Transcript Green chemicals and Job Innovation Beverley Thorpe Good Green Jobs Conference April 21, 2012

Green chemicals and Job
Innovation
Beverley Thorpe
Good Green Jobs Conference
April 21, 2012
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The 21st century must be
about solutions
1.
Chemicals are at the core of sustainability due to serious global impacts
of hazardous chemicals
2.
Hazardous Chemicals = Business Risk so Innovation means Safer
Chemicals + Transparency
1.
2.
3.
3.
Example: autos
Example: electronics
Principles for Safer Chemicals
What’s a ‘green chemical?
one tool: Green Screen for Safer Chemicals
4.
5.
Job Innovation means green chemicals on the shop floor
Q&A
Clean Production Action is a non
profit NGO that designs and
delivers strategic solutions for
safer chemicals, sustainable
materials and environmentally
preferable products
We work with governments,
NGOs, workers and industry
leaders to advance green
chemistry and safer product
design
www.cleanproduction.org
www.bizngo.org
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1. Chemicals are at the core of sustainability
due to serious global impacts of hazardous
chemicals
Systems
Products
Materials
Chemicals
Figure 1. Chemicals at the Core of Systems Change
Increasing focus on the problem of
chemicals in our society
“Given our understanding of the way chemicals
interact with the environment, we are running a
gigantic experiment with humans and all other
things living.”
Sir Tom Blundell, Chairman, UK Royal Commission (June 2003)
Persistent and toxic chemicals are a
global problem
• Over 100,000 chemicals in use
today
• Prior to 1981 no requirements
for environmental and health
impact data – many of the
65,000 chemicals in common
use have little information
• Current regulations put the
burden of proof on
governments to prove ‘harm’
not on the producer to prove
‘safe’
611/7/2015
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Persistent chemicals are in all of us
Chemicals discovered in
adults and babies (body
burden) are associated
with cancer, hormone
disruption, reproductive
disorders, respiratory
illnesses and harming the
development of children.
www.toxicnation.ca
(example of Canadian body burden study)
Babies are now born pre-polluted
• Umbilical cord blood tests
show nearly 300 industrial
chemicals in newborns
• Of 287 chemicals
detected in these blood
tests, 180 cause cancer,
217 are neurotoxins, and
208 cause reproductive
or developmental harm
in animals.
credit: Passport Foundation
Hormone disrupting chemicals ->
behavioural changes
• Organophosphate insecticides (OP’s) are among the most
widely used pesticides globally & have long been known to be
particularly toxic for children.
• Children with above-average pesticide exposures are 2x as
likely to have ADHD
(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
• US experiencing 1:100 autism
spectrum disorders
Some chemicals -> reproductive
impacts
• Image: Gonads of Longjaw
mudsucker collected from San
Francisco Bay salt marsh.
• This fish shows evidence of
endocrine disruption with the
condition known as “ovotestes”.
• The upper gonad is an enlarged
testes with sperm, while the
smaller lower gonad consists of
some testicular tissue and ovary,
orange color.
2. Hazardous chemicals are also a
business risk
• NGOs highlight hazardous products
– Autos
– Electronics
• Innovation means safer chemicals and
transparency
Hazardous chemicals in autos
• Example: PBDEs: fabric
backing, arm rests, floors,
electronic enclosures
• PBDEs: Neurodevelopmental toxins,
thyroid disruptors, liver
toxicity in animal tests
• Concentrations of haz
chemicals in car interiors
were 5-10x higher than in
homes or offices
Hazardous chemicals in autos
• Example: Phthalates:
90% used as plasticizers
for PVC (vinyl) plastic.
• Higher temperatures
lead to more offgassing. Ubiquitous.
• DEHP = toxic to
reproduction;
implicated in low sperm
counts; developmental
toxin
www.healthystuff.org
PVC & BFR*-free vehicles
increasing in the market
On a fleet-wide basis PVC use
continues to decline:
Before 2006, all vehicle
interiors had PVC present.
