Benefits of PRTR to states, industry and other stakeholders can be summarized as follows.

Benefits of PRTR for Governments
• The development and implementation of a PRTR adapted to national needs assists governments to track the generation, release and fate of emissions of hazardous chemical substances and pollutants over time, to examine progress in reducing emissions and to set priorities for reducing or even eliminating the most potentially damaging releases and transfers.
• A PRTR can help pollution prevention and lessen the burden of control regulations requiring monitoring and enforcement actions.
• PRTR data and information can be used for assessing risks to human health and the environment as input to dispersion models to simulate emissions and any subsequent pollution.

Benefits of PRTR for Industry
• The existence of a PRTR can serve as a major driving force for pollution reduction throughout many sectors of the economy. Dissemination of PRTR data enables similar industries to benchmark their environmental performance with other companies in the sector and to reduce releases and thereby saving money.
• Accidental releases such as spills or emissions arising from an accident at an industrial facility can be reported to a PRTR. In addition, PRTR data can be used in land-use planning and in licensing decisions for new plants and facilities.
• PRTRs provide information on releases of hazardous substances and pollutants that can encourage industry, business and the community to reduce releases and transfers of waste and to adopt cleaner production techniques.

Benefits of PRTR for Other Parties
• A PRTR can also stimulate interested or potentially affected parties to ask questions of and to seek improvements to human health and environmental well-being.
• Non-governmental organisations can both use and disseminate PRTR data to reflect their individual purposes and goals, as well as those of their constituencies.
• Researchers and academics can use PRTR data for modelling or other studies, and the financial sector for evaluating investment proposals or for considering insurance or sustainability issues.
• Researchers and academics can use PRTR data for modelling or other studies, and the financial sector for evaluating investment proposals or for considering insurance or sustainability issues.

The public can use PRTR information to learn about releases and transfers occurring in their communities and to become better informed about the environmental performance of individual facilities, economic sectors and government regulatory agencies.