THE GLASS PACKAGING INSTITUTE [www.gpi.org]

Problem
Three major air quality regulatory agencies in California, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) proposed rules to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) to a level that threatened to place severe economic costs on the glass container manufacturers in Southern California. The goals of the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) were to:

• Define an acceptable NOx emission control level for the glass container manufacturing industry that would not irreparably harm operations, while simultaneously...
• ...Allowing California to meet its air quality emission reduction goals.

Solution
CEA worked with industry and government stakeholders to design a solution to meet the needs of the industry and the regulatory agencies. Specifically, CEA:

• Coordinated an industry team to develop technical, legal, and economic analysis of various control levels.
• Convinced the SCAQMD technical staff to provide for separate control technology review within the rulemaking framework.
• Gathered input from industry experts to establish current technology performance benchmarks.
• Worked with local elected officials to garner support for the industry’s position.
• Educated air quality agency Governing Board members about the benefits of glass recycling.

Results

• In the South Coast region, CEA developed and proposed a NOx control level that has lead to a 75% emissions reduction at 20% of the cost of the original SCAQMD recommendation. The proposal also allows for opportunities to maintain the recycling market for post-consumer glass and promote efficient waste diversion systems.
• In the Bay Area region, CEA successfully negotiated with the BAAQMD to secure a reasonable control level for the facility operators functioning in the area.
• In the San Joaquin Valley region, CEA successfully secured a NOx emissions control level which will allow the facilities operating in the region to remain in operation while still reducing their emissions output.
• The SCAQMD used CEA’s proposal as the formal recommendation for adopting a new NOx control level.
• In all three regional areas, the agencies abandoned their efforts to force the container industry’s use of add-on control technologies that were unproven and not cost-effective.