2008 Sector Strategies Performance Report recognizes paint and coatings sectors environmental strides
Article Type: Environment and safety From: Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Volume 56, Issue 2
The recently published US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2008 Sector Strategies Performance Report favorably profiles the environmental strides made by the paint and coatings industry, as part of the agency’s Sector Strategies Program, which the NPCA participates in on behalf of the industry. The report cites the paint and coatings industry’s significant environmental progress in reducing air emissions, among other improvements, and highlights NPCA’s Coatings Care® Program as a case study for effective environmental management systems.
The report highlights the following milestones:
The number of paint and coatings facilities have decreased 8 per cent since 1996, the number of employee’s down 17 per cent, while the value of shipments is up 26 per cent in that same period of time.
All toxic release inventory chemicals released to the air, including hazardous air pollutants, have declined from a total of 9.3 million lbs in 1996 to 4 million lbs in 2005.
In 2002, the sector purchased about 1.6 billion kWh of electricity for heat and power, well under 1 per cent of the nations total for US manufacturers:
The toxicity of chemicals released has decreased by a factor of five,meaning that the industry is using materials that are less harmful to the environment.
Total waste managed has declined 28 per cent from 1996 to 2005.
The 2008 issue is the third biannual report released and the paint and coatings industry is documented as continuing to decrease it is overall air emissions, release of criteria air pollutants, water use and discharge, and waste generation. It includes data from 1996 to 2005, the latest year data is available.
For further information please visit the web site: www.epa.gov/ispd/
