Information is only as useful as the means of getting it into the hands of its intended users.

Libraries, databases, filing cabinets, and Rolodexes around the country are filled with high-quality pollution prevention (P2) information resources and contacts that businesses and technical assistance providers could put to good use. Until recently, there was no system in place to coordinate these resources and provide easy, efficient access. Consequently, potential users were unaware of them.

That system is being put in place, thanks to the establishment of the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx), a coordinated effort of nine regional pollution prevention resource centers that are funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. Each of the centers offers a range of services that may include information for specific industry sectors, trainings, library resources, referrals and research. Through P2Rx, the nine centers (see list here) are laying the groundwork for a seamless national network of easily accessible P2 information that has been screened for quality. Among the expected benefits of P2Rx are reduced duplication of effort in preparing P2 materials, improved collaboration of technical assistance providers, creation of information distribution channels, and promotion of standardized formats to facilitate information exchange. Click here to see the P2Rx Information Standards.

In 1997, EPA initiated a grant program to start a national network of P2 information centers, four existing ones and five new ones. The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, which serves the EPA Region 10 states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, was selected as the initial P2Rx coordinator. The coordinator role will rotate among the centers.

A key to making P2Rx work is the recognition that all of the centers operate differently and serve different needs reflecting their regions. As the initial coordinator, PPRC’s role has been as a facilitator to help the centers identify areas of common interest and find convenient ways of working effectively together. The idea is to encourage the regional centers to share information and begin building a seamless national P2 information network.

Over the past year, the nine regional centers have met four times to work on common approaches to issues such as marketing the centers’ services, measuring the usage and impacts of their services, making web sites more appealing, assuring the quality of their resources, and developing a standard format for bibliographic references. Another task has been collaborative development of P2 materials on hospitality and metal fabrication.

Through regular communications, the centers have been getting into the habit of sharing information and learning from each other. For example, one of the most useful aspects of the P2Rx collaboration has been a regular "clinic," at which centers share information on common concerns such as outreach strategies, finding matching funds, and resolving copyright issues. By working together on projects of common interest, P2Rx is laying a foundation for a national P2 information network that will promote waste reduction across the U.S.

In the near future, a web site will be posted that will feature a U.S. map serving as a portal to the centers. By clicking on a particular state, users will be sent to a baseline web page of the center serving that state.