This edition of Taking Stock brings together data and information on the pollutants reported between 2014 and 2018 by North American industrial facilities to the pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) of the region: Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI), Mexico’s Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes (RETC), and the US Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The objectives of this publication are to improve the awareness and understanding of the sources, types, and handling of industrial pollutants in North America and support decisions relative to pollution prevention and sustainability.
North American PRTR data show that total releases and transfers reported by facilities across the region increased from more than 5.1 billion kilograms (kg) in 2014 to almost 5.3 billion kg in 2018. On-site disposal or releases to land, together with off-site transfers to recycling, accounted for approximately two-thirds of the annual totals, while releases to air and water accounted for approximately 7% and 4%, respectively.
This year’s report features a special analysis of off-site transfers to disposal – a subset of PRTR data that has received little attention to date, but about which concerns have been raised by North American stakeholders – most recently, during a meeting of the CEC’s North American PRTR Initiative. These concerns relate to the potential impacts of certain industrial waste disposal practices and a lack of information regarding the final disposition of pollutants, particularly when third parties and a transfer of responsibility are involved. The analysis seeks to address the following questions:
The data show that between 2014 and 2018, approximately 11,000 North American facilities reported annual transfers to disposal ranging from 310 million kg to 344 million kg, with these transfers accounting for about 6% of total releases and transfers. Of the six categories of transfers to disposal examined in this report, transfers to landfills or surface impoundments ranked first (decreasing by 15% over the five years), followed by underground injection. Transfers to land application, which ranked fifth, saw a 40% increase over this period.
Ten industrial sectors and the same number of pollutants (or pollutant groups) accounted for at least two-thirds of total transfers to disposal each year. Many of these top industries (e.g., metal ore mining, iron and steel mills, basic chemical manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, waste management) are common to the three countries; however, due in large part to differences among national PRTR reporting requirements, there are important gaps in the regional picture for these sectors and some of the pollutants associated with them that have the potential to negatively impact human health and the environment, if not managed properly.
The special analysis provides information about the laws and regulations governing the disposal of industrial and hazardous waste in each country and offers examples of the risks associated with the disposal practices reported by North American facilities. It also highlights the difficulty of tracking pollutants from their point of origin to their ultimate disposition, as a result of key differences among the three programs in disposal terminology and definitions, along with the shared responsibility for implementing regulations and monitoring waste. The data for cross-border transfers underscore the need for enhanced coordination among relevant agencies and more complete and reliable information about the sources and recipients of these transfers. Such issues are at the core of the ongoing collaboration between the CEC and the three PRTR programs aimed at enhancing the comparability, quality, and completeness of data for the region.
While highlighting the importance of PRTRs for tracking pollutants, the discussion of alternatives to the generation and disposal of waste provides information and examples about practices used within industry that favor a circular economy. The report shows, therefore, that PRTRs can also serve as tools to foster sustainability and highlights the role that governments can play in supporting the shift from a linear production model to one that emphasizes reusing and adding value to the materials used within industrial processes. In this way, Taking Stock supports a key goal of the North American PRTR Initiative, which is to promote reductions in industrial pollution and support the integration of PRTR data into an overarching framework for managing pollutants across the region.