WNC receives EPA grant to help implement pollution prevention among Nevada businesses

Western Nevada College has been selected by the Environmental Protection Agency as a national grantee of the 2020-22 Pollution Prevention Grant Program.

WNC will partner with the Nevada non-profit greenUP! to help food and beverage manufacturers and processors, as well as automobile repair and maintenance businesses, implement pollution prevention.

They will use the $345,108 grant to train 40 manufacturers on safer chemical alternatives, water reduction, energy efficiency and environmental best practices.

In addition, the college will recruit 10 WNC student interns to conduct onsite visits and provide technical assistance to these manufacturers.

With more than $1 million in federal funding over four years, greenUP! and WNC previously partnered to launch the Nevada Green Business Program and build an environmental outcomes database for the state.

“We are most grateful to EPA for providing continued funding and access to a P2 nationwide network to bring shared knowledge and resources to our state. This accelerates our work and performance on the Nevada green business program and network,” said greenUP! President Donna Walden.

On Sept. 23, as part of Pollution Prevention (P2) Week and the EPA’s 30-year anniversary celebration of the P2 Act, Walden participated on EPA’s webinar panel called “Big Gulp: Lessons Learned on Providing P2 Tech Assistance to Food and Beverage Manufacturers.” Walden represented work being done by greenUP! and WNC in Nevada for the food and beverage industry.

“We’re just getting started providing technical assistance to the food and beverage industry,” Walden said. “There are many ways manufacturers can green their operations using the web-based GreenBizTracker as a tool.”

The EPA selected WNC as one of 42 organizations in 39 states to receive grant funding supporting pollution prevention. It is the third grant WNC has received from the EPA, and UC Berkeley and Arizona State University were the only other institutions from the region besides WNC to receive this grant.

“Western Nevada College looks forward to working with our partners to prevent pollution through implementation of best practices with a focus on food manufacturing and automotive manufacturing and service,” said Dr. Georgia White, director of Professional and Applied Technology at WNC. “The funding of internships provides students with technical knowledge and work-based experience as WNC continues to document businesses and environmental results through GreenBizTracker.”

Since the passage of the Pollution Prevention Act 30 years ago, industry, government and the public have been focused on reducing the amount of pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation and raw materials use.

“Pollution prevention is key to saving our natural resources and moving toward sustainability,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “These grants will help assist businesses to improve their bottom lines while reducing the use of hazardous materials, water and energy.”

GreenBizTRACKER is a web-based and mobile tool that motivates businesses to make voluntary behavior and facility changes that net positive and measurable environmental outcomes. Easy-to-use resources and tools are provided to the businesses to help them along the way.

As a business moves through an online checklist of verifiable environmental actions, metrics are calculated such as greenhouse gas emissions reduced, energy saved, gallons of water saved, tons of waste diverted from the landfill and hazardous materials reduced.

Once businesses have completed the checklist, they are recognized or certified and added to an online directory. The public can find and patronize these businesses by using the online searchable directory.