1996 Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap - Civil and ...

Appendix E
The goal of the source identification and evaluation process was to find useful data, information,
“tools,” knowledgeable individuals, organizations, and programs that would prove practical to
the electronics industry in better understanding the state-of-the-art with respect to:
200
Quantities of pollutants emitted by chemical, product, route, industry sector, and process;
Successful programs of source reduction, pollution prevention, or waste minimization;
Computer programs that could provide model solution alternatives or planning for source
reduction, pollution prevention, and waste minimization; and
Government program resources available to the private sector to identify pollution
prevention alternatives.
As an example of the manner in which the identified sources and their component data and information
might be used by the industry for identifying pollution prevention goals and objectives,
several of the sources (number 1 - IPPS and number 4 - CES Report) will be discussed briefly.
These programs relied on available federal government data, including:
TRI data (U.S. EPA)
Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS - U.S. EPA)
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES - U.S. EPA)
Human Health and Ecotoxicity Database (HEED - U.S. EPA)
Toxicological Potency Indices (U.S. EPA)
Longitudinal Research Database (LRD - U.S. Bur. of the Census)
Pollution Abatement Cost and Expenditures Survey (PACE - U.S. Bur. of the Census)
Although the approaches used by the two groups differed slightly in terms of outcome and data
sources, both activities had similar objectives—to use existing data resources to identify products
and processes that were major sources of pollution and energy use in particular industries.
Results were characterized in terms of “pollution intensity” for specific industries, or, when
possible, pollution intensity identified with particular products manufactured within these
industries.
In summary, the TRI database provided accurate estimates of toxic chemical releases for approximately
300 possible chemicals for individual establishments for a given year (e.g., 1987, 1990).
The AIRS database provided establishment level data on EPA’s priority pollutants (e.g., SO2,
NO2, CO, VOCs), which are not part of the TRI database. The NPDES data provided pollution
discharge estimates by establishment into waste water for several non-TRI substances, including
BOD, total suspended solids (TSS), and pH. The HEED data were used to estimate toxicological
potencies for individual chemicals. The LRD data (which are of limited public accessibility)
were used to provide costs of materials and energy, capital expenditures, total value added to
product categories, quantities of specific products produced, and the value of individual
shipments, by establishment. The important common denominator among these various data
sources was the individual establishment. Because these data could be tied to a particular
establishment for a specific year, a series of algorithms could be constructed to relate pollution