P2 National Emphasis Areas (NEAs)
The P2 Program has established three P2 national emphasis areas (NEAs) to give the program a more centralized focus and direction that will result in more impactful, measurable results. The NEAs were established in fiscal year 2015 through the National Program Manager Guidance and were updated for the 2018-2019 grants cycle.
The following NEAs offer significant opportunities for pollution prevention and environmental impact:
- Business-Based P2 Solutions Supporting TSCA
Business-Based Pollution Prevention Solutions Supporting Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Priorities and Chemical Safety: Carry out P2 technical assistance and projects that identify, test, implement and/or disseminate business-based P2 solutions for TSCA-regulated chemicals, with particular emphasis on chemicals identified in the TSCA 2014 Workplan for Chemical Assessments. Projects under this NEA should facilitate and encourage businesses to identify and adopt chemical and process alternatives, and promote innovative efforts on market-driven research, product design, product substitution and product applications that target source reduction, i.e., reducing the use and release of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants.
Resources
Strategy for using the US EPA Toxics Release Inventory to Identify Opportunities for Diffusion of Innovative Methods for Hazardous Waste and Toxic Emission Reduction. Exit
- Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Processing
Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Processing: Carry out P2 technical assistance and projects to support more sustainable food and beverage manufacturing and processing entities in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes 311 and 3121 resulting in reduced toxic air emissions or water discharges, water or energy usage, hazardous materials generation and use, and/or business costs. Technical assistance projects or activities associated with entities that are not included under NAICS codes 311 or 3121, such as restaurants, grocery stores and other retail establishments, do not qualify for this NEA, but may be considered under other NEAs if the scope of the project is consistent with those other NEAs.
Resources
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The International Finance Corporation has available Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines for Fish Processing (PDF). (15 pp, 221 K, About PDF).
Cleaner Production in Beef Production - Manufacture of Food Products and Beverages #3. This case study discusses the improvements at Australia Meat Holdings, a meat processor, and shows that cleaner production does not necessarily have to involve significant upfront costs. Through management control initiatives cleaner production can be integral in a firm's response to tough economic conditions.
Clean Technologies in U.S. Industries: Focus on Food Processing. This report discusses U.S. food-processing industry and explores efforts to incorporate pollution prevention and clean technologies in processing operations.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources Intern Program case studies (unsorted see project index).
Kansas State University P2 Institute intern case studies for food manufacturers (unsorted).
Fact Sheet 1: Food Manufacturing Series - General Improvement. Use this general food manufacturing cleaner production checklist to identify opportunities and suggest ideas for cleaner production activities in many types of food and other organization.
Sector Resources: Food Processing from the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable. This resource from GLRPPR provides news, conference and event information and a list of general documents on the Food Processing industry.
Prevention of food waste in restaurants, hotels, canteens and catering (PDF) (119 pp, 1.94 M, About PDF). This study seeks to bring attention to food waste in the hospitality sector comprising restaurants, hotels, canteens and catering. It further seeks to point out possible initiatives to reduce food waste. Focus is given to avoidable food waste in this sector.
Spotlight on U.S. EPA Region 5's Food Manufacturing and Processing Industry.
- Hazardous Materials Source Reduction in States or Communities
Hazardous Materials Source Reduction Approaches in States or Communities: Carry out P2 technical assistance and projects to support state or community-based approaches to hazardous materials source reduction to reduce the generation and use of hazardous materials from business or industry sectors. This NEA is intended to leverage governmental/business/economic/infrastructure resources within a geographically contiguous area to address local (community) or broader (state) environmental and public health issues using P2 approaches. Note: For federally-recognized tribes, businesses may also include businesses operated by the tribe.
Resources
In 2013, Region 5 (in collaboration with HQ) developed a 4-part training module to assist technical assistance programs (TAPs) in finding hazardous material reduction opportunities. Module 4: Identify and Target Facilities to Perform Hazardous Substances P2 Assessments (PDF) (53 pp, 9.7 M, About PDF). Exit
Toxics Use Reduction to Achieve Enhanced Pollution Prevention Success - Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute, University of Massachusetts Lowell