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AN INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY

AN INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY. A2.3SR1 Studies in Sustainability 1. Overview. What is ‘industrial ecology’ ISO14000 Environmental Management Systems Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Basic procedures Impact assessment Recycling Practical implementation. INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY.

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AN INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY

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  1. AN INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY A2.3SR1 Studies in Sustainability 1

  2. Overview • What is ‘industrial ecology’ • ISO14000 • Environmental Management Systems • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) • Basic procedures • Impact assessment • Recycling • Practical implementation

  3. INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY

  4. Industrial ecology • ‘Industrial ecology’ is a term for the complex web of relationships that integrates the production cycles of industrial artefacts. • It recognises the interlocking and interdependent nature of industrial processes and forms a structured basis for analysing them. • The term is based on a loose analogy with natural ecosystems, particularly the idea of a food web and the flows of energy and matter within it.

  5. Industrial ecology • There are conventionally two parts to the analysis: • Products and their manufacture. This is known as life cycle assessment and leads to an understanding of the total environmental footprint of a process. • Companies and their procedures. This employs an environmental management system that describes how an organisation understands and manages the environmental footprint of its activities.

  6. Industrial ecology • The framework for such an analysis is provided by series of international standards known collectively as ISO14000. • These provide guidance on several aspects of managing an environmental footprint and also provide a route to demonstrate compliance and internationally accepted certification.

  7. ISO 14000ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS

  8. ISO14000 WHAT ARE THE ISO14000 STANDARDS? • The ISO14000 standards are voluntary standardsfor the establishment of a common worldwide approach to management systems. • ISO14000 addresses environmental management systems, environmental auditing, environmental labelling, environmental performance evaluation, and life cycle assessment.

  9. ISO14000 • There are eight sets of standards at present • ISO140001 & 140004: EMS certification • ISO19011: EMS auditing • ISO14030: Organisational performance evaluation • ISO14040: Life cycle analysis • ISO14062: Product design • ISO14020: Environmental labelling • ISO14063: Communication

  10. ISO14000 What is the International Standards Organisation (ISO)? • ISO is an international non-governmental organization that promotes the development and implementation of voluntary international standards. • ISO consists of 112 member countries, with Great Britain represented by the British Standards Institute (BSI). • Standards are developed within ISO technical committees. Draft versions of the standards are sent out for formal support and comments from ISO member countries, and through iterations, feedback is incorporated to create an agreed international standard.

  11. ISO14000 • The standards are intended to serve as tools to manage corporate environmental programmes and provide an internationally recognised framework to measure, evaluate, and audit these programmes. • When implemented, these standards will ensure consistency in environmental management practice, harmonise national environmental standards within an international framework and simplify registration and labelling.

  12. ISO14000 • The ISO 14000 environmental management standards are intended to be practical, useful and usable for companies or organizations of all sizes, in both manufacturing and service industries. • Even though the standards do not prescribe performance levels, performance improvements will invariably be achieved by any business if its commitment to environmental care is emphasised and employees are trained and aware of the policies in place to protect the environment.

  13. ISO14000 Why are companies implementing ISO 140001? • 1. Recognition. • Some organisations simply want to be recognized as being Ieaders in Environmental Protection. This may be for commercial or regulatory reasons. In some cases they want to mend fences with neighbours and the community. • 2. Finance • Several institutional investors (eg some pension funds) are mandated to follow a policy of 'ethical' investment. Inter alia, this requires companies to demonstrate compliance with environmental standards.

  14. ISO 140001 Registrations USA

  15. Breakdown of ISO 14000 registrations: USA 1997

  16. ISO14000 Why are companies implementing ISO 140001? (cont) • 3. Trade • ISO 14001 is emerging as an additional requirement for trade and commerce. Many organisations are obtaining registration to position themselves in advance of regulatory requirements. • 4. Bottom Line benefits • There is an increasing understanding that an EMS addresses organisational inefficiencies and waste and that the greatest benefit is derived from savings and greater operational productivity. • Some studies indicate that the financial returns of ISO 14001 were even greater than the environmental improvements.

