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This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

How can my company get started with Lean and Environment?

EPA's Lean and Environment Initiative developed a series of toolkits that offer practical techniques and strategies to help lean, environmental, and other specialists on the shop-floor identify and eliminate waste. These toolkits draw heavily from the experience of organizations that have pioneered integrated approaches to lean and environmental decision-making while at the same time delivering world class performance, exerting market leadership, and achieving bottom line results. 

Written for lean operational managers, environmental practitioners, and lean practitioners, the hope is that these toolkits will help organizations to identify and eliminate environmental wastes. They may also help align your environmental management systems goals and objectives as a routine part of your lean initiatives and business decisions. 

Lean & Environment Toolkit A general guide for using lean tools to achieve cost savings through environmental savings
Lean & Energy Toolkit A targeted guide for using lean tools to achieve cost savings through energy savings
Lean & Chemicals Toolkit A targeted guide for using lean tools to achieve cost savings through chemical savings
Lean & Water Toolkit A targeted guide for using lean tools to achieve cost savings through water savings
Environmental Professional's
Guide to Lean & Six Sigma
A practical guide for environmental experts to learn how lean and six sigma can be used to achieve environmental results

These toolkits are no longer updated. However, we contrinue to receive requests for information on Lean and Environment so we keep them live on the website.