Resolution 10-1

Approved March 23, 2010

Sausalito, California

As certified by

R. Steven Brown

Executive Director

NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT 

WHEREAS, the use of materials such as wood, minerals, fuels, chemicals, agriculture plants and 

animals, and soil and rock forms the foundation that underlies both the economy and the 

environment; and 

WHEREAS, the use of materials is large and increasing, and includes associated energy and 

water use and consumption; and

WHEREAS, the increasing use of materials and its subsequent waste generation has challenged 

society’s ability to manage both critical natural resources and the environmental issues associated 

with waste management; and

WHEREAS, for more than 30 years, states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. 

EPA) have implemented the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to manage waste 

materials to minimize or eliminate the impacts of these waste materials on both the environment 

and public health; and 

WHEREAS, in 2002 states and U.S. EPA collaborated on a new vision for managing waste 

materials in “Beyond RCRA: Waste and Materials Management in the Year 2020” to define a 

future which fundamentally shifts from waste management to materials management; and

WHEREAS, in 2009 states and U.S. EPA collaborated on a roadmap, “Sustainable Materials 

Management: The Road Ahead,” defining a framework in which to implement the vision of 

sustainable materials management; and

WHEREAS, the current economic and market drivers do not encourage sustainable materials 

management despite the fact that material use and waste produced continue to grow in the United 

States, straining limited natural resources and the capacity for managing waste; and

WHEREAS, systematic materials management which evaluates the use and impacts of materials 

throughout their life-cycle is an approach which can minimize the amount of materials used 

including energy and water, and all the environmental impacts, and which offers opportunities to 

consider factors beyond the current systems that oversee materials use and waste management. 

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL OF 

THE STATES:
Supports the framework outlined in the “Sustainable Materials Management: The Road Ahead” 

(2009) and appreciates the opportunity that the states had in working with U.S. EPA on this 

roadmap;

Requests that U.S. EPA collaborate with states to incorporate materials management as an 

important strategic approach for addressing environmental challenges; 

Requests that U.S. EPA work together with states to integrate the use of life-cycle materials 

management into the existing chemical and waste programs building on current core regulatory 

and partnership programs, to provide needed research on materials and technology, to develop 

and use data and decision tools that support life-cycle materials management, and to provide 

funding to assist states in building these into the appropriate programs; and

Urges U.S. EPA to convene a national dialogue involving states, other federal agencies, local 

governments, business and industry, environmental and public interest groups, academia, and 

international experts to accelerate sustainable materials management and its impact on economic 

and environmental health.