ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND POSITIONS
Pollution Prevention
The Issue:
The objective of pollution prevention activities is to protect human health and the environment by preventi
ng generation of waste and emission of toxic substances. The pollution prevention debate focuses on how be
st to eliminate waste, reduce emissions and conserve resources. Some advocate reducing or eliminating the
use of toxic substances altogether. Others advocate preventing exposure to toxic substances through a hier
archy of waste management methods, while allowing continued safe use of these materials.
DuPont Position:
DuPont advocates eliminating waste and emissions rather than reducing or eliminating the use of toxic subst
ances. The company is committed to a goal of zero waste and emissions and has a growing number of examples
where pollution prevention activities result in improved business competitiveness.
The emphasis should be on reducing emission of toxic substances into the environment and eliminating harmfu
l exposure, rather than preventing their safe use as building block chemicals in the production of many non
-toxic, high technology and socially useful products. Bans on such chemicals discount the ability to preve
nt exposure while continuing to benefit from use of the product and also ignore the significance of the pro
duct to today's standard of living.
While reduction at the source is the preferred option in pollution prevention efforts, a waste management h
ierarchy including recycle/reuse and treatment also should be counted among viable pollution prevention opt
ions, depending on the material and the situation.
Hazardous Waste Management/RCRA
The Issue:
The improved quality of life provided by chemicals is accompanied by an expectation that these products and
their manufacture also are protective of human health and the environment. Increased scrutiny of the indu
stry's waste management practices has resulted from these expectations. The Federal Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA) was established to regulate the generation, storage and treatment of hazardous wast
e. While overall it has been effective, RCRA also has proven to be one of the costliest statutes, due to t
he Environmental Protection Agency's tendency toward conservatism and their command and control approaches
in developing regulations. In recent RCRA re-authorization discussions, some have suggested applying the s
ame conservative standards to non-hazardous waste as applied to hazardous waste.
Key issues in the waste management debate include:
1. RCRA re-authorization and the need for reforms
2. The acceptability of waste disposal methods
3. Prioritizing waste minimization national goals based on persistent, toxic and biocumulative properties
of waste.
DuPont Position:
DuPont is committed to working toward a goal of zero waste generation at the source for its manufacturing p
rocesses. Recognizing that such a goal is not achievable immediately, DuPont manages its waste according t
o the following hierarchy:
Source reduction is the top priority. Finding ways not to produce waste is the preferred option.
When source reduction is not feasible, recycle and reuse of materials are the next preferred options. Thes
e prevent material from entering the air, land and water, conserve valuable resources and improve business
competitiveness.
When source reduction and recycle and reuse are not feasible, treatment to reduce the volume and toxicity o
f the waste is next preferred. Treatment technologies include wastewater treatment and incineration.
When all other options are not feasible, waste disposal is used in a safe and environmentally sound manner.
Disposal methods include deep-wells and landfills.
Polymer Recycling
The Issue:
There is a growing public desire to conserve materials and energy resources, to reduce waste, and to manage
solid waste in the most environmentally sound ways. This includes the recycling of polymers and other mat
erials which have numerous and diverse end-uses.
DuPont Position:
DuPont continues to drive toward the goal of zero waste generation at the source. The company stresses sou
rce reduction first in all of its operations and then reuse and recycle.
DuPont believes that the disposal of post-consumer waste should be decided by the marketplace and based on
the Integrated Solid Waste Management approach, which considers reuse, recycle, energy recovery and landfil
l as options. The company preferentially purchases supplies and products which contain recycled material w
herever possible without compromising quality, performance, cost or environmental impact throughout the pro
duct life cycle.
CFCs and Substitutes
The Issue:
Leading atmospheric scientists have determined that a number of man-made compounds deplete the ozone layer.
Chief among these are the long-lived chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. These gases exist on average for 100
years, working their way up to the stratosphere, where they break down from exposure to ultraviolet rays an
d subsequently destroy ozone.
CFCs were first manufactured in 1931 as safer substitutes for ammonia and sulfur dioxide, the toxic refrige
rants then in use, because they were very low in toxicity, nonflammable, stable and extremely energy effici
ent. Their use was heralded in the refrigeration industry and applications were soon found in thousands of
products -- automobile air conditioners, all home refrigerators and freezers, water coolers and fountains,
aerosol sprays, asthma inhalers and cleaning for electronic circuit boards, among others.
The international Montreal Protocol treaty was enacted in September 1987 and initially called for a 50 perc
ent phase down in CFC production in developed countries by 1998. In 1988 the NASA Ozone Trends Panel provi
ded the first scientific consensus that CFCs were linked to ozone depletion. Since then, new science has p
rompted a more urgent response and the world's developed countries ended CFC production for sale by January
1, 1996.
DuPont Position:
Within 10 days of the NASA Ozone Trends Panel report in March 1988, DuPont became the first company to anno
unce a complete phase out of CFC production. In 1991, DuPont shut down the world's oldest and largest CFC
facility and introduced the first in its line of low or non-ozone-depleting alternatives. Today the compan
y has ceased CFC production at all facilities around the world except in Brazil, where the government has r
equested continued production as allowable to developing countries under the Montreal Protocol.
DuPont has five families of alternatives commercially available. Most of these are hydrofluorocarbons (HFC
s), which do not harm the ozone layer. The company also manufactures a few hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs
), but only those with the lowest ozone depletion potential -- 95 to 98 percent improvements over CFCs and
easy to retrofit into the billions of pieces of existing equipment currently operating with CFCs globally.
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