Data Shows Link Between Environmental & Economic Performance in Finishing

摘要

The launch of the Strategic Goals Program (SGP) at AESF Week 1998 was met with both enthusiasm and skepticism with respect to what the finishing industry could accomplish with the federal EPA and state/local regulators. This so-called "common sense" project received a top award from none other than then-Vice-President Al Gore for its boldness in seeking to reinvent government and reflected, among other things, a convergence of several industry objectives: (1) Regulatory "Quid Pro Quo" - to test an alternative policy framework that would provide greater regulatory flexibility for firms in exchange for voluntary "beyond compliance" environmental improvement; (2) Industry-Regulator Communication - to position the industry to communicate more effectively with - and be better understood by - regulators; (3) "Bottom Line' Results - to encourage the deployment of a management approach that would deliver "bottom line" results to firms pursuing excellence in their resource uses and waste outputs; (4) Recognition - to focus attention on the solid environmental performance of individual finishers and recast the industry as an environmental steward and leader in the small manufacturing community.