Cornell study

Over the whole of the United States, a study based on the Toxic Release Inventory, found that when employees are consulted in a formal procedure they reduce toxic pollution by 2.5 times the average.

Studies at Cornell University analysed the data from the 1991-1992 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) database in the US. The US Pollution Prevention Act 1990 requires that manufacturers report human resource management strategies that bring about the greatest reduction of waste.

They found that millions of tons of waste, and hence millions of dollars, could be saved by better internal management.

Full Report (pdf with permission of main author)

The study found that when companies are asked which method (of those listed below) brings the greatest savings in the list below, TO1, TO4 and TO6 feature the most.

In particular TO6 - Employee participation, features most strongly either alone or in combination with internal pollution audits and / or team management.