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TRI National Analysis

Source Reduction Activities by Parent Company

This figure shows the parent companies whose facilities implemented the most source reduction activities during 2019. Facilities outside of the manufacturing sector, such as electric utilities and coal and metal mines, are not included in this chart because those sectors’ activities do not lend themselves to the same source reduction opportunities as the activities at manufacturing facilities. For example, metal mining involves dislodging and moving large volumes of earth that contain metals included on the TRI chemical list from below ground or from a mining pit to the surface to get to the target metal ore. This activity, which metal mines report as a release of the TRI chemicals, is inherent in mining operations.

Facilities report their source reduction activities by selecting codes that describe their activities. These codes fall into one of eight categories listed in the graph legend and are defined in the TRI Reporting Forms and Instructions.

 

Notes: 1) This figure uses EPA’s standardized parent company names. 2) To view facility counts by parent in 2018 or 2019, mouse over the bar graph.

These parent companies’ facilities primarily operate in the following industries:

  • Chemical manufacturing: 3M Co, Axalta Coating Systems LLC, Lyondellbasell Industries
  • Steel manufacturing: Nucor Corp
  • Plastics and rubber manufacturing: Hexpol Holdings Inc
  • Fabricated metals manufacturing: Silgan Holdings Inc
  • Wire and cable manufacturing: Superior Essex Inc
  • Petroleum products manufacturing: Shell Oil Co
  • Multiple sectors, e.g. pulp and paper, petroleum refining, and chemicals: Koch Industries Inc, Ergon Inc

Good operating practices, such as improving maintenance scheduling and installation of quality monitoring systems, are the most commonly reported types of source reduction activities for these parent companies. Spill and leak prevention and process modifications are also commonly reported.

Some of these parent companies submitted additional optional text on their TRI reporting forms describing their pollution prevention activities.

Examples of additional pollution prevention-related information for 2019:

  • A chemical manufacturing facility owned by Koch Industries Inc. began collecting styrene from line breaks, sampling activities, or line bleedings to use as feedstock in other processes. The styrene collected from these activities would have historically been treated as waste. [Click to view facility details in the TRI P2 Search Tool]
  • A 3M facility participated in a water waste reduction project which resulted in fewer changeovers and cleanings between products. This reduced the amount of barium compounds landfilled. [Click to view facility details in the TRI P2 Search Tool]

You can find P2 activities reported by a specific parent company and compare facilities’ waste management methods and trends for any TRI chemical by using the TRI P2 Search Tool.


This page was published in January 2021 and uses the 2019 TRI National Analysis dataset made public in TRI Explorer in October 2020.

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