epa sustainable materials management: consumption & climate
Post on 19-Oct-2014
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Policy Workshop- The Bigger Sustainability Picture: Jeri Weiss from EPA Region 1 discusses how materials consumption affects climate change.TRANSCRIPT
R3 Recycling & Organics March 19, 2013
EPA Sustainable Materials Management:
Consumption &Climate
Material Consumption
Source: U.S. Inventory of GHG Emissions and Sinks : 1990-2006 (US EPA, 2008)
Electrical Power Industry
33%
Transportation27%
Industry19%
Commericial Building
6%
Residential Build-ing5%
Agriculture8%
Waste2%
US Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2006)
Source: Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices. U.S. EPA.
Building HVAC & Lighting
25%
Infrastructure1%
Appliances & Devices
8%Passenger Transport24%
Provision of Food13%
Provision of Goods
29%
Materials Management
42%
US Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2006)
Source: Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices. U.S. EPA
Building HVAC & Lighting
25%Infrastructure
1%
Use of Ap-pliances &
Devices8%
Passenger Transport24%
Production32%
Landfills & Wastewater
2% Freight7%
Materials: Production Dominates Emissions
Disposal
Recovery
WASTE vs. MATERIALS Management
Landfill
Use
Recycling Distribution
ManufacturingProcessingResourceExtraction
“Materials management is an approach to using and reusing resources most efficiently and sustainably throughout their lifecycles. It seeks to minimize materials used and all associated environmental impacts.”
– From EPA, Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices (PDF) (98pp, 1.5MB)
Materials Management: A Working Definition
Photo credit: flickr Nick Bramhall, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 license
Reducing the Impacts of Our Consumption
Energy Use: Recycled vs. Virgin Content Products(million BTUs/ ton)
Recycling Conserves Energy
Recycling Rates
Recycling rates vs. waste generation
10
0
80
70
mill
ions
of
tons
EPA 2008 Facts and Figures
60
50
40
30
20 Recycled
Generated
Recycling vs. Waste Generation
Cost effectiveness of GHG reduction strategies
Jobs
Increase to 100% recycling nationally yields:
– 450 million metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions per year
– Includes all municipal solid waste MSW and construction, remodel, and demolition debris.
GHG Reduction Potential
2006 U.S. GHG inventorywith 32% recovery
(municipal solid waste)
2006 U.S. GHG inventory with hypothetical recovery rate
(~100% municipal solid waste + construction and demolition bebris)
Building HVAC & Light-
ing
Passenger Transport
Provision of Mate-
rials42%
Appliances & Devices
Infrastructure
Building HVAC & Lighting
Passenger Transport
Provision of Mate-
rials36% Appliances &
Devices
Infrastructure
“Sav-ings”6%
Reduced Consumption
Photo credit: flickr user jesusali, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 license
Shipping bags – even if made from virgin resources and not recycled – have lower environmental burdens in most categories than cardboard boxes – even if the boxes contain high levels of recycled content.
Source: A study commissioned by Oregon Dept of Environmental Quality
Packaging
Source: Oregon DEQ, Cascadia GBC
Building Materials
Collaborative Consumption
Collaborative Consumption
Lending Libraries
Repair
State and Local Government Actions
Photo credit: flickr kate*, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 license
State and Local Government Actions
PROCUREMENT
SPECIFICATIONS
LABELING
FOOTPRINTING
Government Actions
Is consumption within EPA’s authority?
Pollution Prevention Act
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Clean Air Act
Tools and Resources
http://westcoastclimateforum.com/
Additional Slides
Overview
1) Consumption patterns2) Greenhouse gas connection to materials3) Role of materials management4) Ways to reduce material-related greenhouse gases
a) Recyclingb) Extended producer responsibilityc) Limits of recyclingd) Product stewardshipe) Environmentally preferable purchasingf) Consuming lessg) Government actionsh) Additional resources for local/state governments
Source: U.S. Inventory of GHG Emissions and Sinks : 1990-2006 (US EPA, 2008)
Electrical Power Industry
33%
Transportation27%
Industry19%
Commericial Building
6%
Residential Build-ing5%
Agriculture8%
Waste2%
US Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2006)
Source: U.S. Inventory of GHG Emissions and Sinks : 1990-2006 (US EPA, 2008)
US Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2006)
Extended Producer Responsibility Laws 2006
Extended Producer Responsibility Laws 2010
36
EPA Resources:• Electronic purchasing: http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/products/epeat/index.htm
• Recycled content purchasing: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/calculators/ReCon_home.html
greenhouse gas emissions
recycled content
water consumption
energy efficiency
38Design for Deconstruction
Source: A study commissioned by Oregon Dept of Environmental Quality
EPP for Water Consumption
Relative greenhouse gas emissions of water comsumption options0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%Plastic bottle,
disposed
Plasitc bottle, recycled
Tap water, re-usable bottle