generation at the source over treatment or recycling after the generation of wastes. This study extends the existing literature on the effect of voluntary adoption of P2 in reducing toxic wastes by examining the extent to which it reduces pollution substitution. We use facility panel data from the Toxics Release Inventory from 1991 to 2011 to examine the effect of the adoption of P2 techniques on the ratios of water releases to air releases, amounts of treatment to total releases, and amounts of recycling to total releases while controlling for endogeneity of the adoption of P2 techniques and facility fixed effects. We find that the adoption of P2 techniques reduces toxic air and water releases equally, but it is associated with increases in treated and recycled wastes over total releases to the environment.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can adoption of pollution prevention techniques reduce pollution substitution?

Lee

2019

PLoS ONE

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“…According to the available data, between 2012 and 2017, US facilities reported 2226 GC activities for 147 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemicals and chemical categories. Most GC activities were reported by the chemical production, fabricated metals, computer, and electronics industries [135]. As per the projections, the US market for chemical end-use products would grow from USD 149.9 billion in 2016 to USD 884.1 billion in 2026 [136].…”

Section: Policy and Structural Issues Related To Ce And Gc Integratio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Economy and Green Chemistry: The Need for Radical Innovative Approaches in the Design for New Products

et al. 2023

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The idea of a circular economy (CE) has gained ground over the past ten years as a means of addressing sustainable development and getting around the limitations of the current and linear dominant production and consumption patterns. The primary goal of a CE is to encourage the adoption of closing-the-loop production methods to improve resource use efficiency, modify chemical processes, and increase product and material lifespan. According to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which focuses on 17 Sustainable Development Goals, 14 of which call for the appropriate application of green chemistry (GC) concepts and patterns, the role that chemistry may play in the shift toward more sustainable models is critical. By serving as the foundation for novel products made from renewable feedstocks and designed to be reused, recycled, or recovered with the associated minimum energy requirements, green and sustainable chemistry could be the key to unlocking the economic potential of the CE toward new product design and ultimately solving waste management problems. The aim of this perspective paper, while using a variety of literature sources, is to essentially capture the main issues associated with the CE and GC paradigms and how these two approaches can merge toward sustainable business models and the production of new materials. This integration focuses on reducing waste, conserving resources, and minimizing negative environmental impacts, while also considering economic viability. However, the obstacles to achieving implementation of the CE and GC principles are investment, environmental education, and legislation. To advance toward the circular economy and green chemistry, international agreements should be reconsidered to provide an appropriate framework, including the creation of incentives for businesses and individuals to adopt circular practices, the establishment of education programs to promote the benefits of circular practices, and the development of regulations to support the transition to sustainable production and consumption patterns.

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United States federal contracting and pollution prevention: how award type and facility characteristics affect adoption of source reduction techniques in four manufacturing sectors

Hill

Petroni

Collins

2021

Environ. Res.: Infrastruct. Sustain.

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There is reason to believe that hazardous emissions generated by industrial actors that have been awarded government contracts have different pollution prevention action patterns compared to those that have not been awarded government contracts. This is important because pollution prevention actions are a key inroad to alleviating environmental contamination generally and related human health effects. Specifically, we find that US-based industrial polluters tend to respond to Federal incentives to reduce costs by making efficiency improvements. Using publicly available purchasing, toxics release, and pollution prevention data from 2001 to 2012 for 458 081 transactions and 9910 facilities, we investigate the impact of contract award structure on facility environmental performance. We fit regression models to understand more about how the number of reported voluntary pollution prevention actions and reductions in total toxic chemical waste managed at each facility in terms of three types of contract awards. We find that industrial actors that have been awarded incentive contracts not only report more pollution prevention actions, but that these actions are more likely to result in significant pollution reduction. Results inform US Federal purchasing policy decisions and support earlier theoretical development at the intersection of ecological modernization, super-industrialization, and the role of government in facilitating transitions to green technology. In addition, greener purchasing decisions can have a broad impact on human health by reducing pollution in communities.

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The Utility of the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) in Tracking Implementation and Environmental Impact of Industrial Green Chemistry Practices in the United States

Cited by 3 publications

References 2 publications

Can adoption of pollution prevention techniques reduce pollution substitution?

Can adoption of pollution prevention techniques reduce pollution substitution?

Circular Economy and Green Chemistry: The Need for Radical Innovative Approaches in the Design for New Products

United States federal contracting and pollution prevention: how award type and facility characteristics affect adoption of source reduction techniques in four manufacturing sectors

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