Industrial Environmental Management. Tapas K. Das
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can include a reduction in waste, consumption of resources, and operating costs. Secondly, as an internationally recognized standard, businesses operating in multiple locations across the globe can leverage their conformance to ISO 14001, eliminating the need for multiple registrations or certifications (Hutchens 2010). Thirdly, there has been a push in the last decade by consumers for companies to adopt better internal controls, making the incorporation of ISO 14001 a smart approach for the long‐term viability of businesses. This can provide them with a competitive advantage against companies that do not adopt the standard (Potoski and Prakash 2005). This in turn can have a positive impact on a company's asset value (Van der Veldt 1997). It can lead to improved public perceptions of the business, placing them in a better position to operate in the international marketplace (Potoski and Prakash 2005; Sheldon 1997). The use of ISO 14001 can demonstrate an innovative and forward‐thinking approach to customers and prospective employees. It can increase a business's access to new customers and business partners. In some markets it can potentially reduce public liability insurance costs. It can serve to reduce trade barriers between registered businesses (Van der Veldt 1997). There is growing interest in including certification to ISO 14001 in tenders for public–private partnerships for infrastructure renewal. Evidence of value in terms of environmental quality and benefit to the taxpayer has been shown in highway projects in Canada.
ISO 14001 addresses not only the environmental aspects of an organization's processes but also those of its products and services. Therefore, ISO/TC 207 has developed additional tools to assist in addressing such aspects. Life‐cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for identifying and evaluating the environmental aspects of products and services from the “cradle to the grave”: from the extraction of resource inputs to the eventual disposal of the product or its waste. The ISO 14040 standards give guidelines on the principles and conduct of LCA studies that provide an organization with information on how to reduce the overall environmental impact of its products and services. ISO 14064 parts 1, 2, and 3 are international greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and verification standards which provide a set of clear and verifiable requirements to support organizations and proponents of GHG emission reduction projects.
1.2 Environmental Management in Industries
Today many industries and companies have recognized the importance of proper environmental management and have switched over from traditional end‐of‐pipe solutions to the integration of environment management in overall management process of the industry. A few major driving forces for such changes are stringent legislation; demand for better work environment for employees; customers' demands; company's image; the growing pressure from all stakeholders regarding the environmental, economical, and social responsibilities. Environmental considerations are no longer regarded on ad‐hoc basis, rather these considerations form the part of industries' everyday reality. Still, there is a lack of holistic approach where environment management is a natural part of overall management system. While the environmental departments are busy with generating reports and petitions for external purposes, the top management is not making use of the competence already present within the organization. The main objective is to focus on the application of various environmental tools and methods so that there could be a shift from reactive regulatory approach to proactive environmental decision making; there could be full support of top management on the environmental information system; and the environmental issues could be prioritized and the implementation could be accelerated. Ultimately, the integration of the environmental responsibility with the environmental systems and allocation of the resources needed shall lead to implementation of the environmental strategies and it can contribute to both improvements in the environmental performance and in increasing long‐term profitability of the industry.
1.2.1 Environmental Challenges
Our avid interest in environmental sustainability and environmental management issues can be traced directly to awareness that as the world's population continues to expand and to consume natural resources, humanity faces shortages that threaten quality of life in developed areas and elsewhere on the Earth, life itself. In attempts to find solutions to these problems, we have created an ever growing inventory of manufactured goods, chemicals, drugs, ostensibly to improve the quality of life that has in fact contributed to the pollution of our environment. “Pollution prevention,” an environmental buzz word since the 1990s, encompasses designing processes that generate no waste to plants that emit only harmless compounds such as pure water.
Zero defect and zero effect (ZDZE) is different from pollution prevention in that it converts raw materials into useful products or valuable resources that have “no defect” in manufactured products and “zero effect” has no adverse effect on health and environment. In this book, the meanings of “Zero Effect,” “Zero Discharge,” or “Zero Emissions” are complimentary and all terms are used interchangeably (Das 2005). Within the ZDZE paradigm the goal of resource extraction, refining, or commodity production is approached in much the same way that the mining, iron and steel, pulp and paper, petroleum, energy, automobiles, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, fertilizer, agricultural, and chemical industries go about processing raw materials. Sometimes the conversion of wastes or by‐products into resources having value to another industry is more efficient than the implementation of pollution prevention techniques – that is industrial ecology (also see Chapter 9).
In this book, we will focus on the best management practices, best available industrial manufacturing processes, techniques, and technologies that treat raw materials into no‐defect products, as well as innovative and emerging processes that have best potential for achieving the highest standards in pollution prevention at the plant and industry levels, leading to no defect and zero effect (NDZE) – a common goal toward industrial environmental management. To move toward NDZE via process pollution prevention (P3) and profitable pollution prevention (P3), industries must use processes that deploy materials and energy efficiently enough to neutralize and control contaminants in the waste stream. The ultimate goal is to remove pollutants from the waste streams and convert them into products or feeds for other processes. Logically then, P3 refers to industrial manufacturing processes by which materials and energy are efficiently utilized to achieve the end product(s) that have “no defect,” while reducing or eliminating the creation of pollutants or waste at the source that is “zero discharge or zero effect.” The primary goal is to educate the engineering students to prepare them as current and future generation engineers who will learn and practice sustainable engineering and who will be our champion stewards in industrial environmental management as needed caretakers of the Earth.
1.3 Waste as Pollution
A waste is defined as an unwanted by‐product or damaged, defective, or superfluous material of a manufacturing process. Most often, in its current state, it has or is perceived to have no value. It may or may not be harmful or toxic if released to the environment. Pollution is any release of waste to environment (i.e. any routine or accidental emission, effluent, spill, discharge, or disposal to the air, land, or water) that contaminates or degrades the environment.
1.4 Defining Pollution Prevention
In this book, we define pollution prevention fairly broadly as any action that prevents the release of harmful materials to the environment. This definition manifests itself in the form of a pollution prevention hierarchy, with safe disposal forms at the base of the pyramid and minimizing the generation of waste at the source at the peak (Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1 Pollution prevention hierarchy.
In contrast,