Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
•
Step 3:
Evaluation of the Alternative Waste
Management Solutions
◦ Operational Analysis of Alternative
Waste Management Solutions
◦ Technical Analysis of Alternative
Waste Management Solutions
◦ Economical Analysis of Alternative
Waste Management Solutions
•
Step 4:
Comparison of Alternative Waste
Management Solutions
will be a basis for a comparison. With the aid of
data collected in the first and second phases, it is
now possible to generate a process flow diagram
for a complete manufacturing process including
sequence of operations, raw materials, semi-
finished products, products and wastes.
In the next phase, the investigation of current
waste management practices in the company is
accomplished. The waste management system
of a company involves the entire procedure of
collecting, transporting, processing, recycling
or disposal of waste materials. Waste manage-
ment can involve different methods and fields of
expertise for solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive
substances, with the aim of reducing the effects of
these wastes on the health and environment. Dur-
ing this phase, data such as the quantity and rate of
generation of production wastes are collected. The
content of wastes and the waste management costs
are also investigated. Current waste management
practices in the company should be determined
correctly and then analyzed with respect to their
appropriateness. A waste management application
may be efficient in treating a waste completely,
but it may be very costly or may cause extra us-
age of raw materials. On the other hand, a simple
and inexpensive application may be financially
welcomed but may gradually create serious dam-
ages in worker's health or environment. As a
result, measurements should be made to find out
the real needs of the system in order to solve each
problem efficiently. For the last phase of the first
step, investigating the environmental impacts of
raw materials, production processes and products
is important. Investigations may give ideas about
the substitution of hazardous raw materials with
non-hazardous materials. These kinds of substitu-
tions may give benefits such as the decrease in
employee exposure to pollution and decrease in
costs due to the hazardousness of the material,
such as special transportation costs, fees, etc.
Making detailed analysis about the environmental
impacts of materials is also an important action
for convincing people to implement the alterna-
Analysis of the System
In the first step of the methodology, the analysis of
the manufacturing system should be accomplished.
This analysis will provide the information about
the current manufacturing and waste manage-
ment system. The data collection phase involves
a thorough assessment of the company, from the
purchase of various inputs (e.g., raw materials,
energy and water) to the output itself (products).
This phase implicates the collection of data such
as: product types, raw materials used and their
prices, the demand of products and their prices,
material requirement planning, and supply chain
partners. By analyzing the data collected, it will
be possible to find the processes operating with
low efficiencies. The manufacturing process is
considered as one of the important sources of
environmental impacts of the industrial produc-
tion. Therefore, it is essential to analyze in detail
all the elements of the manufacturing system
in order to prevent the pollution at the source.
The information about the system as a whole
is gathered in this phase by combining the data
collected about processes and their operational
conditions, material management, capacity plan-
ning, production planning and scheduling, quality
management, workforce management, supply
chain management, and logistics. The operations
forming wastes are determined in this phase of
the system analysis. It is important to obtain real
data in this step, because even if it is not optimal,
