Environmental Pollution Story Till Now - Essay Example

Environmental Pollution – Story Till Now The efforts of Al Gore, ex-Vice president of US and a Nobel laureate, and lot of similar individuals and organisations, coupled with a good measure of support from governments of various countries and international media have brought the issue of environment management to the forefront of every industry’s immediate agenda. They have finally woken up to the problem of sullying the environment which they have been doing over the last couple of centuries. Legislations enacted all over the world have now made it mandatory for every industry – specially those involved in mining and refining natural resources as petroleum or coal, to put in place a proper system for managing environmental pollution which is an unavoidable “by-product” of their production processes. Christopher Sheldon & Mark Yoxon have made seminal contributions in this field and have laid down in a readily intelligible jargon-less manner all that a management needs to know and do to implement an effective EMS. (Sheldon, Christopher & Yoxon, Mark, 1999) Implementation of EMS in an oil refinery Immediate benefit of implementing EMS International Standards Organisation had first put forward in 1996 ISO 14001 EMS standards which have been further updated in 2004. (International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), 1996) Though it is accepted worldwide to be the common standard, it has no legal mandate, that is, if a company does not implement these standards, ISO per se has no authority to force its implementation. But governments all over the world have passed laws and issued guidelines (Environmental Protection Department, 1995) urging and ensuring that refineries do indeed follow them. The consumers and end users too are favouring those companies who are actively trying to reduce environmental pollution, so it is becoming increasingly beneficial for oil refineries to implement EMS. Creating Environmental Awareness and Appointing a Green Manager But many of those who are actually working on the shop floor are not aware of the extent of pollution an oil refinery causes. The wastewater generated during the refining process teems with both organic and inorganic pollutants so much so that it cannot be directly released into a flowing river or sea without causing an environmental catastrophe of sorts. A lot has been written on how this wastewater needs to be treated and experts are of the opinion it requires both time and a lot of waste land to prepare a wetlands system which consistently reduces the level pollutants in the wastewater generated during refining. (Muhammad, 2006). Consultants the world over feel the entire rank and file of an organisation need to be involved in this process and for that there is the need of assigning this responsibility to a person belonging to senior management to ensure availability of unhindered co-operation from all departments and corporate funds. It is a common trend to call such a person “Green Manager”. (Corporate Environmental Management Section, 1996) . Dow Chemicals Pacific has its Environment, Health and Safety Director as its Green Manager. Marks and Spencer has appointed its Director of Corporate Affairs as its Green Manager. The basic responsibility of a Green Manager includes: Ensuring all employees receive adequate training to implement EMS guidelines at their workplaces Ensuring in gradual reduction of Environmental liability resulting in a better public image and, in some cases, reduced insurance premiums Ensuring cost savings through better monitored consumption of raw materials and power and properly harnessing the benefits of consequent reduced levels of waste management Remaining aware and taking benefit of all governmental incentives available for organisations conforming to environmental guidelines Opening and maintaining channels of communication with all levels of staff to inform the progress and status organisational complicity with environmental legislations and inviting suggestions from them (Welford, R. & Gouldson, A., 1993) The Green Manager also needs to appoint a Green Committee comprising of senior members from each department to help him out in his mission. Cost Savings Before we study the implementation process any further, we must address the raging debate on cost saving potential of an EMS. Critics have their daggers drawn and rubbish any claims of cost saving whatsoever and view it as another impediment to exponential growth of industry. It may be said these critics are in a hurry to obtain ISO 14001 certification and are only concentrating on low cost (or, preferably, no cost) measures. Thus, they are losing sight of immense opportunities of cost reduction latent in improving process efficiency and waste minimisation. Like any other system EMS also needs a proactive management keenly aware of the current social obligation. It must view environmental obligations not as annoying hindrances to normal everyday functioning but an opportunity for betterment and enhancing bottom-line. (Burrel, G. & Morgan, G., 1979) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) While on the topic of possible improvement in process efficiency, it must be mentioned that many big corporations are now using LCA as a tool not only to reduce environmental obligation but also to effect significant improvements in process efficiency. It