However, in our 2011-2012
vehicle screening, 17% (34
vehicles) had PVC-free
interiors.
Halogen free cars
In 2006 only 2% of vehicle
interiors were free of PVC
and BFRs;
in 2012, that number was
quadrupled, with 8% of
vehicle interiors being free
of PVC and BFRs.
*PVC = polyvinyl chloride plastic
BFR = brominated flame retardants
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/cool-it/Campaign-analysis/Guide-to-Greener-Electronics/
#1 score
At the end of 2010, 100% of all new HP
notebook products are BFR- and PVC-free.
HP is on track to achieve 90% of its new
goal to phase out BFR and PVC in newly
introduced personal computing products
in 2011.
Its target to phase out the phthalates
DEHP, DBP and BBP in newly introduced
personal computing products has been
revised to the end of 2012.
However, there is no goal to phase out all
phthalates, although HP says it ‘may
require additional future restrictions’.
Leaders make chemicals policy transparent
HP’s material restrictions - online
BizNGO Principles for Safer Chemicals
Endorsers include …
· Breast Cancer Fund
· Catholic Healthcare West
· Construction Specialties, Inc.
· Health Care Without Harm
· Hewlett-Packard Company
· Hospira, Inc.
· Kaiser Permanente
· Method
· Natural Resources Defense
Council
· Practice Greenhealth
· Premier, Inc.
· Seventh Generation
· Staples, Inc.
· Whole Foods Market, Inc.
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1. Know and disclose
product chemistry
2. Assess and avoid hazards
3. Commit to continuous
improvement
4. Support public policies and
industry standards
Who We Are
• Dell, Inc.
• Electronics Take
Back Coalition
• HewlettPackard
• Seagate
• Catholic
Healthcare West
• Kaiser Permanente
• Health Care
Without Harm
• Hospira, Inc.
• Practice
Greenhealth
• Premier, Inc.
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• Method
• Seventh
Generation
• Staples
• Whole
Foods
• Construction
Specialties
• Healthy
Building
Network
• Perkins+Will
• Breast Cancer
Fund
• Clean Water
Action
• Ecology Center
• EDF
• Env’l Health
Strategy Center
• Investors Env’l
Health Network
• NRDC
Why Business Demand is Growing for Safer
Chemicals
• Current market & regulatory demands
• Need to know whether product
contains chemicals of high concern
• Protect market share and brand
reputation (by moving to safer
alternatives)
• Lower costs
• Be ahead of future regulations or
market demands
• Know potential life cycle liabilities–
from upstream manufacturing to
downstream use and disposal
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For example: PVC is a business/brand
reputation risk
• PVC in cables and computers (e-waste) burned in
open fires is major source of global dioxins
07/11/2015
Clean Production Action
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3. What’s a green chemical?
GreenScreen™ for Safer Chemicals
• Provides a roadmap to green
chemistry through four
benchmarks
• Increasing adoption by
companies to mitigate
business risk
• Focuses on inherent hazards of
chemicals for ‘informed
substitution’
• Drives continuous
improvement and innovation
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The Green Screen
Benchmarks Chemicals into
four Categories Based on 18
Hazard Endpoints and
Levels of Concern
Benchmark 3
(High/Medium/Low)
Benchmark 4
Prefer – Safer Chemical
Use but Still Opportunity
for Improvement
Benchmark 2
Use but Search for Safer
Substitutes
Benchmark 1
Avoid – Chemical of
High Concern
http://cleanproduction.org/Greenscreen.php
The GreenScreen™ is based on green chemistry principles
“the utilization of a set of principles that
reduces the use or generation of
hazardous substances in the design,
manufacture and application of chemical
products.”
#2. Design safer chemicals and
products: Design chemical
products to be fully effective,
yet have little or no toxicity.
#10. Design chemicals and
products to degrade after use:
Design chemical products to
break down to innocuous
substances after use so that
they do not accumulate in the
environment.
