Life Cycle Approach to Effective Waste Minimization

In the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of1984, Congress declared the objective of the national waste policy to be "to promote the protection of health and the environment and to conserve valuable material and energy resources." Further, Congress stated that this would be done by minimizing the generation and land disposal of hazardous waste by encouraging process substitutions, materials recovery, proper recycling and reuse, and treatment.

This paper presents the approach used by 3M to find innovative ways to minimize the amount of hazardous waste which ultimately must be disposed by landfilling. The life cycle of waste is examined, looking at how it can be reduced or eliminated starting with the point of generation in the manufacturing operation, to its processing, treatment or ultimate disposal as a residual hazardous waste. Case histories are used as examples of how waste can be minimized in each stage of the life cycle, with emphasis on innovative alternatives that have arisen out of the 3Mprogram.