Jump to main content.

Cross-sector and Multi-sector Strategies

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

EPA developed a number of cross- and multi-sector strategies and tools to reduce major barriers to environmental progress and generate the most effective drivers of performance improvement.

Beneficial Reuse of Industrial Byproducts in the Gulf Coast Region

The EPA report Beneficial Reuse of Industrial Byproducts in the Gulf Coast Region (PDF) (116 pp, 1.8MB, About PDF) describes how participating sectors can turn "would-be wastes" into substitutes for raw materials and/or sources of energy. This report identifies the major industrial byproduct streams for nine major sectors that have a significant presence in the Gulf Coast region. The report summarizes state beneficial material reuse programs in that region, and offers a detailed summary of factors that support or inhibit the creation of market connections to the reuse of industrial byproducts (i.e., drivers & barriers). The report is intended to provide information to state and federal regulators, trade associations, and other stakeholders to support and promote beneficial material reuse.

Top of page

Beneficial Reuse Forum

The 2003 Forum was designed to hear directly from industry experts on barriers to resource conservation and to identify and address crosscutting issues. Here is a summary of key themes (PDF) (12 pp, 263K, About PDF) and selected background dialogue.

Top of page

Construction and Ports: Emission Reduction Incentives

Emission Reduction Incentives for Off-Road Diesel Equipment Used in the Port and Construction Sectors (PDF) (94 pp, 588K), published in May 2005, documents the development of incentives to reduce diesel emissions from off-road equipment used in the Port and Construction sectors. This report contributed to the EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee's Recommendations for Reducing Diesel Emissions (PDF) (92 pp, 530K, About PDF).

Top of page

Mercury Switch Recovery Program

The Mercury Switch Recovery Program is the result of a two-year partnership involving EPA programs, environmental organizations, the Environmental Council of the States, and several industry trade associations: the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Steel Manufacturers Association.

Begun in 2006, the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program is removing mercury-containing light switches from scrap vehicles before the vehicles are flattened, shredded, and melted to make new steel. The program is also providing a financial incentive for those who remove mercury switches. Together with existing state mercury switch recovery efforts, this program will significantly reduce mercury air emissions from the furnaces used in steel making—the fourth leading source in the United States after coal-fired utility boilers, industrial boilers, and gold mining.

The goal of the program is to collect 80 to 90 percent of available mercury switches by 2017. Click here to see up-to-the-minute recovery numbers.

For more information, please go to:

For more information contact Rhonda Minnick of the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, at 703-308-8771.

Top of page

Promoting Environmental Management Systems

EPA promotes the development and implementation of environmental management systems (EMS) within sectors because they enable manufacturing facilities to achieve improvements in environmental, health, and safety performance beyond government-required levels. An EMS is a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing, and improving the processes and actions that a facility undertakes to meet its business and environmental goals.

EMS Implementation Guides
EPA has worked with industry trade organizations and other stakeholders to create and publish EMS Implementation Guides for several sectors. These guides describe an EMS that is based on the ISO 14001 standard and reflects an emphasis on sustained compliance, pollution prevention, and information sharing with the community. They provide detailed information to facilities and businesses interested in implementing an EMS and incorporate lessons learned and examples drawn from the experience of other businesses that have implemented an EMS. EMS Implementation Guides are currently available for the Agribusiness (meat-processing), Chemical Manufacturing, Metal Casting, Iron and Steel, Ports, and Shipbuilding and Ship Repair sectors.

Environmental Management Business Cases
EPA has released several brochures highlighting the benefits of EMS implementation at various industrial facilities. The brochures, titled Environmental Management Systems: Systematically Improving your Performance, were created with input from major trade associations from each industry. These business cases are available for the Agribusiness (meat processing), Construction, Metal Casting, Ports, and Shipbuilding and Ship Repair sectors.

Top of page

Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Key Industrial Sectors in the United States

This working draft released in May 2008 seeks to provide greenhouse gas (GHG) emission profiles for key sectors of U.S. industry (including indirect emissions from electricity consumption), which combined accounted for 29% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2002, more than any other economic sector. Emission profiles are provided for the following key industrial sectors: Alumina and Aluminum, Chemicals, Construction, Food and Beverages, Forest Products, Iron and Steel, Lime, Metal Casting, Mining, Oil and Gas, Plastic and Rubber Products, Semiconductors, and Textiles.

Download the Quantifying GHG Emissions Report (PDF) (working draft) (132 pp, 1.5MB, About PDF)

Top of page

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.