#12. Minimize the potential for
accidents: Design chemicals and
their forms to minimize the
potential for chemical accidents
including explosions, fires, and
releases to the environment.
Each chemical’s hazard based
on these 18 criteria
Ecotoxicity
Fate
Human Health Tier I
Human Health –
Tier II
Physical
Hazards
Acute Aquatic
Toxicity
Persistence
Carcinogenicity
Acute Mammalian
Toxicity
Reactivity
Chronic Aquatic
Toxicity
Bioaccumulation
Mutagenicity/Gen
otoxicity
Neurotoxicity
Flammability
Additional
Ecotoxicity
Endpoints (when
available)
Found in
environmental
and/or biomonitoring studies
Developmental
Toxicity including
Developmental
Neurotoxicity
Systemic
Toxicity/Organ Effects
Evidence of long
range transport
Reproductive
Toxicity
Sensitization –
Respiratory & Skin
A chemical mixture is given a score based on its
lowest ingredient score or its breakdown product
(incl. combustion products)
Example:
• Material A
– Ingredients
1% Chemical #1 = Benchmark 1
39% Chemical #2 = Benchmark 3
60% Chemical #3 = Benchmark 4
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Clean Production Action
Material A is
Benchmark 1
Simple Integer Score = Key to Usability
• Expert knowledge to
generate and review the
score
• Once generated, the score
can be used by others
– Even if they have no toxicology
training
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GREEN SCREEN
HP is the world’s leading practitioner of the
Green Screen tool. This tool, developed by
the NGO Clean Production Action, is an
open source tool used to identify
substances that are inherently less
hazardous for humans and the
environment. It enables informed decisions
to substitute materials eliminated from our
products.
HP is championing wider acceptance of the
Green Screen within industry, the
environmental NGO community and
regulatory bodies.
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©2010 HP Confidential
PVC-Free Power Cord Green Screen
Pilot
• HP’s Material specification and
approved material list now use
GreenScreen criteria
• 75 million Powercords changed
from PVC to PVC/BFR free in 2011.
That equates to 8,250 tonnes of
polymer replaced.
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• PolyOne GLS engaged with GreenScreen via relationship with HP
• Supplier of halogen and phthalate-free products
• ill continue to use the GreenScreen process to develop cleaner, greener products
going forward as part of their corporate responsibility:
“The more you know about what you are putting into your products, the more likely
you are to make better choices in product development”
Jonathan Plisco, PolyOne
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GreenScreen Adoption
Wal-Mart’s Chemical Intensive Products (CIP)
Bring up the Bottom
Wal-Mart requires vendors to
screen all CIPs against defined
lists that meet Benchmark 1
criteria to spur movement out of
the most hazardous chemicals
and save Wal-Mart money
Wercs (software provider
to Wal-Mart) selected
GreenScreen for their
GreenWERCS software
solution
-Called GreenScreen LiTe
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GreenWERCS searches lists automatically, applies GS
benchmarks and generates Reports that are Easy to Update
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Highlight Any Box to View Regulations and Hazards
Associated with each CAS#
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4. Job Innovation means green
chemicals on the shop floor
1. How is this being done now?
2. What is needed?
Reducing Hazard and finding
safer chemicals
The GreenScreen in manufacturing
http://www.adidasgroup.com/en/sustainability/statements/2011/joint_ro
admap_zero_discharge_nov_2011.aspx
Outdoor Industry Association
looking at GreenScreen
method for defining
hazardous chemicals used in
dye and textile
manufacturing process –
and safer alternatives in
Chinese supply chain
www.greenpeace.org/eastasia
Better than MSDS??
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Q&A
• Is there a need for an automated chemical
benchmarking tool on the shop floor?
• Same benchmarking tool could assess
alternative chemicals for comparative safety.
• ?
Thank you!
Beverley Thorpe
Co-Director
Clean Production Action
[email protected]
647 341 6688
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