May 2008 

Performance Track Sixth Annual Progress Report
 

Program Highlights 

What is Performance 

Track? 

EPA’s National Environmental 

Performance Track program (Performance Track) is a public-private 

partnership that encourages 

continuous environmental improvement through environmental 

management systems, community 

outreach, and measurable results. 

Performance Track recognizes and 

drives environmental excellence 

by encouraging facilities with 

strong environmental records to 

go above and beyond their legal 

requirements. In partnership with 

EPA, members voluntarily commit 

to typically four public, measurable goals to improve the quality 

of our nation’s air, water, and land. 

Members include major corporations, small businesses, and public 

facilities that are steering a course 

toward environmental excellence— 

and setting an example for others 

to follow. 

For more information on 

Performance Track and 

its members, please visit 

www.epa.gov/performancetrack. 

Performance Track continues to 

grow as an important voluntary approach that recognizes 

and drives environmental excellence 

among private and public facilities. The 

program welcomed 110 new members 

in 2007, increasing the membership 

base to nearly 500 and expanding into 

three new states—Alaska, Hawaii, and 

North Dakota. There are now Performance Track members in 49 states 

and Puerto Rico, representing every 

major industrial sector. In addition, a 

record 92 percent of the 177 Performance Track facilities whose memberships expired in 2007 submitted 

renewal applications. 

Many of the program’s new members 

are in the public sector, including a 

U.S. Veteran’s Administration facility, 

several U.S. Air Force bases, a number 

of U.S. Postal Service facilities, and a 

municipal wastewater treatment facility. 

New private-sector facilities include 

those from large companies such as 

Coca-Cola, Baxter Healthcare, 3M, 

and Covanta. 

In addition to attracting new members, 

Performance Track added new goals in 

2007 to encourage greater environmental progress. Working with the Wildlife 

Habitat Council, Performance Track 

implemented a new challenge goal for 

members that encourages more habitat 

restoration in local communities. 

For renewing members, the program 

added the option of alternate goals to 

promote “outside the box” innovation 

and achievement. More than two dozen 

renewing members in 2007 chose to set 

alternate goals. 

Performance Track also continued to 

foster public-private collaboration to 

meet environmental needs. In 2007, 

the state of Colorado approved an 

effort initiated by Performance Track 

member Kodak Colorado Division to 

work in partnership with state and local 

entities to improve water quality monitoring of the Cache la Poudre River 

near Greeley, Colorado. 

To date, the combined environmental 

effort of all Performance Track member 

facilities has resulted in cumulative 

reported reductions in water use by 

3.66 billion gallons, greenhouse gas 

reductions of 309,780 metric tons of 

carbon dioxide equivalent, and conservation of 16,809 acres of habitat. Many 

of the members’ achievements address issues that are vital to the health 

of our planet but are not covered 

by current regulations. 

National Environmental Performance Track—Recognizing and Driving Environmental Excellence 
 

Performance Track 

Performance Track takes a 

holistic approach to environmental improvement. 

Rather than focusing on just one specific pollutant or environmental issue, 


Performance Track works with members to improve performance among 


a variety of environmental indicators, 


throughout the product lifecycle. The 


figure at right displays the indicators 


around which members set ambitious 


“stretch” goals, challenging them to 


innovate and develop new practices. 


Members’ cumulative results are displayed next to each indicator. 


The results highlighted here cover the 


period 2000-2006 for members that 


have completed at least one three-year 


term in the program. Detailed results 


for all indicators, calculation methodology, and results caveats are available at 


www.epa.gov/performancetrack/results.
 

CUMULATIVE 

IMPROVEMENTS 

in perspective 

UPSTREAM

Material Procurement

 Hazardous/Toxic Components N/A

 Recycled Content +493 tons 

Suppliers’ Environmental 

Performance N/A

INPUTS

Material Use

 Materials Used +20,940 tons

 Hazardous Materials Used +60,728 tons

 Ozone-Depleting Substances N/A

 Packaging Materials Used -2,256 tons 

 Use of Reused-Recycled 

 Materials +559,991 tons 

Water Use

Total Water Used -3,661,797,686 gallons 

Energy Use

 Non-Transportation 

 Energy Use -4,257,059 MMBtu 

 Transportation Energy Use N/A

Land and Habitat

Land and Habitat 

 Conservation +16,809 acres 

Energy savings to power 46,000 homes for one year 

Greenhouse gas reductions to offset the emissions of 57,000 cars for one year 

Solid waste reductions equivalent to the amount produced by 553,000 households for one year 
 

 

 Members’ Results 2000-2006 

DOWNSTREAM

Products

 Expected Lifetime Waste 

 from Product Use N/A

 Waste to Air, Water, Land 

 from Disposal or Recovery N/A

NONPRODUCT OUTPUTS

Air Emissions

 Greenhouse Gases -309,780 metric tons of 

CO2 equivalent 

 VOCs -3,004 tons 

 Air Toxics -722 tons 

 Carbon Monoxide NA

 NOx -12,826 tons 

 Ozone-Depleting Gases NA

 PM-10 +63 tons

 SOx -43,083 tons 

 Radiation NA

Waste

 Non-Hazardous 

 Waste Generation -1,211,766 tons 

 Hazardous 

 Waste Generation -52,266 tons 

Discharges to Water

 Discharges of BOD, COD, 

 TSS, Nutrients, Sediments -33,286 tons 

 Discharges of Toxics -2,995 tons 

Noise N/A

Key 

+ Cumulative increase from baseline 

- Cumulative decrease from baseline 

Improvement in performance 

N/A Either no data or very limited data 

were reported on this indicator by 

Performance Track members. 

