Georgia Environmental Partnership Retreat Focuses on Industrial Sustainability
What is industrial sustainability? Industrial sustainability stresses decreasing pollution and resource use, while adding value to the company and society. In July, about 35 representatives from industry, academia, and state and federal government attended a two day retreat to provide input on an overall state strategy for achieving industrial sustainability.
The retreat, "Achieving Industrial Sustainability Through a Non-Regulatory Process," was convened by the Georgia Environmental Partnership (GEP). The GEP is a coalition comprised of the Pollution Prevention Assistance Division (P2AD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Economic Development Institute (EDI) at Georgia Tech, and the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) at the University of Georgia (UGA). These organizations are the state's primary non-regulatory technical assistance providers for environmental management.
At this retreat, invited speakers from EPA's Office of Reinvention, Southwire, Weyerhaeuser, and Interface shared their thoughts and experiences on current trends and future directions in industrial sustainability. Following those presentations, participants provided input on approaches to develop a state strategy to achieve industrial sustainability. The retreat was facilitated by representatives of UGA's Institute of Community and Area Development (ICAD).
By the close of the retreat, the participants suggested a range of strategies to move industry towards sustainable practices. In general, these strategies included:
- Financial and regulatory incentives
- "quality of life" indicator system
- Increased awareness of sustainability
- Technical assistance
- Technology development
- Partnerships and networks
In defining the strategies, participants also indicated potential lead agencies, interested parties, and obstacles to implementation.
The development of a financial and regulatory incentives program was highlighted. The vital component of any incentives program, according to the participants, was stakeholder involvement in the development of incentives that are linked to clearly defined environmental outcomes.
The development of a "quality of life" environmental information system was identified as an important means for industry and the public to evaluate progress toward achieving environmental outcomes. The system should be accessible through the Internet, and contain information needed to monitor overall ecosystem health.
The need for informational materials to increase awareness about sustainability for use by schools, the general public, industry, and decision makers was stressed. In addition, a proactive non-regulatory technical assistance program to motivate new and expanding industries to move towards sustainability was encouraged.
Support for university research to fill technology gaps needed to achieve environmental outcomes was highlighted. Another suggestion was the development of improved technology transfer tools to deploy emerging clean technologies.
Finally, the establishment of a broad-based environmental network among state, industry, and non-governmental organizations was encouraged to assess sustainability policy needs.
The GEP is currently using input from the retreat in preparing a five year program to spur economic development through superior environmental performance.
--Bob Donaghue, Assistant Director
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