The university's Partners in Pollution Prevention program employs students to advise clients on ways to conserve resources and reduce waste and pollution. Recent follow-up with clients indicates the program is making a difference.
Bruce Dvorak, director of the P3 program, and graduate student Vince Kuppig recently interviewed previous clients to determine the impact of past technical assistance provided. Responses indicated that clients implemented about 54 percent of the program recommendations.
During the past summer, the P3 program employed 19 students to assist 48 Nebraska clients in improving their sustainability. The students made 114 recommendations to the clients.
Students calculated that if the clients took all of their recommendations, within 5 to 10 years the clients could annually see a savings of $2,234,100, reduce solid waste production by 1,625 tons, conserve 6,175,000 kilowatt hours, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9,340 MTCO2 equivalent.
From the Biological Systems Engineering Department, undergraduate students Will Dudley, Mitchell Frischmeyer, Rebekah DeFusco, Jacob Lenz, Grant Zebold and Alex Chmielewski took part in the 2017 program.
The P3 program is funded by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Incentive Fund, the EPA’s Pollution Prevention program, the Nebraska Energy Office and matching funds from the University of Nebraska and many industrial partners.