Chapter 2
Industrial Approaches to Pollution Prevention A. M. Ford, R. A. Kimerle, A. F. Werner, E. R. Beaver, and C. W. Keffer
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Monsanto Company, 800 North Lindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63167
After a brief discussion of pollution prevention, data from major chemical companies' programs to reduce environmental releases are presented. Monsanto Company is among the first of the large chemical companies to compile and make public, worldwide, such data on both a media and a chemical basis. These data cover the years from 1987 through 1990, and quantify self-imposed efforts to reduce SARA Title III air emissions worldwide 90 percent by the end of 1992 versus a 1987 base. Further programs to reduce environmental releases worldwide to water and various modes of land disposal are described.
Through nearly all of history, mankind has viewed the earth's natural resources as limitless. Even scarce minerals have been viewed as being available, only difficult to find in a vast planet. Episodes of excessive use of the environment, such as the London Fog, were considered either isolated incidences or were unknown to the general public. It was not until after the Second World War that public interest rose to the level necessary to pass the Water Pollution Control Act of 1948. Although social concern lagged governmental action somewhat, during the 1960s public interest in environmental issues increased markedly (1). Public interest in the 1960s led to the passage of new environmental legislation in the 1970s and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Public interest in environmental issues continued to increase through the 1980s and may, in fact, still be increasing in the 1990s. In response to this public interest, industrialfirms,particularly the larger chemical companies, began looking at waste release and disposal practices. Many big companies have energy use reduction programs in response to the oil crisis of the mid-1970s. The early phases of these programs became the model for the pollution prevention programs of the 1980s. Both energy 0097-6156/92/0508-0013$06.00/0 © 1992 American Chemical Society
Breen and Dellarco; Pollution Prevention in Industrial Processes ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
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POLLUTION PREVENTION IN INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES
reduction and pollution prevention programs depended heavily upon employee involvement; both programs had strong upper management support; and, both led to significant development in technology. Technology development reduced operating costs but was not directly related to product or process innovation, fostering an expansion of the role of technology in supporting corporate goals which continues today. Much has been gained through employee awareness programs including suggestions and participation in programs requiring changes in work habits such as recycling. In fact, Monsanto Company has an Environmental Pledge describing the corporation's environmental vision. While this pledge has been polished for external use, it may be that its greatest use comes from internal consumption. To support employee involvement the company, in 1990, introduced the Monsanto Pledge Awards program which recognizes employees with worthy environmental achievements. Award winners in four categories may designate up to $100,000 to environmental projects of their choice outside the company. Employee involvement can do much to cost-effectively reduce discharges into the environment; in fact, the company today that isn't striving to enhance employee involvement in its environmental programs is missing an important source of improvement. Yet technology must play the major role in pollution prevention. During the early phases of pollution prevention, employee involvement may affect significant reductions in environmental discharges at minimal cost but at some point pollution prevention programs must enter a technology-intensive phase to meet public expectation. There have been major increases in expenditures for pollution control technology beginning in the 1970s and continuing today. Initially, much pollution control technology was available for adaptation to specific projects; but as discharge levels have fallen, the cost of technology normalized to production rates has risen sharply, requiring increased investment in research into new pollution control methodology. The Approach of a Large Chemical Company Recognizing that public interest in environmental performance was growing rapidly, Monsanto Company began a series of voluntary emission and waste reduction programs in the middle to late 1980s that extended beyond regulatory requirements. The programs involved its domestic and worldwide facilities encompassing regulated and nonregulated chemicals and are reported below. These voluntary reduction programs were based upon 1987 baseline data with goals that disregarded subsequent production levels. If production levels increase, operating units are still required to meet goals set at a percentage of 1987 levels. If a manufacturing process is shut down, the emissions are considered to have been eliminated. If a manufacturing process is sold, both baseline data and eliminations are removed from the data base. SARA Title III Data Since 1988, manufacturing facilities in the United States are required to report the domestic emissions of some 300 chemical compounds under SARA Title III. Data are reported by manufacturing facilities to the states where they operate Breen and Dellarco; Pollution Prevention in Industrial Processes ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
2. FORD ET AL.
Industrial Approaches to Pollution Prevention
15
and to the E P A each July 1 for the previous calendar year. Monsanto data are shown in Table I. It is important to note the change in reporting rules for injection wells which took place in 1990. Only the ammonium content of ammonium sulfate was reported after 1989. Table II shows a further breakdown of these data with respect to the most significant chemicals by weight for 1990.
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Worldwide Air Emissions Reduction Program Monsanto Company's efforts to reduce worldwide air emissions 90 percent from 1987 emission levels by the end of 1992 are shown in Table III. This Table includes emission of approximately 100 SARA Title III compounds in the U.S. and in addition, chemicals of local concern outside the U.S. For example, two locally designated chemicals at Monsanto Company's Newport, Wales facility, carbon monoxide and butane, account for 60 percent of the total worldwide air emissions under this program in 1990. Significant reductions at the Newport Table I. SARA Title III Data Summary (Millions Of Pounds) For Monsanto Company Releases:
1987
1988
Air Water Injection Wells Land Total Releases
18.4 5.0 203.0 0.4 226.8
15.3 5.5 231.3 _ÎL4 252.5
11.2 5.1 233.3 0.3 249.9
7.8 1.7 87.0 _M 96.6
Transfers: Public Sewage Treatment For Disposal Total Transfers Total (adjusted)
40.4 49.3 276.1
35.1 6.6 41.7 294.2
37.9 6,1 44.0 293.9
343 6.7 41.0 137.6
342.2
300.7
293.9
137.6
2
3
Total (as reported)
1989
1990
1
lr
The E P A no longer requires that ammonium sulfate be reported, only its ammonia content. In 1989, Monsanto reported 202 million pounds of ammonium sulfate released to injection wells, which contained approximately 55 million pounds of ammonia. 2
Adjusted to account for chemicals that were added or delisted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and for Monsanto plant locations or businesses that were purchased or sold. 3
As reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prior to the aforementioned events. Breen and Dellarco; Pollution Prevention in Industrial Processes ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
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POLLUTION PREVENTION IN INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES
Table II. SARA Title III Chemicals, 1990 (Millions Of Pounds) Transfers For Injection Public Wells Sewage Disposal Total Land
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Releases Chemical:
Air
Water
Ammonia
.70
1.58
