Module 8:
Protecting our environment
Key learning points
1. What is the impact of industry on the environment?
2. How can you control pollution and waste?
3. What are the main elements of an environmental management system?
Notes:
What is the impact of industry on the environment?
What do we mean by the environment? Well, it’s everything that surrounds us – air, land
and water.
Together, these provide the conditions for developing
and sustaining all forms of life – including us. So, we
need to treat this resource with the respect it deserves.
Unfortunately, we sometimes use our environment as
the dustbin for everything we don’t want. Protecting the environment is important for us all.
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Businesses and organisations interact with the environment in different ways and have
different effects on it. The nature of the work activities, their location, the products and
services they lead to, and the supplies they use are just some of the factors that influence
their effect on the environment.
Think about how your company affects the environment.
Sometimes one event can have an immediate impact on
the environment, such as a spillage from an oil tanker.
Other impacts are gradual and have more than one
cause, such as the build-up of greenhouse gases.
Sources of pollution can harm a wide range of living
things. For example, contaminated land can affect the
ecosystem by passing pollution into a watercourse.
Did you know…?
In 2008, there were:
• 442 water pollution incidents
• 199 land pollution incidents
• 126 air pollution incidents.
These all had a serious impact on the environment.
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Waste is what businesses and organisations throw away
because they no longer need it or want it. For example:
Industry Main waste streams
Car manufacturer metals, plastics, oil, vehicles, paints and tyres
Construction soils, demolition waste, asbestos, paints and
solvents, plasterboard and wood
Engineering cutting oils, swarf, packaging, solvents and
metals
Food production/retail organic waste, transit packaging, cardboard,
refrigerants, animal tissue, waste water treatment
sludge and preservatives
Service sector/finance paper, catering wastes, office furniture,
computers, electronic equipment and fluorescent
tubes
Notes:
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Pollution is the release of harmful substances or energy into the environment. It can
contaminate air, land and water.
Air pollution can occur through:
• burning coal, oil or natural gas, which give off gases such as carbon dioxide (known as
greenhouse gases) and can produce smoke and dust.
Land pollution can occur through:
• dumping hazardous waste
• leaks and spills of materials
• water run-off during firefighting.
Water pollution can occur through:
• incorrect drainage connections, resulting in industrial waste entering surface water
drains, which in turn flow into rivers
• oil, solvents, detergents and other chemicals being washed into surface water drains,
such as during machinery and vehicle cleaning
• accidental spillage of oils and chemicals during deliveries
• leakage of oils or chemicals from drums and
tanks
• spillage of bulk foodstuffs such as milk,
alcohol or cream.
Notes:
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How can you control pollution and waste?
Having identified how your organisation affects the environment, you’ll need to establish
which issues are the most important to manage. One way to do this is through a risk
assessment – we’ve already discussed this in Module 2. The same process applies to
environmental risks. In this case, the risk assessment involves finding out the likelihood of
something happening that could affect the environment and its consequence.
How you deal with pollutants and waste from your organisation’s activities will depend on a
number of factors:
• the potential impact of the pollutant
• any specific legal requirements
• developments in best practice
• your organisation’s values and policy
• concerns of your stakeholders
• cost.
Did you know…?
In 2008, the Environment Agency’s prosecutions against companies
resulted in £3 million in fines that averaged £12,000 per business (compared
to a total of £2.95 million and an average of £11,800 in 2006).
Notes:
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This hierarchy will help you identify the best solution:
Prevent – by changing the way you do things so that you
eliminate certain kinds of waste.
Reduce – by using less packaging or improving efficiency.
Reuse – by putting materials back in to use instead of disposing
of them.
Recover – by reprocessing waste so that it can still be used,
recycling waste materials to produce usable goods, like repulping
paper, composting organic waste, using combustible waste as a fuel
or turning organic waste into fuel.
Responsibly release or dispose of – taking account of any
relevant standards. Sometimes waste may need to be made
harmless before it can be released.
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If there’s an incident that releases pollutants, your organisation needs to have processes
in place to reduce the chance of the pollutant doing any damage (for example, reaching a
watercourse) and to repair any damage that does occur. These processes should be part
of your organisation’s emergency procedures. You’ll need to review them regularly and
organise practice drills to test them. Some organisations have to have a tiered response
for various scales of emergency.
Pollution can be prevented by setting limits for emissions to air, land and water. Depending
on what it does, your organisation may have consent limits, which allow it to emit certain
levels of pollutants. If you break these limits, you must tell the regulator – in England and
Wales this is the Environment Agency, and in Scotland the Scottish Environmental
Protection Agency.
Did you know…?
British industry spends £1,100 per worker on environmental protection
measures (DEFRA, 2006)
Notes:
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What are the main elements of an environmental management system?
Remember health and safety management systems in Module 4?
We said that the best way to manage health and safety risks was to have a systematic
approach based on the plan, do, check, act cycle. We said it was central to good business
management – it works just as well for environmental management.
Policy, planning and organising
Implementation and operation
Measuring performance
Reviewing and
continual
improvement
The main driver for setting up an environmental management system (EMS) is to minimise
your organisation’s business risks associated with how it interacts with the environment.
Some key benefits of an EMS for your organisation:
• it can be a condition of getting a licence to operate
• it enables effective cost control
• it gives better access to product and capital markets
• it improves relations with the general public.
Notes:
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Quiz
1. It takes ……………. litres of oil to pollute one million litres of drinking water.
2. ……………. kilograms of waste is recycled/composted per person in the UK each year.
3. The average person produces ……………. kilograms of waste each year.
4. The average UK office worker wastes ……………. litres of water each month.
5. An average company could save £……………. each year by printing on both sides of
every A4 sheet.
6. …………….. tonnes of hazardous waste was generated in England and Wales in a
recent year.
7. The UK produces ………………… tonnes of waste each year.
8. Approximately ……………. plastic carrier bags were given to UK shoppers in a recent
year.
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Getting it right
• Environmental control leads to cost control – you need to check out efficiency,
acceptability of products and services and the best use of materials and by-products.
• Planning to prevent and reduce pollution and waste is cheaper than cleaning up after
the event.
• Good environmental performance has several advantages: increased profitability and
competitiveness, enhanced investment profile, better industrial and public relations and
reduced insurance premiums.
• Integrating environmental factors into your team’s responsibilities is a key factor in
achieving good environmental performance.
Notes:
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Summary
1. Industry affects the environment by…
2. We can control pollution and waste by…
3. The main elements of an environmental management system are…
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