EPA Announced First Round of Funding for Waste Programmes, 2004

The US Environmental Protection Agency has announced almost $300,000 worth of projects to test innovative approaches to waste management. This represents the first round of projects for 2004, intended to make the Agency\'s waste programmes more efficient and effective. Results will be analysed and publicized around the US so that other bodies can benefit from the experiments. The projects include:

• Expanding pharmaceutical waste management in hospitals - this project, carried out with a number of partner organizations, benefits from $60,000, and will look at creative and effective procedures for the management of both hazardous and non-hazardous pharmaceuticals that are not yet regulated. It is anticipated that the results will be transferable to the entire healthcare sector.
• Measuring the environmental benefits of federal electronic equipment management practices - there is at present no tool for assessing the environmental benefits of purchasing, operating and recycling of electronic equipment, and this $60,000 pilot project will allow the proactive management of electronics management to be quantified and promoted.
• Expanding web portal on hazardous materials inventory - the value of online reporting and data management for required hazardous material inventories will be demonstrated in this $50,000 project.
• Using composts to reduce lead and arsenic soil contamination - the EPA and its partner organizations will look at use of different compost mixtures to reduce lead and arsenic concentrations in contaminated soils; there is over $46,000 of funding for this.
• Expanding the availability of renewable energy from waste oil - used cooking oil for restaurants, together with locally grown crops, will be used in small-scale biodiesel production (EPA funding is $50,000).

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