DES MOINES – The Iowa DNR has selected 10 organizations to participate in its 2016 Pollution Prevention (P2) Intern Program. Upper-level college and university students work on-site at Iowa companies for 12- or 24-week paid internships to research solutions and implement pollution prevention strategies that will increase efficiency, reduce costs and help meet companies’ environmental goals.
Since 2001, more than 175 Iowa companies, hospitals, universities and government agencies have participated in the unique program, accumulating more than $78.1 million in savings as a result of using resources more efficiently and improving environmental performance.
Environmental benefits achieved include the reduction of:
- more than 1.47 billion gallons of water;
- 219,100 tons of solid waste;
- 8312 tons of hazardous waste;
- 377 million kilowatt hours of electricity;
- 9.8 million therms of energy.
Organizations participating in the 2016 program (listed alphabetically by town):
Ames: Hach Company
Bettendorf: Alcoa, Inc.
Bloomfield: City of Bloomfield
Charles City: Zoetis
Clinton: City of Clinton Wastewater Treatment Plant
Des Moines: Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations
Des Moines: Principal Financial Group
Knoxville: Hormel Foods Corporation
Le Mars: Wells Enterprises, Inc.
Sergeant Bluff: CF Industries
Funding for the P2 Intern Program includes federal grants and portions of solid waste tonnage fees and cost share contributed by the host companies.
Pollution Prevention Services also provides confidential, non-regulatory, environmental technical assistance in the form of assessments, Environmental Management Systems development assistance, workshops, and access to the P2 Resource Library. These services are offered at no cost to help companies reduce expenses through source-reduction strategies to improve process efficiency and reduce or eliminate waste.
For more information on the Pollution Prevention Intern Program and a list of 2016 projects, visit: www.iowap2services.com. Case summaries of the 2016 projects will be posted to this site in the fall.