MSU has received a $296,424 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue to provide pollution prevention technical assistance to Missouri manufacturing companies. The grant will be managed by Doug Neidigh (Sustainability Coordinator) and co-managed by Dr. Robert Pavlowsky and MSU’s Ozarks Environment and Water Resources Institute (OEWRI), and Dr. Sanjay Tewari from Missouri S&T’s Engineering Program.
Pollution prevention is any practice that reduces, eliminates, or prevents pollution at its source before it is created. MSU’s Sustainability program began providing pollution prevention technical assistance to companies in 2020 under a previous EPA grant. Since the fall of 2020, MSU’s Pollution Prevention Technical Assistance program has worked with 20 companies and identified a range of reduction opportunities and projected annual savings for those companies. The following is a summary of the total projected results of those recommendations:
- 126,419 lbs of hazardous waste per year
- 1,945 Metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions
- 2.4 million kWh of electricity per year
- 14.7 million gallons of water per year
- $584,565/yr in savings
The program continues to work with these companies to implement these opportunities and achieve results. The program has also provided internship opportunities for MSU, S&T, and MU students.
The new grant from EPA will allow MSU to provide the following services to Missouri manufacturing companies:
- Onsite pollution prevention assessments to help companies reduce waste, conserve energy, and save money
- Pollution prevention training sessions to provide manufacturing personnel with the knowledge and skills to perform their own pollution prevention assessments and practices.
- Four training sessions throughout the state
- Development of a Sustainability Best Practices network through the Missouri Association of Manufacturers. The Sustainability Best Practices Network will allow Missouri manufacturing companies to learn from each other through sharing best practices and associated results.
- Internship opportunities for students
The grant program also provides funding to hire a full-time Pollution Prevention Specialist to further support the program. This new position has recently been posted by MSU.
As the Pollution Prevention program continues to grow, so does the list organizations that support the program. These include:
- Missouri S&T
- Missouri Association of Manufacturers
- Missouri Small Business Development Center
- Missouri Department of Natural Resources
- Illinois Sustainable Technology Center – University of Illinois
This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement 97798301 to Missouri State University.