Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
During the past 30 years, there has been considerable growth in awareness and
understanding of the environmental interactions with, and effects of, business oper-
ations at all levels. This growth in awareness has been accompanied by an increase in
concern over the adverse effects of business upon the environment; as a consequence
of this, a rapid expansion of legislation aimed at protecting the environment has
occurred in most industrialized countries. In addition, the environmental issues them-
selves have become more complex and greater in scale. For example, concerns over
localized urban smoke emissions have largely been replaced by international issues,
such as global climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion (Howes et al, 1997).
The result of this has been that many businesses are facing increasing pressure to
reduce the impacts resulting from their operations. The activities of greatest concern
are generally those related to waste disposal, effluent discharge and energy use. In the
UK, failure to address these issues and comply with the ever-tightening legislation
places businesses at risk from financial penalties. Under the European regulatory
regime of integrated pollution prevention and control (EC, 1996), penalties to UK
companies may include revocation of operating licences and imprisonment of man-
agers. This can result in unequivocal damage to corporate image and a decline in pro-
ductivity such that, in extreme cases, companies may go out of business. In order to
avoid such consequences, company managers and directors are increasingly turning
towards EMS to help them improve their environmental performance and operate
in accordance with environmental legislation.
The key elements of an EMS are summarized below:
•
Management commitment: the first step towards implementing a successful EMS
involves obtaining the support and commitment from senior management in
order to ensure that appropriate time and resources will be made available.
•
Environmental review: this involves a systematic and comprehensive identifica-
tion and assessment of the environmental impacts resulting from all company
activities, past, present and predicted. This 'stocktake' should be quantitative, as
far as possible, and forms the baseline against which future progress is measured.
•
Environmental policy: this is a short written statement of intent that indicates a
commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance and
compliance with all relevant environmental legislation and regulations. It sets out
the company's intentions regarding environmentally related aspects of the busi-
ness. For maximum effectiveness, it should be publicly available and regularly
reviewed.
•
Legal and regulatory requirements: a register detailing all relevant environmental
legislation and regulations should be produced and regularly updated. Knowing
what the legal requirements are is the first step towards compliance. Such a reg-
ister is likely to be compiled as part of the environmental review process.
•
Environmental objectives and targets: the significance of each of the environ-
mental impacts identified by the environmental review needs to be assessed. Typ-
ically, this is achieved by applying a ranking system to prioritize them. Environ-
mental objectives are then established for reducing the most significant effects,
together with quantitative targets and schedules for their achievement. Ideally,
targets should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (ie
SMART) (Sheldon and Yoxon, 1999).