Thousand Tons Thousand Tons 

Hazardous Waste 

Together, 137 Performance Track members reduced their 

hazardous waste by 52,266 tons. 

80 

60 

40 

20 

0 

Baseline Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 

Actual hazardous waste Business as usual, 

given production changes 

Results cover the years 2000-2006 and include only members 


that set a goal for this indicator and completed at least one 


three-year membership term. 


Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) 

Together, 61 Performance Track members reduced their use 

of VOCs by 3,004 tons. 

8 

6 

4 

2 

0 

Baseline Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 

Actual emissions Business as usual, 

given production changes 

Results cover the years 2000-2006 and include only members 

that set a goal for this indicator and completed at least one 

three-year membership term. 
 

Performance Track and Climate Change
 

Climate change has become one of the 

nation’s leading environmental priorities. To help address this challenge, 

Performance Track and its members are 

working together to reduce greenhouse 

gas emissions at the facility and community levels. EPA headquarters and 

regional offices have created Performance Track challenge goals for energy 

conservation and greenhouse gas emission reductions. The program encourages renewing members to set alternate 

goals—such as energy-efficient building 

design and community emission reduction projects—on this important issue. 

Members are taking the lead and employing new technologies such as solar 

energy installations, energy-efficient 

lighting, and variable speed motors. 

Reducing greenhouse gases is one of 

the most common air emissions goals 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

Together, 61 Performance Track members reduced 

their emissions of greenhouse gases by 309,780 metric tons 

of CO2

 equivalent. 

1.6 

1.4 

1.2 

1.0 

0.8 

0.6 

0.4 

0.2 

0.0 

Actual emissions Business as usual, 

given production changes 

Results cover the years 2000-2006 and include only members 

that set a goal for this indicator and completed at least one 

three-year membership term. The business as usual line shows 

what emissions would have been if these members had not 

worked toward their Performance Track goals. 

Million Metric Tons of CO2 Equivalent 

Baseline Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 

set by Performance Track members. 

To date, 61 facilities have completed 

greenhouse gas emission reduction 

goals, leading to 309,780 metric tons of 

carbon dioxide equivalent savings (the 

annual emissions of 57,000 cars). Many 

energy- and waste-related goals also aid 

in members’ push to reduce emissions. 

All told, more than 500 member goals 

address climate change either directly 

or indirectly. 

Selected Reductions Achieved 

and Planned by Performance 

Track Members 

•	 Achieved carbon neutrality through 

purchasing carbon offsets and 

installed a natural gas cogeneration unit to decrease greenhouse 

gas emissions per unit of power. 

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical 


Research and Development, 


San Diego, California. 


•	 Encouraged behavioral changes and 

converted to more efficient technologies that led to a 28 percent 

reduction in energy use and a 

21 percent reduction in energyrelated greenhouse gas emissions 

generation. Rohm and Haas, 

Kankakee, Illinois. 

•	 Reduced greenhouse gas emissions 

by 34 percent by participating in 

EPA’s Green Power Partnership, 

using a system to control lighting 

and heating, installing compact 

fluorescent lights, and other 

energy efficiency improvements. 

PerkinElmer Optoelectronics, 

Salem, Massachusetts. 

•	 Employed energy conservation 


practices and technologies to 


achieve a 26 percent reduction in 


non-transportation energy use. 


U.S. Department of Energy, West 

Valley Demonstration Project, 

West Valley, New York. 

Performance Track 

Challenge Goals 

•	 EPA Regions 1 and 10 offer a 

greenhouse gas reduction challenge 

goal. In order to receive credit, a 

facility must set a goal to reduce 

greenhouse gases by at least 5 

percent (Region 1) or 10 percent 

(Region 10). Twenty-five members 

have accepted this challenge. 

•	 EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation 

offers an energy use reduction challenge goal for non-transportation 

energy use. In order to receive 

credit, a Performance Track facility 

must set a goal to reduce its energy 

use by at least 10 percent. All 10 

regions are participating, and 

many are making transportation 

energy reduction goals as well. 

Thirty members have accepted 

this challenge. 

EPA 100R08006 

U.S. EPA, Office of Policy, Economics, 

and Innovation (MC 1807-T) 

www.epa.gov/performancetrack 

1-888-339-PTRK (1-888-339-7875) 

Power from the Sun
 

The Global Pharmaceutical Supply Group, in Vacaville, California, a member 

of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, constructed one of the state’s 

largest privately owned commercial solar energy systems of its kind. The 

1-Megawatt solar array will provide approximately one-third of the facility’s 

peak power demand, saving the facility roughly $300,000 in energy costs per 

year, creating enough electricity to run 250 homes, and reducing CO2

 emissions from the facility by 1.4 million pounds annually. The Vacaville array is 

Johnson & Johnson’s ninth solar installation in the United States, bringing 

the company’s total installed capacity to 3.5 Megawatts.