Session R4G The Design and Implementation of a University Environmental Management System - A tool for teaching Environmental Responsibility

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1 The Design and Implementation of a University Environmental Management System - A tool for teaching Environmental Responsibility Iván J. Baigés University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Department of General Engineering, PO Box 9044/ Mayaguez, PR 00681; ibaiges@uprm.edu Abstract - For years universities have recognized that areas such as environmental protection and sustainability are important, creating related courses and academic programs. What many universities have not yet done is to consciously examine how they fulfill their academic mission and what effect do their operations have on the environment. Conducting university operations in an environmentally sound manner can be a powerful teaching tool. Setting the example and teaching by doing can be more powerful that the best lecture. An Environmental Management System is a set of policies, plans, review mechanisms, and procedures used to proactively manage the environmental aspects of an organization. The creation and implementation of an EMS requires the completion of the following steps defining an environmental policy; planning what aspects will be managed; implementing the system with roles, responsibilities, documentation; checking if the aspects are being managed correctly; and having upper management reviewing the system. UPRM is evaluating what aspects of its operation affect the environment the most, and is designing a system to manage these aspects. This environmental self assessment has started the educational process by forcing the UPRM community to take a closer look at how things are done, what are the consequences of these actions, what benefits are generated by these actions, and if the benefits are worth the consequences. This paper covers the design and planning process and the lessons that have been learned during the EMS stage. Index Terms Environmental Management Systems, Environmental Responsibility, Pollution Prevention, Material Environmental Impact INTRODUCTION EMS AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY The state of the environment has generated great concern and debate in society; and academic institutions are no exception. Issues such as global warming and habitat destruction have generated great activity in the areas of research and teaching. Many universities, such as the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, have academic programs and research centers working on environmental issues. Many universities have also started initiatives to become more environmentally friendly. the state of the environment to the every day actions of individuals, these programs do not examine the concept of environmental responsibility or environmental stewardship which is the concept of responsibly managing all of our resources for the benefit of present and future generations of people, plants, and animals. The operations of an university are a great laboratory for teaching the environmental impacts of every day actions (environmental awareness); for developing systems for managing these environmental impacts (environmental management); and for developing new tools for environmental improvement. In February 2005 UPRM started an Environmental Management Initiative, with the mission of making the operations of UPRM more environmentally friendly by developing and implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS). The Team working with the EMS decided that this program can also be used as an educational tool for teaching Environmental Responsibility to all the members of the UPRM Community. The idea is to use the EMS as a tool for teaching the UPRM Community the environmental impact of its operations and how these environmental impacts can be minimized by taking concrete actions that will not limit UPRM s academic mission. The expected outcomes of the EMS initiative are an improvement of the environmental performance; and increase of the environmental awareness and responsibility of the UPRM Community. It is expected that the UPRM EMS will be ready for external audit for ISO certification by June DEVELOPING THE UPR MAYAGUEZ ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The UPRM EMS is being developed according to the guidelines of ISO 14001, the international standards on environmental management which provides a framework for the development of both the system and the supporting audit program. The steps to be followed are (1) defining an environmental policy; (2) planning what aspects will be managed; (3) implementing the system with roles, responsibilities, documentation; (4) checking if the aspects are being managed correctly; (5) and having upper management reviewing the system. An EMS uses these steps in a cycle of continuous improvement (see figure 1). The UPRM EMS Team has completed step 1 and is currently working on steps 2 and 3. However, most of these environmental programs do not relate R4G-1

2 (5) Management Review (4) Checking/ Corrective Actions Measurement and Monitoring EMS Nonconformance and Corrective Actions Records EMS Audits (1) Environmental Policy Continuous Improvement (3) Implementation Roles and Responsibilities Training and Communication EMS Document Control Emergency Preparedness and Response FIGURE 1 EMS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS (2) Planning Environmental Aspects Compliance Objectives and Targets Environmental Mgmt. Programs Step1 Environmental Policy - The EMS Team presented the EMS Program and Environmental Policy to the UPRM Management. The environmental policy that was approved commits UPRM to continuous improvement, pollution prevention and environmental compliance. Step 2 Planning - The basic function of the EMS Team in this step is to evaluate what is the actual state of affairs at UPRM, determine what the desired state is and determine how to get there. The EMS Team is working on the development, implementation and supervision of the UPRM EMS. During the planning stage, the EMS Team is working on 1. Evaluating the actual Environmental Performance 2. Defining the desired Environmental Performance 3. Establishing yearly performance goals. 