  17. ISO14000 • More information at: • http://www.iso14000.com/ • http://www.bsi-global.com/Corporate/14001.xalter • http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/iso9000-14000/

  18. ISO 14000Environmental Management Systems

  19. Environmental Management Systems EMS Standards for ISO14000 • Basic requirement: to establish an EMS that includes all requirements described by the standard. • A four-step process is used: • Commitment and policy. • Implementation. • Measurement and evaluation. • Review and improvement.

  20. Environmental Management Systems Commitment and policy. • In this phase, the organization defines an environmental policy and ensures commitment to it. • Policy Statements include phrases such as: • Company X is committed to protecting the environment and the health and safety of all its employees and customers • Company X's plants and products comply with all applicable government standards as well as Company X's internal standards and policies • Company X is dedicated to implementing methods and strategies for preventing pollution, reducing waste, and conserving resources

  21. Environmental Management Systems Implementation. • The organization formulates a plan to fulfill the policy. • Identify environmental aspects of the organization's activities, products, services that it can control and influence. • Determine which are associated with significant environmental impacts. • Identify and maintain access to legal and all other requirements that apply to the environmental aspects of the activities, products, and services. • Establish objectives and targets. • Establish an EMS.

  22. Objectives and Targets

  23. Environmental Performance Evaluation Evaluate against targets

  24. Environmental Management Systems Environmental Auditing • Verifying compliance with environmental laws and regulations. • Evaluating the effectiveness of systems already in place to manage environmental responsibilities. • Assessing the risks from regulated and unregulated activities and facility operation. • Identify opportunities for further improvement.

  25. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

  26. Life cycle assessment • Life cycle assessment comprises: • Environmental inventory analysis • Impact assessment • Evaluation • There are several competing methodologies

  27. Life Cycle Assessment Inventory Analysis Interpretation Impact Assessment

  28. ISO 14000LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT 1. Basic Procedures

  29. LCA Basic procedures Life Cycle Assessment • LCA is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product by: • compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a product system • evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs • interpreting the results of the inventory and impact anaIysis in relation to the objectives of the study

  30. LCA Basic procedures General Issues • General issues related to quantifying inputs and outputs include: • energy sources (external energy, the energy content of materials) • transportation • co-product allocation • sensitivity analysis

  31. LCA Basic procedures Goal of the study • ISO 14040 states that the goal of an LCA shall unambiguously state: • the intended application, • the reasons for carrying out the study, • the intended audience (to whom the results of the study are intended to be communicated)

  32. LCA Basic procedures Scope of the study (1) Identify the functional units of the system • What is being accomplished by each part of the system (2) Identify the system boundaries (3) Identify the types of impact methodology and subsequent interpretation to be used: • data requirements • assumptions • initial data quality requirements • type of critical review, if any • type and format of the report required for the study

  33. LCA Basic procedures Functional Unit • ISO 14040-1997: "a measure of the performance of the functional outputs of the product system" • Questions to ask: • "What needs to be accomplished? • "Why does it need to be done? • "When does it need to be done? • "What conditions must be considered?

  34. LCA Basic procedures Modelling the Product System • Factors to be included (from ISO 14040): • Intended application of the study • The assumptions made • Cut-off criteria • Data and cost constraints • The intended audience

  35. LCA Basic procedures The Unit Process • For each unit process, identify inputs, outputs, and recovery as follows:

  36. LCA Basic procedures Modelling the Product System (cont) • The selection of inputs, level of aggregation within a data category, and modelling of the systems shall be consistent with the goal of the study • The system should be modelled in such a manner that inputs and outputs at the system boundaries are elementary flows.

  37. LCA Basic procedures The Life Cycle Inventory • Create a unit process flow diagram including the identification of a set of unit processes for materials acquisition and processing, manufacturing, use, and recovery/disposal. • Identify the product flows between the unit processes

  38. LCA Basic procedures Inventory Data Sources • Two Data Types • Primary: for a specific supply chain (may be proprietary) • Secondary: industry averages, equipment, vendor information • Representativeness • spatial: global, national, regional, company, plant, process • temporal: 1986 vs. 2000

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