The Role of the Environmental Manager in Green Engineering and Design

John Morelli -- 29 May 2000

Originally, the activities of the environmental manager in industry were performed at the loading dock, at end of the pipe, and at the top of the smokestack. His or her purpose was to capture the waste, treat it to the extent feasible to reduce potential impacts to human health and the environment, discharge what could be discharged, and isolate what could not. I call this the first generation of environmental management. As the profession evolved, we began to understand that in most cases it was more efficient to reduce the amount of waste generated by: general good housekeeping, reuse of materials where possible, and recycling materials that still had value. For the first time, during this second generation of environmental management, we were invited inside the plant. More recently, some leading companies decided that it would be most efficient to incorporate principles of environmental protection into design criteria for new products and processes, and redesign criteria for existing products and processes. This move heralded the beginning of a third generation of environmental management.

The objective of this study was to determine to what extent are our traditional environmental managers involved in this third generation of environmental management and what value do they bring. At the time of preparing this report, we had interviewed ten large companies with international markets. These companies were identified as those having a record of proactive environmental management and green design. Some had received awards for their accomplishments or had otherwise been acknowledged for the value of their green engineering or management practices. The companies are involved in the manufacturing of a wide variety of products including: lubricating oils, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, optical equipment, optical equipment, single-use cameras, and ice cream packaging. With only one exception, we spoke to individuals at the senior manager level or above. Interviewees were located at several levels within the organizations including: corporate HQ, Division HQ, and in specific business units.

Our first line of inquiry asked, “What was the motivation for including environmental considerations as design criteria in the research, design and development (RD&D) process? Corporate environmental policy was cited by every company as a principal motivation for incorporating environmental concerns as design criteria, public interest followed in a distant second place, international trade and regulatory influence tied for third and, client requests and environmental audit results were fourth.

There was considerable variation among the companies we interviewed when we sought to determine whom, or what unit, within the organization initiated the inclusion of environmental considerations as design criteria. Basically, there appeared to be three categories of answer to this question:

1.Product RD&D teams seeking to conform to corporate environmental policy and streamline

2.Risk management or strategic planning units

3.Senior executives

We were also interested in who in the organization has the authority to pay for environmental enhancements. In more than half the companies, the product or process development manager had the authority to approve modifications to the product or process for the purpose of mitigating potential environmental liabilities or enhancing environmental attractiveness. Some responders indicated that approval authority could also vary with the relative cost of the modification and that in some cases approval would need to be secured from a senior executive.

Once we established why the company was doing this, who initiated it, and who had the authority to fund it, we wanted to know who did the actual work? We began with the task of identifying the environmental aspects and concerns for a new or redesigned product or process. Four of the ten companies used their product/process development team to identify environmental concerns for new product or process designs or redesign of existing products or processes. Of the remaining six companies, three relied upon their environmental management or EHS experts, and three relied upon their product/process development manager with support as needed from EHS.

After the environmental concerns are identified, they need to be addressed. There was no reason to assume that this task would be performed by the same mix of individuals. So we posed this as a separate question. The product or process development manager was identified by every company as being involved in addressing environmental concerns, environmental or EHS managers were identified as a close second, marketing and quality professionals were also identified as typical participants.

In most companies, environmental managers are not involved in the initial conception of the product or process to be designed and developed. The notable exceptions were in the case of identifying existing products or processes that needed to be redesigned for environmental, health or safety benefit, and in a case where an environmentally benign product already existed (it was a lubricating oil that met food quality standards) and the company was interested in developing new applications that would exploit this unique product characteristic.

Environmental managers usually are involved early on in the RD&D process, however, typically during the design phase, and are almost always involved in identifying the environmental aspects associated with a product or process. Most often, environmental managers participate in identifying which environmental aspects present the potential to create problems for the company. In more than half the companies the environmental manager is involved in determining the potential extent of a problem or concern, in researching more benign alternatives, in benchmarking how other organizations have dealt with similar concerns.

In almost every case, including environmental concerns as design criteria was reported as a successful effort. One company felt it was still too soon to tell. Companies reported that it had helped the company:

•Achieve good environmental performance in the US, Western Europe and Japan, and make significant environmentally related progress in countries with developing economies

•Establish environmental awareness across the organization

•Accomplish an environmental process redesign goal that was then presented as an exemplary practice in the Green Chemistry section of an American Chemical Society conference

•Integrate EHS concerns across its design process

•Successfully commercialize an environmentally sound product

•Successfully design and manufacture a recyclable/reusable product that reduced cost and lead to a positive consumer response to the product

•Meet the goals of its corporate environmental vision

The environmental manager’s participation was reported to have added value by:

•Identification of “show stoppers” early in the process, saving time and money;

•Making the difference between a product that could have become an environmental liability and one with environmental characteristics that add to its economic assets;

•Preparing the company today to meet the increasing environmental regulatory demands and public expectations of tomorrow, thus enhancing long-term competitiveness and product sustainability;

•Asking the right questions; and

•Serving as an interface with regulatory agencies and eco-labeling organizations

Having an environmental manager involved in the design and development process helped us identify potential regulatory obstacles early on and avoid them. Permitting went more smoothly, quickly and cost effectively, and having EHS involved up front in the process reduced the time that would otherwise have been spent downstream mitigating problems

While this is still an ongoing work, there are some conclusions that seem apparent:

•Environmental Managers have an important role to play in product and process design and redesign

•Much of the value of their upstream participation is realized when it is time to go to production and in the long-term viability of the product

•Upstream involvement increases the effectiveness of environmental management resources

And, there are issues that need more scrutiny:

•How EHS costs are charged in the RD&D process. The issue of EHS participation costs presents interesting areas for further work. To what extent should EHS costs for RD&D be absorbed as overhead or pre-budgeted?

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The extent to which responsibility for identifying and addressing EHS concerns may be assigned to the product or process development manager. Does the environmental manager need to participate in each stage of RD&D or can systems be established enabling the Product Manager to recognize when EHS assistance is warranted

There are three other researchers participating in this ongoing work. Two are senior level students in RIT’s BS degree program in Environmental Management and Technology: Ms. Jennifer Firpo and Ms. Maja Robilard, and one is an upper level graduate student in RIT’s MS degree program in Environmental, Health and Safety Management: Mr. Kelly Wasson.