Pollution prevention is promoted by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other
governmental agencies as a method of reducing the
generation of wastes and pollutants. Pollution prevention
is also called source reduction because it reduces wastes
early in the production process. Source reduction has
been used by some industries to comply with governmental
regulations and decrease costs associated with the
management of hazardous materials. Nationally, the
electronics industry generates a large quantity of
hazardous waste. Similarly in Oregon, the electronics
industry has recently been identified by the DEQ as one of
the top five polluters in the state. The purpose of this
research was to identify pollution prevention strategies
that are currently being used by the electronics industry
in Oregon and to assess the industry's interest in
switching to less hazardous practices.
A questionnaire was distributed to 180 businesses,
which included all industries affiliated with the Oregon
Electronics Association and additional electronics firms
listed in Oregon phone directories.
From those responding to the survey, the results
indicated that electronics organizations in Oregon
manufacture a wide variety of products including circuit
boards, cable assemblies, software, laser equipment,
printers, and control panels.
Over half of those participating in the survey
reported that the largest quantity of hazardous materials
were generated early in the manufacturing process. Forty-seven
percent of the respondents indicated they had
attempted incorporating less hazardous compounds to those
used previously. Common problems encountered which
discouraged the industry from switching to less hazardous
products or processes were revealed by the participants to
include: The new product/process did not work as well
(37%), did not believe current practices were harmful
(18%), cost factors (14%), pressure from governmental
agencies (3%), and other factors (28%).
Fifty percent of those responding revealed that
their company recycles materials within the facility.
Participants indicated the products which were most likely
to be recycled included cardboard (19%), office paper
(18%), tin/aluminum (13%), newspaper (12%), and used
chemicals (11%).
The largest number of participants (43%) defined
"green" or "environmentally safe/friendly" products as
those that contain no known hazardous chemicals. Using
this chosen definition, sixty-five percent of those
responding indicated their organization did use these
"green" products.
It was indicated by those returning completed
surveys that one reason the industry has attempted to
incorporate less hazardous products and processes into
their production process is primarily because of long term
financial benefits. Other factors influencing the use of
less hazardous materials included ethical concerns and the
desire to find safer products that work as well as current
products. A vast majority of respondents indicated more
should be done in the area of pollution prevention and
want leadership to come from within the industry itself.
It is recommended that top executives in this field
meet to share methods of overcoming obstacles to pollution
prevention, clarify current terminology as it relates to
new products, develop a system of rewarding those who are
engaging in pollution prevention activities and promote
technology transfer. / Graduation date: 1995
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/35161 |
| Date | 17 January 1995 |
| Creators | Jones, Cynthia L. |
| Contributors | Harding, Anna K. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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