EPA & Techinal Tips | Design for the Environment Program

 

EPA & TECHNICAL TIPS: Design for the Environment Program

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's

Partnership for a Cleaner Future

Why Design for the Environment?

Businesses today face a variety of challenges, maintaining high-quality goods and services at low cost, staying competitive in a global marketplace, and meeting consumer preferences for more environmentally friendly products. To help businesses meet these challenges, EPA is building on the design for the environment concept pioneered by industry and encourages businesses to incorporate environmental considerations into the design and redesign of products and processes.

What is EPA’s DfE Program?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Design for the Environment (DfE) Program is a voluntary partnership program that works directly with industries to integrate health and environmental considerations into their business decisions. A DfE partnership helps businesses design or redesign products, processes, and management systems that are cleaner, more cost-effective, and safer for workers and the public. The DfE Program usually works with industry sectors to compare the human health and environmental risks, performance, and costs associated with existing and alternative technologies or processes. A DfE solution may entail the redesign of a formulation, a manufacturing or service-sector process, or a management practice.

How does a Business Design for an Environment?

• By evaluating the human health and environmental impacts of its processes and products.
• By identifying what information is needed to make human health and environmental decisions.
• By conducting an assessment of alternatives.
• By considering cross-media impacts and the benefits of substituting chemicals.
• By reducing the use and release of toxic chemicals through the innovation of cleaner technologies that use safer chemicals.
• By implementing pollution prevention, energy efficiency, and other resource conservation measures.
• By making products that can be reused, refurbished, remanufactured, or recycled.
• By monitoring the environmental impacts and costs associated with each product or process.
• By recognizing that although change can be rapid, in many cases a cycle of evaluation and continuous improvement is needed.

 

For more info:

Publications and materials produced by each of the industry partnerships are available on the DfE Web site at www.epa.gov/dfe

Contact DfE at 202-260-1678 or by email at: dfe@epa.gov

 

How does DfE partner with businesses?

DfE forms voluntary partnerships with industry sectors, usually through industry leaders and trade or technical associations.These partnerships also can include public interest groups, universities, research institutions, and other government agencies at the federal, state, & local level. For each partnership, DfE ensures that information on traditional and alternative technologies reaches the people who make the decisions—such as managers, engineers, purchasers, and end users. DfE provides these decision makers with a variety of materials, such as technical reports, fact sheets, bulletins, case studies, software, videos, and training manuals. These materials are distributed throughout the industry so that companies can make more informed decisions that reduce risks to workers and the environment and even boost their bottom line. DfE’s Web site (www.epa.gov/dfe) keeps partners and other customers informed of new developments.

 

How does a business start?

A business can initiate a DfE project on its own or with the assistance of its industry trade or technical association. Associations can provide financial resources and share information, including incentives to making changes and the recognition of businesses that have overcome obstacles. If a particular company believes that its industry can benefit from a DfE project, it should bring this to the attention of an appropriate association to see if broader industry interest exist. Associations are encouraged to contact EPA’s DfE Program for information on how to either propose a partnership with EPA or initiate projects on their own. Businesses also can design for the environment on their own by using the models and templates developed by the DfE Program.

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