reviews every stage of a product, right from the procurement of raw material to delivering the finished output to the final consumers – “cradle to grave” as it were, to locate areas where environmental impact can be reduced. In case of an oil refining company, LCA should start right from the extraction of crude petroleum, its transportation either through pipelines or tankers to refineries, various stages of processing done in refineries, storage of refined petroleum in refineries, and, transportation and storage of the finished products to retail outlets. Though it might seem impossible to handle so much monitoring and documentation, it has been observed many companies are implementing LCA (at least partially) to bolster their environment friendly approach which is obviously leading to larger committed consumer base. (Life Cycle Assessment:What it is and How to do it, 1996) Initial Environmental Audit This should be the first step towards implementing an EMS. This allows the company to know in concrete terms: Current systems in place for handling hazardous raw materials and treatment of toxic waste Identifying areas of improvement and delineating steps to be taken, in order of urgency, to conform to prevalent governmental guidelines to avoid statutory liability Providing a detailed document to act as a basis for future audits It has been observed that Design and Development functions are often left out of the ambit of Environmental Audit. But these are areas where a lot of attention needs to be diverted since oftentimes a minor alteration of a process may lead to a considerable reduction of environmental liability. Environmental Policy, Objectives and Targets In order to give a well defined direction to EMS, an organisation must set out clearly an Environment Policy of its own. Once this is stated, the objectives and targets of the EMS must also be laid down in concrete terms to the extent possible. The employees of an oil refining company would now know what their organisation stands for in terms of environmental responsibility and what each of them is expected to do in order to achieve the corporate objective. This helps a lot in subsequent environmental audits and allows the Green Manager to pinpoint areas which need further attention and improvement. Like any other management system, EMS also requires periodic reviews, audits and follow-up actions to keep it relevant. Implementation of EMS in a Bank Though banking falls under service sector and there is no apparent reason for implementation of EMS, there has been a sustained refrain from industry that banks are insensitive to the environmental needs of a company and are unwilling to provide adequate finances necessary to implement and sustain an effective EMS. In a seminar held in Port of Spain in November 2004 (Capacity Building for Environmental Management Systems for Carribbean Enterprises, Nov., 2004) it was decided to impart training in EMS to banking and financial institution employees who deal with medium and small enterprises that are willing to implement EMS. A training manual and suitably designed toolkit will immensely help both the borrowers and the lenders to be on the same frequency and the flow of necessary finance will become smoother. Organisations which would not benefit from implementation of EMS Organisations which adopt a clean technology are not guilty of polluting the environment and as such would not gain from implementing EMS. They are already there where polluting industries are attempting to reach, so an additional effort to remain there would be superfluous. However the definition of clean technology should also include all raw materials used as inputs by these organisations. Sometimes the “innocuous” plastic strap which is used to secure a raw material input carton or a finished output package becomes the offending item. So, before brushing aside EMS, every management should make a detailed survey of the entire production process. However, electricity generation through wind power and eco-friendly agriculture are possibly two areas where EMS is not required. References Burrel, G. & Morgan, G. (1979). Sociological paradigms and organisational analysis. London: Hienemann. Capacity Building for Environmental Management Systems for Carribbean Enterprises. (Nov., 2004). SMART Seminar. Port of Spain. Corporate Environmental Management Section. (1996). A Simple Guide to Set Up an Environmental Management System. Hong Kong: Environmental Protection Department. Environmental Protection Department. (1995). Environmental Audit Manual. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Government. International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). (1996). ISO 14001 - Environmental Management Systems - Specifications with Guidance for Use. International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). (1996). Life Cycle Assessment:What it is and How to do it. United Nations Environment Programme. Muhammad, M. A. (2006). Ecological Effectiveness of Constructed Wetlands in Treating Oil Refinery Wastewater. International Convention on Environmental Sustainability. Hanoi. Sheldon, Christopher & Yoxon, Mark. (1999). Environmental Management Systems - A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementation and Maintenance. London: Earthscan. Welford, R. & Gouldson, A. (1993). Environmental Management and Business Strategy. London: Pitman Publishing. Read More