A Multi-National Industry's Perspective of Pollution Prevention

The success of 3M's worldwide Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) Program convinced 3M's top management that the program should be expanded into a comprehensive environmental management system called 3P Plus. The emphasize of the 3P Plus program is to continually minimize the environmental impact of 3M processes, products, and operations to include energy management, resource recovery, and other initiatives. 3M's experience with the 3P and 3P Plus programs will be described. 3M's experience can serve as a model for other multi-national companies interested in sustainable development and economic growth with environmental protection.