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02 Dec 99 - waste prevention and the WTO; Model Cleaners Project ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- >From Leslie Kochan, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality: With the recent spotlight on the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in Seattle, folks might be interested in some of the environmental implications of past rulings - particularly related to the growing focus on the "life cycle" impacts of products. In September 1991, a General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) dispute resolution panel ruled that an embargo against Mexican tuna imposed under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act violated the GATT agreement. The embargo had been imposed to prevent Mexico from importing tuna caught with purse-seine nets which ensnare dolphins along with tuna. GATT decreed that the U.S. law was GATT-illegal because it was the process by which the tuna was harvested, rather than the tuna itself, that was being rejected by the U.S. I quote from the Nov./Dec. World Watch: "The trading system's aversion to process-related trade restrictions struck many environmentalists as particularly arbitrary, as environmental policy is moving increasingly toward focusing on the environmental impacts of products throughout their "life-cycle" - including production, distribution, use and disposal.... Reform of extraction and manufacturing processes are essential to making real environmental advances, yet trade rules could pose a significant impediment to pursuing such efforts in a world economy that is becoming steadily more integrated." And more from Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly #674, Oct. 28th: "Now the European Union has announced its intention to ban electronic products that contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and halogenated flame retardants by the year 2004. The EU also intends to make electronics manufacturers responsible for their products from cradle to grave - the manufacturer retains responsibility for ultimate disposal. "Acting on behalf of the American Electronics Association (IBM, Motorola, Microsoft, Raytheon, etc.), the Clinton/Gore administration immediately filed an aggressive challenge to the EU's proposal. The EU proposal is WTO-illegal for many reasons, the U.S. says. And the U.S. is almost certainly right." E-mail: KOCHAN ( D O T ) Leslie ( A T ) deq ( D O T ) state ( D O T ) or ( D O T ) us --------------------- >From Tom Watson, National Waste Prevention Coalition (NWPC) coordinator: I wanted to give everyone an update on the publicity we've received for the NWPC's Model Cleaners Project. In this project, the NWPC has recognized 15 innovative cleaners around the country for pioneering new approaches to waste prevention in the dry cleaning industry. We announced the Model Cleaners in August. Some of the Model Cleaners use the non-toxic "wet cleaning" process, thus avoiding the use of perchloroethylene, or "perc," the toxic solvent traditionally used by dry cleaners. Some cleaners use other alternatives to perc. Some have great programs for collecting hangers for reuse, or offer reusable garment bags to their customers. The model cleaners are in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin. More than 20 agencies and organizations, including state agencies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, were involved in the effort to evaluate the nominated cleaners. Some of these evaluators have also helped publicize the project by having the awards presented at major events. One great example was in Arizona. Charlotte Payton, of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, was our evaluator there. Charlotte arranged for the Model Cleaners certificate for Prestige Cleaners in Scottsdale to be presented at the annual Governor's Pride in Arizona awards ceremony, held a couple weeks ago in Phoenix. More than 300 people attended the event, which was for state environmental awards. The Arizona Secretary of State made the presentations. In California, Angela Baranco of U.S. EPA Region 9 in San Francisco has arranged for the four Model Cleaners in California to be recognized at their Annual Regional Administrator's Award Ceremony in the spring. The handsome Model Cleaner award certificates, which EPA Region 9 generously printed for us, are on recycled paper and are in cool recycled plastic frames, which the NWPC purchased from Amazing Recycled Products in Denver. There have been articles about the project and the Model Cleaners in dozens of publications, including (with a few examples): National and regional magazines and newsletters (Green Business Letter, Environmental Defense Fund newsletter); dry cleaning industry trade journals (National Clothesline); waste industry trade journals (Waste News) and local newspapers (Portland Oregonian). One ironic note: After the awards were publicized, a vendor sent one of the Model Cleaners in Colorado two 55-gallon drums of a new solvent to try. Now the cleaner has to get rid of this solvent, which he doesn't want! I definitely think the vendor should take it back, paying the full cost, and hopefully they will. But other than that little snafu, we feel that the project is definitely accomplishing its goal of raising awareness about reducing toxics and solid wastes in the dry cleaning industry. For additional information on the project, see our website at: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc/dryclean.htm Thanks so much to all of you who have helped with this project! - end -