Bert Bras George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia 30332-040

1. Environmentally Benign Manufacturing -Trends in Europe, Japan, and the USA-- Results from the NSF/DoE Sponsored “Environmentally Benign Manufacturing”WTEC Study Bert Bras George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0405 USA

2. Module Objective Having read this, you should know the following: • What the definition of EBM is • How this type of study was performed • Cultural differences that can affect how EBM is pursued by different actors • What each region’s priorities are and why • Examples of specific company activities

3. What is EBM? • Environmentally Benign Manufacturing (EBM) = • Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing = • “Green” Manufacturing = Manufacturing in a way that does not impact the environment • EBM  Pollution Prevention

4. Some US Waste Figures... • The USA generated 180 million tons of Municipial Solid Waste in 1988 • One third of US MSW consist of packaging materials • U.S. Industry, on the other hand, generates • 700 million tons of hazardous waste, and • 11 billion tons of “non-hazardous” waste.

5. What is Manufacturing’s Impact? • See www.epa.gov/tri/ and use “TRI Explorer” to find the Toxic Release Inventory data for manufacturers in your neighborhood.

6. Complexity of EBM • Decisions in manufacturing, including design, can have profound implications throughout the entire product life cycle, from raw materials production, through the use phase of the product and into it’s endof life treatment.

7. Environmentally Benign Manufacturing (EBM) Panel • Mission: to study and evaluate the current efforts and state of the art in EBM in Europe, Japan, and the United States • Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF) with the Department of Energy • Panel members: representative of government, academia, and industry • Activities: • Visits to Japan, US and EU • Generation and distribution of public documents • Public workshop in July, 2000 in Washington DC • Final Report: Environmentally Benign Manufacturing. WTEC Panel Report, Baltimore, MD, Loyola College, 2001. • Online: • http://itri.loyola.edu/ebm/ebm.pdf • www.srl.gatech.edu/education/ME4171

8. Panelists Dave Allen, UT Austin Diana Bauer, EPA (formerly UC Berkeley) Bert Bras, Georgia Tech Tim Gutowski, MIT (panel co-chair) Cindy Murphy, UT Austin (panel co-chair) Tom Piwonka, University of Alabama Paul Sheng, McKinsey (formerly UC Berkeley) John Sutherland, Michigan Tech Deborah Thurston, Univ. of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign Egon Wolff, Caterpillar

9. Fuji Xerox NIRE Hitachi PERL New Earth Conf. & Exhibition HORIBA LTD. NRIM Kubota PVC Industrial Association MITI/Mechanical Engineering Lab. Sony Corporation MITI/AIST/NOMC Tokyo Seikan Kaisha Nagoya University Toyota Motor Corporation NEC Corporation University of Tokyo Nippon Steel Corporation Institute for Industrial Science Japanese Sites Visited

10. Corus Holland ICAST DaimlerChrysler IVF Denmark Tech. U. MIREC EC Environmental Directorate Siemens EC Research & Technical Development TU Aachen Excello TU Berlin Fraunhofer, Aachen TU Delft (Ministry of Environment, Lucent Technologies, Philips Consumer Electronics) Fraunhofer, Berlin University of Stuttgart Fraunhofer, Stuttgart Volvo European Sites Visited

11. Applied Materials GM Caterpillar IBM CERP Interface Flooring Systems Chaparral Steel/Cement Johnson Controls Daimler Chrysler MBA Polymers Corus Tuscaloosa Metrics Workshop DuPont Micro Metallics Federal Mogul NCMS Ford US Sites Visited

12. Society/Culture The difference and importance of culture was striking.

13. Japan • Avoiding waste and saving resources is culturally ingrained. • Japanese are on a “small ship in the pacific” • Environmental stewardship is part of “being a good citizen” • Criticism on US

14. Europe • Green space is scarce and thus precious. • Strong environmental stewardship and associated action groups, sometimes reinforced by religion (mankind is “custodian” of the Earth). • High degree of cooperation between governments and industry. • Recycling is culturally ingrained from bottle recycling - consumer goods is just a logical next step. • Resource/material based tax systems (rather than labor/income based) are being introduced. • Still, average citizen is not overly environmentally conscious at all (traffic problems). • Criticism on US

15. Strategies • The development of a strategy is a critical part of EBM • In general, companies develop strategies that are compatible with their national strategies, while multinational companies need to respond to the strategies of many countries • The strategies of the EU, Japan and the U.S. are strongly influenced by their national concerns, and societal structures.

