37 



Was that a good tradeoff for the environment? Obviously, our so- 

 ciety thinks so, as demonstrated by the Montreal Protocol. Or con- 

 sider CO2, a greenhouse gas. By itself it is nontoxic. Many sci- 

 entists believe, however, that as it builds up in the atmosphere, it 

 is setting the chemical stage for global climate change. 



Another example from the electronics industry illustrates both 

 points. Many people have suggested that lead solders in our indus- 

 try be replaced by less toxic bismuth alloys. Bismuth, however, oc- 

 curs in very low concentration in ore so that you have to do a lot 

 more mining and processing than you do with an equivalent 

 amount of lead. 



Senator Reid. What is that? I didn't understand that. 



Dr. Allenby. Lead occurs in relatively high concentrations in na- 

 tive ore. Bismuth occurs in much lower concentration. So to get an 

 equivalent amount of bismuth, you have to do a lot more mining 

 and processing of the native ore. 



It's even worse though, Mr. Chairman, because virtually all of 

 the world's bismuth is produced as a by-product of lead mining. So 

 if you mine the lead ore to get it the bismuth, what do you do with 

 it? Let it sit there? Go ahead and process the lead ore to get the 

 lead anyway? 



The point is not — I must emphasize — ^that you should not seek 

 alternatives to lead solder. Rather, the point is that you must be 

 careful as you do so, so that you don't create worse environmental 

 problems than the one you are trying to solve. 



As these examples demonstrate, figuring out what is best for the 

 environment requires that you look across the entire life of a mate- 

 rial and consider a number of potential environmental impacts, not 

 just toxicity. And, indeed, a number of activities around the world 

 show that this new understanding is being acted on. The Inter- 

 national Standards Organization, ISO, is actively working on the 

 development of life cycle assessment, environmental labeling, and 

 product-based environmental standards. Understanding life cycle 

 material issues are important elements of each standard setting ac- 

 tivity. Environmental labels, such as German^s Blue Angel, also 

 focus on life cycle materials issues. 



For example, the Blue Angel labeling requirements for personal 

 computers would ban the use of brominated fire retardants not be- 

 cause those materials are not safe in the product, but because it 

 is believed that their incineration will cause undesirable combus- 

 tion products to be emitted. Countries such as The Netherlands, 

 Germany, Japan, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and oth- 

 ers are considering similar regulatory approaches. In sum, many 

 areas of the world are moving toward regulations based on the life 

 cycle environmental characteristics of materials. 



How are non-chemical manufacturing firms reacting to these 

 changes? At AT&T, for example, we are beginning to develop De- 

 sign for Environment, or DFE, based on the theory of industrial 

 ecology. DFE integrates environmental considerations into the de- 

 sign of manufacturing processes, products, and even services. De- 

 signing a telephone, for example, you might say it should use as 

 little material as possible; it should be easily refurbished so that 

 it can be reintroduced into commerce after its first life; the plastics 

 in it should be marked for easy recycling; toxics use should be man- 



