Pollution Prevention

ALABAMA
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

What's New In Pollution Prevention?

On October 25, 1990, Congress passed the Pollution Prevention (P2) Act - a national policy implementing techniques to prevent/reduce pollution at the source prior to its release. The P₂ Act states that:

	pollution should be prevented or reduced at the source;
	pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an environmentally safe manner;
	pollution that cannot be prevented or recycled should be treated in an environmentally safe manner; and
	disposal or other release into the environment should be employed only as a last resort and should be conducted in an environmentally safe manner.

Pollution prevention is defined in the P₂ Act as source reduction. Source reduction is any practice that reduces the amount of a contaminant from entering a waste stream in the first place. Source reduction does not mean altering the characteristics or the volume of the contaminant, i.e., changing it from one form to another. This is because pollution prevention is a multimedia approach to reducing pollution, meaning the effects on water, air, and land must all be considered.