U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh recognized Federal-Mogul Corp. for being the first business in the Boyertown area to enroll in the voluntary national partnership for environmental priorities.

The new voluntary program challenges businesses and manufacturers to become more environmentally aware and to adopt a resource conservation ethic that results in less waste, more recycling, and more environmentally sound products.

As a new waste minimization partner, the Federal-Mogul Boyertown plant has committed to reducing lead waste. The company has implemented a process change that will eliminate lead-based solder by switching to alternate lead-free solders in the manufacture of their headlight products. This change will reduce the amount of lead used in the plant from 19,000 pounds in 2002 to a complete phase-out of lead-based solders by July 2005.

Waste minimization not only means polluting less, it means saving money, too. Participating companies throughout America are learning that reducing or eliminating waste can also mean greater production efficiency, an improved image in their community, and increased profits.

EPA created the national partnership for environmental priorities, one of EPA’s family of voluntary partnership programs, in order to reduce 31 highly toxic, priority chemicals found in our nation’s hazardous waste.

This national program seeks solutions that prevent pollution at the source, by recovering or recycling chemicals, which cannot easily be eliminated or reduced at the source.

EPA’s goal is to work with industry and the public to reduce the presence of the 31 priority chemicals in hazardous waste by 50 percent by the year 2005, compared to amounts generated in 1991.

11/26/2004