P3: Partners in Pollution Prevention

Program Description

In today's competitive landscape, applying sustainable practices and adopting pollution prevention strategies can provide your business with a competitive advantage. The Partners in Pollution Prevention (P3) program provides businesses with technical assistance to help identify, evaluate, and implement resource conservation and pollution prevention projects. The program places student interns from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in industrial facilities and small businesses for 11 weeks during the summer. The mutually beneficial program leads to real cost savings for companies while giving students real-world experience.

Benefits

There are many benefits to participating in the P3 program. Your business has the potential to save time and money, gain access to energetic students - potential future talent, get guidance from experienced engineers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and obtain a final report with recommendations for your company based on applied research. On average, P3 program projects have saved participating organizations over $8,000 per year. Historical impacts and results are available here.

Requirements

In order for your company to become involved in the program, it must be located in Nebraska, committed to reducing pollution, and willing to pay a portion of the cost of an intern and provide an intern with a desk, phone, computer, internet access and general supervision as needed.

Student Intern Role

Over 11 weeks in the summer, an intern will analyze your company’s current processes or operations, research and evaluate the options for reducing waste streams and conserving resources, work with your company’s management and employees to determine the cost and logistics of different pollution and waste reduction options and generate a final report with recommendations for cost and environmental savings.

Past Projects

The P3 program has been providing technical assistance for businesses since 1997. Some past projects include:

• Assisting agricultural producers in efforts to reduce water/energy use in irrigation
• Replacing hazardous chemicals with less toxic alternatives or alternative processes
• Modifying process monitoring to reduce defect or scrap rates