View article

Los Alamos National Laboratory (the Laboratory) executes important missions in national security, fundamental science, and energy. Identifying, mitigating, and eliminating the environmental risks posed by these missions is the goal of the Pollution Prevention (PP) and Stewardship Office in the Environmental Stewardship (ENV) Division. The PP Office assists the Laboratory in eliminating these sources and reducing risk through proactive PP, waste minimization, recycling, and resource conservation. PP practices move the Laboratory beyond compliance-based goals toward zero waste produced, zero pollutants released, zero natural resources wasted, and zero natural resources damaged. Zero pollution means zero environmental risk to mission continuity.

This roadmap documents the Laboratory’s PP program and the processes used to define and implement environmental improvements. It describes current operations, improvements that will eliminate potential sources of environmental incidents, and the end state that is the Laboratory’s goal. During the next 24 months, the Laboratory will move to an Environmental Management System (EMS) that embodies the concepts of International Standards Organization (ISO) 14001. The Laboratory currently has implemented environmental protection as part of integrated safety management (ISM). The focus of the EMS is on PP practices that will allow the Laboratory to move beyond a compliance-based approach to environmental management.