Industrial Footprint Project

Project update (April 16, 2010)

Phase one of the Industrial Footprint Project and its funding ended on March 31, 2010. The final report is due by the end of June 2010.

We received $45,000 as part of another grant from EPA for phase two. We will continue to work with the pulp and paper industry. Activities include:

Collecting data for 2008 and 2009.
Researching graphics to show how footprint scores change over time.
Conducting a one day solid waste analysis at each facility.

What is a footprint?

We define an industrial footprint as the impact a major manufacturing facility has on the environment and the economy and community it's located in. It is measured in sustainability terms (environmental, economic and social impacts), and includes many "beyond compliance" aspects that Ecology and EPA do not directly regulate, such as energy use and the percent of reused or recycled materials in an end product.

Project goals

Select indicators of sustainability - click here for list of indicators chosen
Develop a Quality Assurance Project Plan for data collection
Using indicators selected, create and use a sustainability measurement tool - click here to read about our footprint tool development

Purpose of the footprint tool

Measure sustainability performance at an industrial facility and industry sector
Not a ranking of facilities - the scores cannot be compared
Provide regulatory and facility decision-makers with the ability to benchmark performance, assess progress toward sustainability, and make decisions that improve the footprint of a facility
Bring to light what furthers sustainability, what barriers to sustainability exist, and what is needed to overcome those barriers
Prepare for carbon accounting

Click here for background and participant information

Additional Resources

Document archive

Dept. of Ecology Contact Information

Marc Crooks
Dept of Ecology
Environmental Engineer
Phone (360) 407-6934
Fax (360) 407-6102
mcro461@ecy.wa.gov

Angela Fritz
Dept of Ecology
Environmental Specialist
Phone (360) 407-7393
Fax (360) 407-6102
anfr461@ecy.wa.gov