Page 85 - Solid Waste Analysis and Minimization a Systems Approach

RELATED RESEARCH 63

Drawbacks and limitations of the study were

■ This study applied limited mathematics and no modeling to evaluate and predict
solid waste generation. Only means and variances were calculated.
■ Few insights were given on solid waste generation and limited comparisons
between business groups. The study calculated waste generation based on
floor spaces (in terms annual waste tonnages for each business group per
square foot).
■ Waste compositions or recycling levels were not gathered or analyzed; only
total solid waste generation per year was determined. This significantly narrows
the scope of the study and limits its benefit to waste measurement and
management.
■ Normalizing the data based on square footage of facilities may be misleading
because unutilized space is included in the figure; some companies may be more
efficient with space utilization than others. Also some companies may ware-
house material whereas others may not; this will also significantly skew the
numbers.
■ Waste reduction or recycling was not included as part of this study. A financial or
cost dimension was not included in this study.
■ Limited sample size consisting only of Palm Beach County businesses was
analyzed.

As with the CIWMB study, this study provided a useful baseline and a simple esti-
mation tool for solid waste generation rates of individual Palm Beach County compa-
nies. This study and the CIWMB study are the only solid waste estimation or predic-
tion analyses conducted on individual company generation. Both studies, although
offering some contributions to the field contains major deficiencies.

2.10.4 MEASURING ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE
OF INDUSTRY PROJECT

Completed in July 2000, research was conducted to correlate individual company envi-
ronmental performance to several indicator variables for six industries in the European
Union (Science and Technology Policy Research Center, University of Sussex, United
Kingdom, 2001). The name of the project was Measuring Environmental Performance
of Industry (MEPI). Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of
Sussex, United Kingdom, coordinated the project.
The key objectives of the research project were to

■ Develop quantitative indices for the environmental performance of six industrial
sectors by collecting environmental and financial data for a large number of
European firms. The sectors studied were the electricity, pulp and paper, fertilizer,
printing, textile finishing, and computer manufacturing industries.
■ Analyze and determine indices to deepen understanding of the causes of changes in
industrial environmental performance.