The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be holding its 2024 National Pollution Prevention Training and Conference in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 10-11. The event will convene representatives from EPA grantees, academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies. Participants will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of pollution prevention (P2), while leveraging and strengthening their connections to other practitioners. P2, which is also known as source reduction, is any practice that reduces, eliminates or prevents pollution at its source prior to recycling, treatment or disposal. Many of the practices and goals of P2 overlap significantly with those of sustainability and zero waste.
Sessions will include panel discussions and presentations by P2 experts that examine best practices and examples of how EPA’s P2 grants have delivered technical assistance to help businesses develop and adopt P2 practices. Participants will learn more about topics such as reducing pollution and finding alternatives, including for some chemicals EPA has regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act. For example, participants will learn about efforts to find alternatives to methylene chloride and how businesses are preventing pollution by transitioning away from the use of perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene. In addition, sessions will discuss identifying sustainable food services and using products with safe ingredients in salons.
The event will be held at the Yotel in Washington, D.C., with virtual attendance options available. Events are free to attend but registration is required. If you are planning to attend the event in person, the deadline to register is Nov. 1. The deadline for virtual attendance is Dec. 2.