4. Designing programs to improve the Environmental Performance 5. Designing the implementation strategy for the EMS programs. 6. Developing the EMS manual and procedures. Step 3 Implementation and Operation of The EMS The UPRM EMS team will work with the execution of the EMS planned in the previous step. This step involves such tasks as defining roles, responsibilities, and authorities for establishing the EMS requirements and ensuring that they are implemented and maintained, providing required the financial resources and other resources that are necessary to implement the EMS, and addressing training, communication, documentation, and emergency preparedness requirements. THE UPRM MATERIAL ECOLOGISTICS PROGRAM Based on initial campus wide evaluation of the present environmental challenges at UPRM, the EMS Team has decided the highest priority for developing an EMS is one designed to manage the use of materials and waste disposal in teaching and research laboratories. The materials and waste to be examined are those that can have serious impact on the environment such as hazardous materials and wastes. The proposed program has been named The Material Ecologistics (Ecologistics is defined as environmentally friendly logistics). This is an EMS designed to manage all the aspects of the lifecycle of the materials used at UPRM, from the purchasing to the final disposal (or other end of life management strategies). The proposed program addresses important questions such as What and how much materials are presently being used at UPRM? What and how much wastes are presently being generated at UPRM? How are these materials being used and how are these wastes disposed of? How can UPRM make sure that it is using these materials in a responsible fashion? What is the environmental impact of these materials and wastes? What are the academic benefits of using these materials and generating these wastes? How can UPRM reduce the environmental impact of the materials/wastes without affecting the academic outcomes of the research and teaching activities? The main objective is to develop and implement a system for managing all the aspects of the lifecycle of chemical substances and materials used at UPRM in an environmentally safe way, and promoting source reduction and pollution prevention awareness. The effort will be directed at three aspects of material use / waste generation (A) material/waste life cycle flow (all the steps from purchase to disposal); (B) the benefits resulting from the use of these materials and generation of these wastes; (C) how is the personnel using these materials and disposing these wastes. A. Material / Waste Life Cycle Management One of the challenges of environmental management of a university is the diversity of materials used, the high volume of users and the high number of laboratories that use potentially polluting materials and equipment. Materials come from different vendors, they are distributed on campus, they are used at the different laboratories on campus, the wastes generated are removed from the laboratories, the hazardous wastes are sent to a central waste deposit on campus, and these waste are removed by an external contractor and sent to an authorized facility (see figure 2). The Material / Waste Life Cycle Management System is a management tool that will track the materials from the moment that they enter UPRM to the moment they are removed from UPRM from the mailbox to the waste bin. It will factor in an intermediate step prior to waste disposal considerations that will provide for potential use at other areas in the campus. The main objective of this component is to quantify, monitor and control usage of hazardous chemicals on campus in order to identify and R4G-2

3 implement pollution prevention and reduction activities as well as source reduction opportunities. Materials received Materials storage area Materials to be used material flow information flow Waste placed in satellite area Laboratory operations FIGURE 2 MATERIAL AND WASTE FLOWS AT UPRM Waste materials are sent to central waste deposit Waste minimization strategies Waste satellite area Work area / Laboratory The actions that have been planned are 1. Identify chemical substances being used and waste generated at the UPRM campus. 2. Design and implement a software system for tracking all material purchases, uses and waste generation. This is the UPRM s Green Purchasing / Waste Tracking Software System that will control purchases by only allowing the purchase of approved materials by certified users; minimize the entrance of unapproved substances that may have a negative impact based in waste disposal management considerations; track the whole sequence purchase, delivery, use and disposal; track the location and user of the substances; and generate a material purchasing profile per activity and location. The software will also have a database of environmentally friendly options to be recommended when possible. 3. Identify and implement alternate use opportunities for hazardous chemicals before they enter the waste disposal stage. 4. Design and implement a software system for surplus materials and equipment, so that any member of the UPRM Community can post surplus materials/equipment that can be purchases by other members of the community. This will reduce unnecessary purchases and unnecessary disposals. B. Material Environmental Impact Management The main objective of this component is to develop and implement a system for evaluating the environmental impact of the UPRM operations in the handling of hazardous chemicals. This information will assist the UPRM in the formulation of pollution prevention and source reduction strategies and activities to reduce the impact of material usage at UPRM. Such activities may include replacement of hazardous chemicals with more environmentally friendly materials. The actions that have been planned are 1. Design and develop the UPRM s Material Impact Evaluation per Outcome This is a system that will determine the impact of materials / wastes of UPRM. The system will have impact categories and a ranking system, that will be based on the current methods developed for impact assessment and multi attribute decision making processes. An outcome assessment will be completed for each activity to determine what benefits are obtained per activity and then these benefits will be compared with the impacts of these activities. A benefit / impact ranking system will be developed and used for evaluating the activities. 