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The Indiana Pollution Prevention And Safe Materials Institute

Robert Greenkorn
http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/IPPI

The Indiana Pollution Prevention and Safe Materials Institute Web site homepage and banner were graphically designed by Susan Ferringer and can be accessed from the Service Unit button on the bottom of the Schools of Engineering homepage. Our homepage can be seen above.

The Indiana Pollution Prevention and Safe Materials Institute was created by the Indiana General Assembly in 1990. Funds were appropriated for its operation in 1993. In June of that year the Indiana Pollution Prevention Board selected Purdue University to operate the Institute and it formally began operations on January 1, 1994. The Institute provides technical assistance and education services to a variety of Indiana's industry. The purpose of the Indiana Pollution Prevention and Safe Materials Institute is to act as the state's focal point for coordinating and deploying technical assistance, research, education, and planning services to facilitate the adoption of pollution prevention strategies by Indiana manufacturing facilities. The Institute currently focuses on four priority manufacturing sectors:

• wood products manufacturing
• plastics, including recreational vehicle manufacturing
• metal plating and coating
• motor vehicle parts manufacturing

"Pollution prevention" means the employment by a business of a practice that reduces the industrial use of toxic materials or reduces the environmental and health hazards associated with an environmental waste without diluting or concentrating the waste before the release, handling, storage, transport, treatment, or disposal of the waste. The term includes changes in production technology, materials, processes, operations, or procedures, or the use of inprocess, inline, or closed loop recycling according to standard engineering practices.

There are several basic functions of the Institute including:

• Coordination/Cooperation with other public and private colleges and universities
• Technical Assistance Services
• Conduct Research
• Curriculum Development and Training
• Policy Analysis
• Measurement of Pollution Prevention Progress
• Development of Pollution Prevention Plans

The website offers industry areas to a group of professionals who are available to provide technical assistance especially in the four areas described above. The website also offers information about upcoming events, research projects, the Coatings Research Center and the Coating Application Research Laboratory.

Coating Applications Research Laboratory
The mission of CARL (Coating Applications Research Laboratory) is to allow midwest manufacturers to test state-of-the-art pollution prevention technologies under the guidance of personnel who are expert in their application. Supervised use of this facility will give a "level playing field" opportunity to determine which of the available products or processes meets manufacturing and market requirements.

The application of paints and other coatings is a critical step in a variety of manufacturing operations with significant economic impact. The mission of the Purdue Coatings Research Center will be to participate in the development of improved methods and materials for producing high quality finishes in collaboration with selected industries that either

1. apply coatings in their manufacturing operations; or
2. produce paint/coatings or coating application systems

• development of more cost effective materials and application methods
• production of higher quality coated surfaces
• reduction of volatile emissions
• demonstration of this new technology in an industrial scale application laboratory at Purdue and eventually in the actual manufacturing facilities

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