materials management and climate change an introduction
TRANSCRIPT
Materials Management and Climate Change
An Introduction
Overview
1) Consumption patterns2) Greenhouse gas connection to materials3) Role of materials management4) Ways to reduce material-related greenhouse
gasesa) Recyclingb) Extended producer responsibilityc) Limits of recyclingd) Product stewardshipe) Environmentally preferable purchasingf) Consuming lessg) Government actionsh) Additional resources for local/state
governments
Define “materials”.
Materials 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: U.S. Inventory of GHG Emissions and Sinks : 1990-2006 (US EPA, 2008)
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
Disp
osal
Rec
ove
ry
WASTE management vs. MATERIALS management
Product Lifecycle
Landfill
Lifecycle of Steel
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
39 million
cars off the road
22 million
homes heated/ year
50
power plants avoided
400 million
barrels of oil conserved
Impacts from Recycling Rate (33%)
Cost effectiveness of GHG reduction strategies
HP eliminated 90% of waste $870,564 saved
EPSON got to zero waste$300,000 saved
Extended Producer Responsibility Laws 2006
Extended Producer Responsibility Laws 2010
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%
Limitations of Recycling and Composting
Product StewardshipTropicana Orange Juice
24
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
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
greenhouse gas emissions
recycled content
water consumption
energy efficiency
Source: A study commissioned by Oregon Dept of Environmental Quality
Water Consumption
Relative greenhouse gas emissions of water comsumption options0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Plastic bottle, disposed
Plasitc bottle, re-cycled
Tap water, reusable bottle
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.
PackagingSource: A study commissioned by Oregon Dept of Environmental Quality
Source: Oregon DEQ, Cascadia GBC
Building Materials
29Design for Deconstruction
Reduced ConsumptionPhoto credit: flickr user jesusali, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 license
Collaborative Consumption
Collaborative Consumption
Lending Libraries
State and Local Government Actions
State and Local Government ActionsPhoto credit: flickr kate*, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 license
State and Local Government Actions
PROCUREMENT
SPECIFICATIONS
LABELING
FOOTPRINTING
Summary
1) Connection between product consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
2) Role of materials management3) Ways to reduce material-related greenhouse
gasesa) Recyclingb) Extended producer responsibilityc) Limits of recyclingd) Product stewardshipe) Environmentally preferable purchasingf) Reuseg) Consuming lessh) Government actionsi) Additional resources for local/state
governments