2. UPRM s Material Impact Management will develop strategies for minimizing the impact of material usage at UPRM. This includes developing purchasing guidelines designed for impact management; and pollution prevention initiatives such as material reduction, substitution and / or elimination. C. Laboratory Material Management This component is the environmental compliance promotion element of the EMS. One of the greatest challenges of the EMS is that universities have a great deal of population turnover, mostly because of students graduating and new students being admitted. This complicates the process of keeping a community trained in the proper laboratory procedure. The main objective of this component is to provide training to the UPRM Community members on the proper handling of chemical substances in classroom laboratories and to clearly identify wastes and raw materials management practices. The actions that will being planned are 1. Creation of the UPRM s Laboratory Policy and Rules this is a document approved by the UPRM Management that establishes the official work area policy and the rules for operating any laboratory or work area at UPRM. 2. Development and Implementation of the UPRM s Laboratory Training Program - train and certify all of the UPRM Community (faculty, non teaching employees and students) in all the proper laboratory material procedures. The goal is to assure that each person knows and uses the proper procedures in their laboratory; this will minimize the possibilities of pollution by improper use of materials. The EMS Team has developed some of the trainings and is offering these trainings to some groups. Once these trainings have been revised and tested, they will be converted into computer base training materials. 3. Development and Implementation of the UPRM s Laboratory Procedures This is the collection of official procedures for laboratories at UPRM. The objective is to make sure that the UPRM Community knows how to operate their work areas; this will minimize the possibilities of pollution by improper use of materials. R4G-3

4 MEASURING THE EMS EFFECTIVENESS One of the main concerns of developing and implementing an EMS is how to measure the change and effectiveness of the program. For the UPRM EMS, the following metrics have been proposed: 1. Material Purchase Controlled - One of the goals of this EMS is to control the purchase of materials at UPRM. The metric is the percent of material purchases that is controlled by the system and it will be measured as the total of purchases made at UPRM. 2. Waste Tracking - One of the goals of this project is to monitor waste generation. The use of waste tracking and material tracking should allow us to compare what is bought and what is disposed. The metric is the percent of waste that is accounted for based on user and activity 3. Surplus Material Usage - One of the goals of the EMS is to reduce the unnecessary purchase and disposal of materials. The metric for this goal is the percent of purchases made from the surplus system. 4. Material and Waste Reduction per capita One of the goals of the EMS is to reduce the materials used and waste generated on campus by keeping a better inventory. The metric is the percent of material and waste that is reduced on a per capita basis. 5. Material and Waste Environmental Impact Reduction One of the goals of the EMS is to reduce the environmental impact of the materials used and wastes generated on campus by keeping a better inventory. The metric is the environmental impact of material and waste that is reduced on a per capita basis. 6. UPRM Community Trained One of the goals of the EMS is setup a system that assures that the UPRM Community knows how to manage its materials and wastes. One of the metrics is the % of the UPRM Community that has been trained and certified. 7. UPRM Laboratory Reduction of Incidents - One of the goals of the EMS is setup a system that assures that the UPRM Community knows how to manage its materials and wastes. The metric for this goal is the percentage of the reduction of management incidents that happen at UPRM in the work areas and laboratories. UPRM EMS Manager The EMS Manager will lead the EMS Team in the development, implementation and supervision of the UPRM EMS. Will be responsible for leading internal audits of the Environmental Management System; submit findings and recommendations to the Campus Administration; and will supervise the EMS Team in correcting audit findings and setting new performance goals UPRM School EMS Manager There will be an EMS Manager for each school or college and will report to the Dean of each School. The School EMS Manager must assure that all departments follow the established Environmental Management System; that all departments resolve any audit findings as soon as possible; and must evaluate the effectiveness of the school s EMS. UPRM Department EMS Manager There will be an EMS Manager for department and will report to the School EMS Manager. The Department EMS Manager will be in charge of supervising the EMS in terms of the departmental operations and departmental laboratories; must monitor the environmental impacts of the departmental operations and departmental laboratories; must assure that all personnel follow the established EMS; must Assure that all areas resolve any audit findings as soon as possible; and must evaluate the effectiveness of the Departmental EMS School EMS School