Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Pollution Prevention Information Dissemination (P2ID) Printing Industry Project
EPA Grant Number: R824751Title: Pollution Prevention Information Dissemination (P2ID) Printing Industry Project
Investigators: Goldberg, Terri , Griffith, Jennifer , Bray, Andy
Institution: Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: October 1, 1995 through September 30, 1997
Project Amount: $160,000
RFA: Incentives and Impediments to Pollution Prevention (1995) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Sustainable and Healthy Communities , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development
Objective:
NEWMOA's P2Print Project was designed to address a significant barrier to identifying and implementing pollution prevention (P2) projects: the lack of easy access to concise, reliable and up-to-date P2 information. In the printing industry, this problem is compounded by the fact that most print shops are small and not able to dedicate a staff person to environmental issues. The P2Print project piloted innovative electronic methods to provide P2 information to the printing industry:
- A CD-ROM system to enable lithographic printers to answer questions related to their unique situation by providing a user-friendly interface and format for locating pollution prevention and regulatory information.
- A regionally-based e-mail forum to link printing companies with technical experts, vendors, trade associations, and regulatory programs.
- A comprehensive resource of P2 information for lithographic printers that technical assistance programs would use to identify proven P2 techniques.
The project was specifically focused on printers in the Northeast (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont).
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
CD-ROM System on Pollution Prevention in Printing. The primary product of this project has been the CD-ROM, Preventing Pollution: An Environmental Resource for Lithographic Printers. A CD-ROM is a particularly effective tool to deliver P2 and regulatory compliance assistance information to users in a variety of formats: including videos, worksheets with calculators, and text. The CD-ROM format was chosen over other methods, such as the Internet, because the CD-ROM contains more than 550 MB of information, mainly due to the video content. Downloading speed for that much content would be prohibitively slow for Web users.
Preventing Pollution: An Environmental Resource for Lithographic Printers is an interactive electronic training tool that contains state-specific (The states covered in the CD-ROM are: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont) regulatory information, including air emission, wastewater discharge, and hazardous waste requirements. In addition, the CD-ROM contains information about pollution prevention (P2) approaches for lithographic printers, including worksheets, checklists, case studies, video clips, and a contacts database. Users can easily navigate through the CD-ROM by clicking on icons for the subjects of interest. Links are provided from the regulatory sections to related P2 information, and visa versa. In addition, regulatory and P2 information are also presented in a process-specific format divided into pre-press, on-press and post-press sections. The CD-ROM cover contains information about how to install and run the program.
Over 900 copies of the CD-ROM have been distributed by NEWMOA to the states, trade associations, and other interested parties, including local government and EPA New England and Region II. NEWMOA developed a model press release that was provided to the states for use in their newsletters and other publications. Several state and local governments have planned outreach activities to printers for FY 2001 and will distribute the CD-ROM at their events. Copies of the CD-ROM were sent to two trade associations for their distribution: The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (national) and Printing Industries of New England (regional). This project has shown that trade association resources can be an effective means to publicize information about the availability of new P2 and compliance assistance materials. The Printers National Environmental Assistance Center (PNEAC) also published the press release on its website and listserve. Numerous companies and other organizations across the country that requested a copy of the CD-ROM after learning about it on the PNEAC listserve.
NEWMOA developed a comprehensive evaluation form that was distributed with each CD-ROM. The responses received to date are positive, indicating that the CD-ROM is easy to use and understand, and that the users learned about P2 techniques and intend to refer to the CD-ROM in the future. The returned evaluation forms also indicate that users find Internet web pages a particularly useful source of assistance information.
NEWMOA's experience with using a contractor to develop the CD-ROM content was a challenge. NEWMOA spent significant resources to bring the content and organization of the CD-ROM's Beta version to an acceptable level. This process created significant delays in the project. If the Association were to undertake a similar project in the future, NEWMOA would prepare the content internally and use a contractor only for the programming. This would have significantly reduced the project time and the numerous contractor cost overruns.
Electronic Mailing List for Printers on Pollution Prevention. A listserve was established for all types of printers in the Northeast to allow them to communicate with each other and with state and federal regulatory and technical assistance staff on topics relating to P2 in the printing industry. The listserve became operational in January 1997 with approximately 45 members, of which 10 were printers. The rest were a variety of staff from trade associations, technical support and regulatory staff from all levels of government, as well as a few consultants. At that time NEWMOA discovered that very few printers in the region had access to or regularly used e-mail. In fact, the trade associations were unable to provide lists of their members e-mail addresses.
The listserve was underutilized despite several attempts to increase use. Therefore, the listserve was discontinued late in 1999. A regional listserve does not appear to be an effective tool to deliver P2 and compliance assistance information to a business audience of lithographic printers at this time.
P2 Information Package on Printing. A comprehensive packet of pollution prevention and compliance assistance material was distributed to the P2Print Workgroup members in the Fall of 1997. In addition to serving as the information source for the CD-ROM, the P2Print information packet has been a valuable information resource for the state technical and compliance assistance programs.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
northeast, printing, off-set lithography, pollution prevention, cleaner production, clean technologies, waste reduction, CD-ROM, SIC Code 2752., Scientific Discipline, Sustainable Industry/Business, cleaner production/pollution prevention, Social Science, NEWMOA, cleaner production, P2ID, printing industry, cost benefit, Clean Air Act, technical assistance, pollution prevention, outreach and educationRelevant Websites:
Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.