Source Reduction Activities

Facilities are required to report any source reduction activities that they initiated or completed during the reporting year to TRI. Source reduction information can help facilities learn from each other’s best practices and potentially lead to better environmental stewardship and implementation of more P2 actions. When reporting source reduction activities to TRI, facilities choose from 24 codes that describe the activities they implemented. These codes are grouped into the five categories shown in the graph below. EPA’s recent analysis Measuring the Impact of Source Reduction shows the efficacy of different types of source reduction activities.

Note: Facilities report their source reduction activities by selecting from a list of 24 codes that describe their activities. These codes fall into one of five categories listed in the graph legend and are defined in the TRI Reporting Forms and Instructions.

• In 2022, 1,759 facilities (8% of all facilities that reported to TRI) implemented a combined 3,589 new source reduction activities.
• The most reported source reduction category was Process and Equipment Modifications.
  • For example, an adhesive manufacturing facility used historical data to optimize batch sizes which reduced the quantity of methyl methacrylate waste managed. [Click to view facility details in the TRI P2 Search Tool]
• Facilities also report how they identified the opportunity to implement each pollution prevention activity. The most reported methods for finding these opportunities were Participative Team Management and Internal Pollution Prevention Audits.

Use the map below to see which facilities reported implementing one or more source reduction activity during 2022. Click on the "Map Layers" to show facilities reporting for a selected source reduction category.

Facilities Reporting Source Reduction

Additional Resources

• For more information on how facilities report source reduction to TRI, see the TRI Source Reduction Reporting web page.
• See the TRI P2 Data Overview Factsheet (pdf) for more information on source reduction reporting in recent years.
• Facilities may have implemented source reduction activities in earlier years that are ongoing or have been completed. To see details about these activities, use the TRI P2 Search Tool.
• Facilities interested in exploring source reduction opportunities can reach out to their EPA Regional P2 Coordinator to arrange a free, confidential P2 assessment with a third-party P2 expert.
• The TRI Pollution Prevention Reporting Guide provides examples of source reduction activities at facilities and guidance to improve reporting.
• The TRI Green Chemistry and Green Engineering webpage has information about green chemistry and engineering principles and examples of activities that facilities have reported to TRI.
• EPA partners with the American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute® to present Green Chemistry Challenge Awards to organizations that have advanced green chemistry.
• The Solvent Substitutions Reported to TRI webpage is an interactive resource that allows users to find information about specific substitutions for TRI-listed solvents to other solvent chemicals, mixtures, or solvent-free processes.

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This page was published in March 2024 and uses the 2022 TRI National Analysis dataset made public in TRI Explorer in October 2023.