© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
Toxics Reduction – Good for the Planet,
Good for Business
Mark Myles
Toxics Use Reduction Institute
UMass Lowell

A Sustainable Situation?
• Only 10% of the
resources removed
from the Earth end
up in the goods
manufactured
• 90% end up as
waste
– Double economic
penalty
Source: WRI 2001

3© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
• Students: Business majors? Careers and
interests?
• People: Healthy? What is your future? Do you
plan a family?
• Citizens: Role of government, of science, of
people?
Who are you?

4© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
Who are we?
• State agency at UMass
Lowell
• Part of TURA Program
• Research, industry
support, education,
policy development to
advance safer
alternatives to toxics

5© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
Toxics considerations
• Cancer, asthma, other chronic health effects
• Early onset puberty, reproductive health
• Earth impacts, other species’impacts
• Regulation: RCRA, CERCLA, REACH, etc, etc
• Use in commerce: production and products

6© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell

7© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
End-of-the-pipe Pollution Control

8© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
Treatment
Recycling
Waste Disposal
Minimization
Pollution Control = end of the pipe remediation
Pollution Prevention = greater efficiency with less or no toxics
Pollution Prevention vs Pollution Control
Source
Reduction
Toxics Use
Reduction
• Energy Conservation
• Cleaner Production
• Resource
Conservation
Energy
Recovery

9© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA)
• Users of large amounts of toxics must:
– Report toxics use
– Pay fees
– Plan toxics reduction
• Program supports competitiveness of
Massachusetts industry
• Created Toxics Use Reduction Planners
Adopted 1989
Effective 1990
Expanded 2006

10© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
Did We Achieve the Goals?
10
Total Use Production Adjusted
0.0
200.0
400.0
600.0
800.0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Year
MillionsofPounds
Byproduct
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Year
MillionsofPounds

11© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
Toxics Use Reduction Planners
• Only professionals able to certify TUR Plans
• 48-hour intensive course
• Certified by exam
TURA 20th Anniversary Video at
www.turi.org
“[Becoming a TUR Planner] was a whole new career
path….we have new credibility; people listen to us; we
became part of the business planning process.”
Jack Bailey, TUR Planner, Bose Corp

12© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
TUR Technical Analysis

13© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
TUR Financial Analysis – costs of toxics
Material/substance
cost
Worker protective
equipment
Worker
Compensation
Insurance
Hazardous waste
hauling
Air & water
emissions
permitting
Air & water
emissions
abatement
equipment
Risk protection –
accidental spills &
discharge
‘Soft’costs –
reputation, image,
etc.

14© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
TUR Plans – evaluating safer alternatives
Technical Feasibility
• Analyze current processes and use of
toxics
• Evaluate safer alternatives
• Choose alternative on technical merits
• Employ sound engineering principles
Financial Viability
• Collect information on cost of toxics
• Determine changes in cash flows
• Apply measures of profitability
• Base decisions on accepted accounting
practice
Toxics Reduction Methods
• Input substitution
• Product reformulation
• Process redesign or modification
• Improve operation & maintenance
• In-process recycling

15© Toxics Use Reduction Institute University of Massachusetts Lowell
Environmental professional
relationship to the business
• Compliance
overshadows all else
• Technical area not well
understood except by
practitioners
• Not typically included
in the general
business discourse

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Integration into the business
• Talk in a language they
understand (typically
$$$)
• Integrate into the way
the company makes
decisions
• Align environmental
activities with company
strategy

I always make the business case
for sustainability. It’s so
compelling. Our costs are down,
not up. Our products are the best
they have ever been. Our people
are motivated by a shared higher
purpose — esprit de corps to die
for. And the goodwill in the
marketplace — it’s just been
astonishing.
Ray Anderson, founder & CEO, Interface Carpet