"Pollution prevention performance must be measured if it is to be improved, and it must be improved if it is to be praised."
Joel Hirschhorn
Once a pollution prevention program is established it should be continuously evaluated and updated. This periodic review by the pollution prevention team should be conducted for all stages of the program, from management support and team selection to project implementation. Once the elements have been examined, the program can be modified and goals redefined to improve overall effectiveness.
The progress of the pollution prevention program can be determined by looking at the individual activities and projects. One way of measuring progress is quantitative. For example, look at actual waste reduction, both in terms of actual change in quantity and change in hazard level. The actual change in quantity is the difference between the waste per production unit reported in the current year and the waste per production unit reported in the previous year. The change in hazard level is based on toxicity, reactivity, ignitability, and corrosivity of the waste and industrial hygiene/employee exposure-type measurements. This comparison measurement is most useful when evaluating an alternative material substitution such as switching from an organic solvent to a water based solvent. These measures of waste reduction may not be appropriate for all facilities and wastes. Other quantitative measurements are adjusted quantity change and throughput ratio. Additional guidelines and detailed descriptions on measuring waste reduction can be found in Chapter 4 of U.S. EPA's Facility Pollution Prevention Guide.
Progress can also be measured qualitatively through employee involvement, attitude and number of ideas suggested. Some examples of qualitative evaluation criteria are presented in Table 8.
| Project Element | Evaluation Criteria |
|---|---|
| Management support | Statements of support Approval of projects Providing ideas/input Praise and publicity of successes |
| Team aspects/program initiation | Employee enthusiasm and participation Using skills from training Supporting projects Providing ideas |
| Understanding process | Processes characterized Flow diagrams developed All wastes and sources identified Waste accounting system implemented |
| Project implementation | Projects completed within budget Projects completed on schedule Waste reduction achieved Cost savings attained Raw material savings achieved Product quality improved Worker safety improved Cost allocation system implemented |
| Continuing the program | Follow-up and review procedures established Employees kept informed and involved Pollution prevention team composition rotated |
(adapted from Pollution Prevention: A Guide to Program Implementation, Illinois Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center, 1993)
When evaluating the elements of the program, it is important to identify those strategies and techniques which have been very successful, marginally successful, or have failed. If possible, the reasons why these projects were or were not successful should be determined. This information will be beneficial for modifying the program and redefining goals.
To ensure continuing progress and success of the pollution prevention program, the individual components and the overall plan should be modified using the knowledge gained from experience. Successful strategies and techniques can be used again or adapted to other areas where progress has been slow or impeded. The initial pollution prevention goals should be redefined and/or expanded, reaching for the ultimate goal of zero waste generation.
This is also an appropriate time to check to see if results and a written summary of the implementation of each step of the program have been added to the pollution prevention plan. As discussed in Chapter 10, writing summaries and adding them to the pollutionprevention plan will provide a record of all pollution prevention activities in the program. The compilation of reports will be a good reference for anyone who is interested in reviewing your facility's pollution prevention program.