Page 432 - Academic Press Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology 3rd Chemical Engineering
P. 432
P1: GLQ/GUB P2: GQT Final Pages
Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology EN012I-591 July 26, 2001 15:54
598 Pollution Prevention from Chemical Processes
FIGURE 7 Waste generation versus business cost.
steep. Further reducing waste generation, then, requires is, the business controls its own destiny. However, as the
a significantly greater capital investment, e.g., replacing level of waste generation increases, so does the amount of
large piece(s) of equipment or unit operations. Instead, to governmental oversight. As a result, business leadership
further reduce the level of waste being generated while has less control of their business and is less able to respond
simultaneously reducing the cost to generate this waste, to various business factors that might improve their bottom
new chemistry or new engineering technology is required line. The de minimus point for a regulatory “zero” is nor-
(i.e., a new process). This is indicated by the broken curve mally below that for the economic “zero,” yet a business
on Fig. 7. still might voluntarily choose to spend additional capital
Federal, state, and local governments are demanding investment to increase control.
more and more information from manufacturers: not only Recognizing the value of pollution prevention to the
the size, composition, and properties of waste streams that business and the customer, progressive companies are de-
are generated, but also what chemicals are added to the veloping corporate goals to motivate their employees to
process to manufacture the final product, and descriptive reduce the amount of waste being produced. Examples
information on how these chemicals are used within the include the 3M Corporate Environmental Conservation
process. The third major driver for pollution prevention, Policy and the DuPont Company’s Safety, Health and the
then, becomes control of the business. When a business Environment Commitment of zero waste generation and
does not make any waste or is below a de minimus level, emissions, which is shown in Fig. 9.
then only a minimum amount of information is required The environmental group Grassroots Recycling
by the governing bodies; hence, business information Network is developing a Zero Waste Policy Paper for
is conserved. Thermodynamic principles govern that consumer products. The net result is that society is
zero waste is not possible, and the technical challenge is beginning to expect that the products and processes of
develop manufacturing processes that produce minimum the future will not generate waste and are recyclable or
waste. biodegradable.
Figure 8 depicts schematically the degree of control For the businesses that have implemented pollution pre-
business leadership has over a business versus govern- vention programs, the amount saved or earned has been
mental control as a function of the amount of waste be- quite dramatic. For example, in the 3M Company, the Pol-
ing generated by a process. Normally, there will be a de lution Prevention Pays (3P) Program netted $350 million
minimus level of waste generation below which the regu- for their U.S. plants from 1976 through 1987 while reduc-
lations require only minimal governmental oversight, that ing waste generation by more than 425,000 tons per year.