The 2019 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis made available by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reveals progress made by the agency and companies that manage chemicals in preventing pollution. The TRI tracks the management of certain chemicals from the information reported to the EPA each year by manufacturing, metal mining, electric utilities and hazardous waste management facilities.

The report shows that between 2018 and 2019, total releases of TRI chemicals decreased by 9%. For the first time in five years, industrial and federal facilities reported an increased number of new source reduction activities implemented to reduce or eliminate the amount of chemical-containing waste facilities create. Facilities also avoided releasing 89% of the chemical-containing waste they generated and managed during 2019 into the environment by using preferred practices such as recycling, treatment and energy recovery.

The more than 21,000 facilities that reported to the publicly available EPA database managed a total of 30.7 billion pounds of TRI-listed chemicals as production-related waste during 2019. This includes TRI chemicals in wastes that are recycled, combusted for energy recovery, treated, disposed of, or otherwise released into the environment. Of this total, 89% was recycled, combusted for energy recovery, or treated. Only 11% was disposed of or otherwise released into the environment.

Source: EPA

Since 2018, releases of TRI chemicals in EPA’s mid-Atlantic region decreased by 8%, or 11.4 million pounds. Source reduction reporting rates in the region were among the highest in the plastics/rubber manufacturing sector, where 14% of facilities reported source reduction activities.