EMS School EMS School EMS Manager Manager Manager Manager Dept EMS Manager UPRM Management UPRM EMS Manager Dept EMS Dept EMS Dept EMS Manager Manager Manager EMS ACTIONS COMPLETED 1. The UPRM EMS Team Organizational Structure has been developed; and responsibilities and authorities have been established. Some of the members have been designated and the remaining positions are being filled. The EMS Team created the following organization structure (see figure 3) Dept Operations Dept Laboratories FIGURE 3 UPRM EMS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE UPRM Management (the EMS Team reports to the UPRM Management) - The Chancellor, Deans and Chairs will oversee the implementation and operation of the Environmental Management System. UPRM Management will review the results of EMS audits in their areas of responsibility and the EMS 2. The EMS Team has developed an internal self assessment checklist which includes an inventory. This document has been sent to all the teaching and research laboratories of UPRM. The EMS Team will evaluate these inventories and establish the material and waste management program. Performance Indicators and the associated goals. R4G-4

5 3. The EMS Team has developed trainings for the proper management of hazardous materials and hazardous wastes. The trainings have been offered to different groups of the UPRM Community. As they are offered, these training are refined and will be converted into computer based trainings and placed on the UPRM Website. 4. The material and waste handling procedures of different laboratories have been audited and the findings being corrected. EXPECTED BENEFITS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO MAYAGUEZ ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The Material Ecologistics Program will allow UPRM to 1. Monitor and control material usage and waste generation on campus. 2. Reduce the environmental impacts of improper hazardous material usage and hazardous waste disposal. 3. Understand its waste stream and assess the impact of waste minimization and material substitution. 4. Create a purchasing system designed to favor environmentally friendly purchases. 5. Make a self assessment of the benefits or outcomes of all its operations. 6. Evaluate and rank materials according to their environmental impact. 7. Develop pollution prevention/reduction strategies while still achieving the desired academic outcomes. 8. Minimizes the possibility of inadequate management of materials and wastes. 9. Improve its Environmental Performance. 10. Create awareness in the UPRM Community of the materials used and the wastes generated. 11. Create awareness in the UPRM Community of the environmental impacts of its operations. 12. Empower the UPRM Community to make more environmentally friendly choices and to be more environmental responsible, creating a culture of environmental stewardship. OBSERVATIONS manage effectively the environmental impact of their actions. 4. Designing an EMS is a very time consuming effort that requires resources and a strong commitment from the administration. 5. The typical university organization structure is more decentralized when compared to other type of organizations; this complicates obtaining an organizational commitment and alignment required for the quick implementation of an EMS. 6. The design and implementation of an EMS requires an organization cultural change that includes the values of environmental responsibility and environmental stewardship. Some of the recommendations that can be made are 1. The administration has to express and strong and clear commitment to an EMS by approving the environmental policy and allocating resources for the EMS Team. 2. The EMS Team must constantly work with the UPRM Community at al levels to start creating the cultural change towards environmental responsibility. 3. The EMS Team must work with the UPRM Community in developing tools for understanding and managing the environmental impacts of its operations. 4. The UPRM EMS must be integrated into the everyday operations and activities of the university. CONCLUSIONS The design and implementation of an environmental management system can allow the university to understand what the impacts of its operations are, communicate these impacts to the academic community, allow the university to manage these impacts proactively and serve as a strong educational tool for teaching environmental responsibility. The design and implementation of an EMS at a university requires a commitment of time and resources at all levels, and a focused and active team working constantly to achieve the goal of a university that values the environment in words and actions. REFERENCES The process of designing and implementing the UPRM EMS has been challenging and rewarding at the same time. Although, the UPRM EMS Project will not be completed until 2009, there are some observations and recommendations that can be made after 16 months of work. Some of the observations that can be made are: 1. Many members of the UPRM Community have expressed a deep concern for the environment and a strong commitment to being environmentally friendly. 2. Many members of the UPRM Community, including researchers, are not fully aware of the quantities nor environmental impact of the materials used and the wastes generated in their laboratories. 3. Many members of the UPRM Community do not associate their every day actions to environmental impact these actions may cause; nor the tools and knowledge to [1] International Organization for Standardization, Technical Committee 207, ISO 14001:2004 Environmental management systems - Requirements with guidance for use, [2] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, College and University Environmental Management System Implementation Guide, [3] Odum, H.T., Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1996 [4] Curran, M.A., Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment, McGraw-Hill, 1996 [5] Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Life- Cycle Management (LCM), SETAC Publications, 2004 R4G-5