16. Main Issues - Japan • Focus on the conservation of resources including reductions in energy, materials, solid wastes, and greenhouse gases • Alignment of internal resources by public education, environmental leadership, consensus building, and tools development including LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), DfE (Design for the Environment), and ISO 14000 certification • Systematic implementation of EBM as a competitive strategy

17. Main Issues - Europe • Concern for solid wastes and toxic materials • Product take back focus • Systems orientation built upon interdisciplinary agenda setting, and tools development • Strong political basis for environmental concerns

18. Main Issues - US • Regulatory focus on pollution by medium, • Materials, process, technology, and cost orientation • Reliance on free enterprise to solve system level problems • Tendency toward adversarial positions which are solved by litigation

19. Motivation for EBM • Cost reduction • Risk mitigation • Market advantage • Regulatory flexibility • Corporate image • Etc • At the core: many companies really do understand the problem; Any long term sustainable business policy must address the relationship to the environment.

20. Take Back and Recycling - Europe • High emphasis on take-back for recycling - due to legislation. • Working take-back system in place in The Netherlands. • Reprocessing still highly dependent on manual labor (for sorting, disassembly, inspection). US may lead in mechanical separation technologies. • Recycling/reuse is seen as new job opportunities, especially in Germany. • No magic silver bullets.

21. European Take-Back Legislation • Take-back law in place for cars in EU • Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of September 18 2000 on End-Of Life Vehicles • Car-makers bear responsibility for recovery and recycling • Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive will follow soon at EU level • No objection from population to pay extra for disposal fee on consumer goods. • European laws to be implemented are stricter than Dutch law. • Experience from Dutch recyclers: • should be economically viable to be self-sustaining; • find market for materials first, then recycle.

22. Japan and US... • US: • Recycling efforts either self-motivated or in response to European initiatives. • Japan: • Avoidance of waste and saving of resources is culturally ingrained. • Take-back laws considered are derived from European initiatives.

23. Trends in Electronic Industry • Japanese and US companies are highly responsive to activities in Europe, • particularly the WEEE directive, with the primary focus being elimination of halogenated flame retardants and lead-containing solder. • US electronics companies are moving more slowly and reluctantly than in Japan • The general feeling is that the benefits to the materials far outweigh the environmental risks • ISO 14000 certification: • key concern for Japanese companies • moderate effort to complete certification in Europe • primarily pursued by international companies in US • In US: • Strong interest in disassembly technologies and design for disassembly in US. • Strong emphasis on metrics and supply chain management. • Most recycling activities in the US are occurring (or have occurred) as partnerships with OEMs.

24. Trends in Automotive Industry • Disturbing trend: Individuals from U.S.-based plants frequently commented that existing regulations tend to inhibit technology changes that could result in positive environmental effects. • Burden to pursue the formal approval of new technologies is often so large that the technology changes are not pursued. • In sharp contrast to industry-government interactions abroad where there is a common vision regarding technological innovations directed at environmental improvement and economic development. • All of the automakers and suppliers visited have (or will) achieved some level of ISO 14000 certification, but for different reasons. • Extended producer responsibility and vehicle take-back represent considerable challenges to the auto industry, incl. suppliers. • Principle difference between the U.S. and Japan/Europe: attitude of consumers toward vehicles.

25. Material Issues • Highly engineered tailored materials cause problems for recycling • May imply that alloy compositions would have to be frozen • Iron and steel face a challenge in all applications that use energy during their life cycle (such as cars and trucks) because of weight • Thin-wall castings and high strength steels are being researched worldwide. • Three largest contributors to pollution in metal manufacturing: • machining (the use of lubricants), • casting (air pollution from binders) • surface conditioning (cleaning, painting and plating). • Polymers face fundamental conflict between performance (e.g., low weight and low cost) and the ability to either incorporate recycled content and/or recycle the engineered material. • Chance for successful plastics recycling increases as the waste stream quality and quantity increase and as the cost of the virgin material increases . • Some recycling infrastructures are set up to capture particular target materials because they are either valuable or troublesome (e.g., PVC can produce HCl during incineration)

26. Design for Environment (DFE) • Europe arguably leading this area • Japan heavy on tool development • Most larger companies seem to have some expertise in DFE • Seen now by many as “just another Design for X” to be done, but lower in priority to technical and economical concerns. • Fits in concept of lean manufacture -> avoid waste. • Low hanging fruits can easily be identified. • Even in Europe’s large companies, getting practicing engineers to do DFE can be a problem. • Trade-off and detailed analyses are still difficult to do. • Trials with implementing DFE in Small & Medium-Size Enterprises have been conducted in Netherlands and Sweden. • Current tools are good enough to get them started. • Self-motivation and sustaining of effort is difficult -> SME may not see business advantage or simply has no time.

