Lean Manufacturing and Environment
Lean and Environment Toolkit
Appendix B: Basic Environmental Measures for Lean Enterprises
The following facility-level draft of basic environmental measures could help world-class Lean practitioners document:
- The cost benefits from integrated approaches to managing/preempting environmental risks and liabilities;
- The environmental benefits of life cycle approaches that seek synergies from investments into cleaner technologies and the production of green products/services;
- The use of pollution prevention as a tool to a sustainable future by augmenting the Lean system’s capacity through the systematic elimination of environmental hazards and pollution sources; and
- The quantities of chemicals, water and energy impacts, and environmental discharges being reduced or eliminated.
These metrics can be incorporated into current manufacturing processes seamlessly as they are directed at the same goals as the business part: waste reduction.
Disclaimer
The draft basic environmental measures below should not be construed as an exhaustive list of environmental performance measures since other investment, efficiency, effectiveness, cost/benefit activities, and behavioral level measures may not be currently measured by this tool. These other facility-level environmental outcome measures may be compelled, however, by environmental management systems that are ISO 14000 compliant. Likewise, other voluntary EPA or state environmental pollution prevention partnerships may compel a level of documentation beyond the one sought by the enclosed performance measurement tool.
EPA’s Lean and Environment Basic Environmental Measures
The basic environmental measures tool below is in part derived from two EPA national voluntary partnership programs—the Green Supplier Network and the National Environmental Performance Track. The measures include priority chemicals that are of particular concern because of their toxicity, persistence in the environment, and/or their potential to bioaccumulate in organisms at higher levels in the food chain.
Many leading enterprises already report the environmental performance measures identified in this table to national and state environmental reporting systems such as the Toxics Release Inventory and voluntary environmental partnership programs.
Basic Environmental Measures
Category |
Definition |
Metric |
Unit of Measure |
Input Measures |
|||
Energy Use |
Any source providing usable power or consuming
electricity |
Energy Used |
Specific to energy source such as BTUs or kilowatt hours, % reduction, energy use/unit of product |
Land Use |
Land covered by buildings, parking lots,
and other impervious surfaces |
Land Converted, Land Restored or Protected, Area of Impervious Surfaces |
Square feet, acres |
Materials Use |
Materials used (total or specific), ex. packaging
materials |
Materials Used, Percent Utilization of Materials, Post-Consumer Recycled Content |
Tons/year, pounds/unit of product, % materials utilization |
Toxic/ Hazardous Chemicals Use |
Use of hazardous and toxic chemicals that are regulated or are otherwise of concern (Priority Chemicals and Fact Sheets) |
Toxic/Hazardous Chemicals Used |
Pounds/year, pounds/unit of product, % reduction |
Water Use |
Incoming raw water, from outside sources, e.g., from municipal water supply or wells, for operations, facility use, and grounds maintenance. NPDES |
Volume of Water Used, P2 to reduce Priority Chemicals/Quality Standards/Pretreat Standards |
Gallons/year, % reduction, % recycled Pounds Priority Chemicals/year, % reduced, % recycled |
Non-Product Output Measures |
|||
Air Emissions |
The release of any of the following:
|
Air Emissions Generated |
Pounds/year, Tons/year, % reduction |
Water Pollution |
Quantity of pollutant in wastewater that is discharged to water source. Should include any substances regulated in NPDES permit. May include:
|
Mass or Concentration of Regulated Pollutants Discharged |
Pounds/year, mg/L or % reduction |
Solid Waste |
Wastes (liquid or solid) other than RCRA hazardous wastes. |
Solid (Non-Hazardous) Waste Generated |
Gallons or pounds/year, % reduction, % recycled |
Downstream/Product Measures |
|||
Product Impacts |
Expected lifetime energy and water use |
Energy - BTU, kWh, mWh |
|
Other Measures |
|||
Money Saved |
Money saved in the reduction of materials or other changes in processes |
Dollars saved |
Dollars saved |
Qualitative Measures |
Other environmental improvements that cannot be directly or accurately quantified. For example: implementing an EMS |
Savings and environmental benefits from leaning out of permits/Design for Environment/ Clean Production/ EMS implementation/ Extended Product Responsibility |
|