27. Integration with Business • EBM is seen by many in Europe and Japan as a natural extension of lean manufacturing and/or concurrent engineering. • In the US, it is still often viewed as a separate and special activity. • European EBM/DFE support strategies seem to have evolved to a) have a group of experts at corporate R&D level, but b) definitely have a few dedicated DFE/EBM persons at the business unit/manufacturing plant level. • Integration with company wide information systems (and beyond to suppliers) is being pursued. • Interestingly, few if any have really linked environmental assessments closely with business/economic assessments. • Mostly on a case-by-case basis • Not systematically • In some cases, governmental bid packages include request for environmental analysis in addition to financial budget.

28. Symbiotic Thinking • Next frontier: integrate manufacturing and industry with Nature. • “Quantify -> Qualify -> Symbiosis” (Interface Flooring Systems) • Noticeable was the interest of several companies in natural fibers. • Also, “waste” is a relative term: a waste may be a food for something/somebody else. Key is to find that thing or person. • Industrial Ecology • If symbiotic, closed-loop, links can be established, then impact reduction could be significant. • Within the industrial system by teaming with diverse partners ->Industrial ecology • With Nature by using renewable and (bio)degradable materials ->Natural ecology

29. Government Activities Activity Japan US Europe • Take-back legislation vv — vvvv • Landfill bans vv v vvv • Material bans v v vv • LCA tool and database development vvv vv vvvv • Recycling infrastructure vv v vvv • Economic incentives vv v vvv • Regulate by medium v vv v • Cooperative /joint efforts with industry vv v vvvv • Financial and legal liability v vvvv v

30. Industrial Activities Activity Japan US Europe • ISO 14000 Certification vvvv v vvv • Water conservation vv vvv v • Energy conservation/CO2 emissions vvvv vv vv • Decreased releases to air & water v vvv vv • Decreased solid waste / post-industrial recycling vvvv vv vvv • Post-consumer recycling vv v vvvv • Material and energy inventories vvv v vv • Alternative material development vv v vvv • Supply chain involvement vv v vv • EBM as a business strategy vvvv vv vvv • Life-cycle activities vv vv vv

31. Research Activities Activity Japan US Europe Relevant Basic Research (> 5 years out) • Polymers vv vvvvv • Electronics vv vvvv • Metals vvvvvv • Automotive/Transportation vv vvvv • Systems vv v vvv Applied R&D (≤ 5 years out) • Polymers v vvv vv • Electronics vvv vv vv • Metals vvv v vv • Automotive/Transportation vvv v vvv • Systems vv v vvv

32. Educational Activities Activity Japan US Europe • Courses vv vvvvv • Programs v vvv • Focused degree program — — v • Industry sponsorship v vvvvv • Government sponsorship v vvv

33. Systems Level Problem Solving • Progress in EBM requires integration of technology, economic motivation, regulatory actions and business practices to be successful. • Examples abound of missed opportunities when any element is missing. • Fundamental is dialog and cooperation between stakeholders. • In the most effective firms a clear strategy is developed and woven into business practices. • The setting of targets and constancy of mission are essential to this process. • By far the most highly coordinated efforts seen by the panelists were in Japan. For example at Toyota “Lean Manufacturing” and “Green Manufacturing” were seen as essentially the same thing

34. Regional Observations in Short • The US appears to be most heavily involved in materials and processes and in avoiding litigation. • Japan is focused on applications that incorporate EBM into their business strategies, introduction of new products (primarily to gain market share), and resource conservation. • Europe is heavily concerned with product end-of-life, infrastructure (supply chain and reverse logistics), elimination of materials of concern, and systems level modeling.

35. Some Major Conclusions • Each region (US, Europe, and Japan) has different approaches to developing an environmentally benign manufacturing strategy. • Each region has different drivers. • Key finding: Japanese and Europeans view EBM as a systems problem, and have put in place various aspects of a systems solutions. • There was no evidence that the EBM problem is solvable by a “silver bullet” technology. • There was evidence that plenty of win-win situations are possible.

36. Acknowledgements • Delcie Durham (National Science Foundation). • Fred Thompson and K. Rajurkar (NSF). • Geoff Holdridge (WTEC) - operational management. • WTEC personnel for operational support. • This presentation is a result from the work sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy under NSF Cooperative Agreement ENG-9707092, awarded to the International Technology Research Institute at Loyola College, MD. Any opinions, finding, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US government, the authors’ parent institutions, or Loyola Tech. • Full report can be found at http://itri.loyola.edu/ebm/ebm.pdf