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In this paper, we report on the economic and environmental issues associated with a pyrolysis plant for processing sugarcane residues. The analyses consider four scenarios: (i) raw sugarcane bagasse (SCB), (ii) raw sugarcane trash (SCT) and acid-leached (iii) sugarcane bagasse (L-SCB) and (iv) sugarcane trash (L-SCT). The systems were studied by integrating a comprehensive mathematical model and experimental data. The environmental impact assessment was performed using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, including agriculture and sugar industry stages into the system boundaries. The results demonstrate that the process economy heavily depends on the bio-oil composition, yield, feedstock cost, and leaching conditions. Bio-oil from L-SCT and L-SCB contained more than 30 wt%. levoglucosan, which made it a candidate to produce fermentable sugars or other valuable chemicals instead of being burnt in low-efficiency boilers. The unitary cost of bio-oil produced from L-SCT (0.89 USD/L) and L-SCB (0.75 USD/L) was below that obtained for raw biomass, even when the Total Investment Costs behaved differently. The environmental impacts, expressed in damage categories, associated with L-SCB and L-SCT, were nearly 86% higher than for SCB and SCT. The highest impact could be attributed to the citric acid (CA) production chain, biomass transport, and harvesting operations.

This paper investigates the effects of environmental policy on environmental conditions resulting from China's accession to the WTO. We estimate environmental technological efficiency under both weak and strong disposability assumptions and use the difference to calculate the pollution abatement cost (PAC). We then undertake Tobit regression analysis on several explanatory variables, including dummies for different time periods and regions. Generally, our findings show that China's accession to the WTO did not guarantee better environmental conditions even though China adopted stronger regulations to meet the higher standards. In particular, the eastern region does not seem to be strictly regulated. These interesting results may be partly attributable to China's need to attract foreign investment and may represent a case in which institutional regulations are not always effective in practice.

Utilization of heterogeneous catalyst in the biodiesel production process can minimize the cost of separation process and subsequently reduce the biodiesel price. This study aims at developing a low-priced heterogeneous catalyst CaO/SiO2 prepared from cheap and abundant wastes of eggshell and peat clay for the production of biodiesel from wasted cooking oil. CaO catalyst was capable to produce biodiesel with the yield of 78%. The presence of silica as a support generated from waste of peat clay improved the biodiesel yield to 91%. The optimum reaction time was 60 min and the biodiesel yield increased with temperature. A reaction mechanism during transesterification process was proposed based upon the characterization analysis. The mechanism suggested that the silica contributed in the esterification reaction and the CaO played a positive role in biodiesel production via transesterification. The kinetic study confirmed the proposed mechanism. The pre-exponential factor (A) and activation energy (Ea) were 5.44 × 108 min−1 and 66.27 kJ/mol. The proposed reaction mechanism and kinetic study lead to an essential step of biodiesel production for further research development or application at a larger scale.

The (co-)pyrolysis of textile dyeing sludge and spent mushroom substrate was conducted to characterize their thermal behaviors and by-products. The devolatilization of textile dyeing sludge mainly occurred between 150 and 500 °C, while the decomposition of inorganic matter as well as the secondary cracking of coke and tar happened between 500 and 1000 °C. The addition of spent mushroom substrate increased the release rate at the devolatilization stage of textile dyeing sludge and their blends due to its higher volatiles content. The enhanced co-pyrolysis performance occurred mainly at the high temperature. The melting of inorganic matter was enhanced with the temperature rise but weakened with the addition of spent mushroom substrate. Sulfur mainly existed as sulfate in textile dyeing sludge and as organic sulfur in spent mushroom substrate. With the temperature rise, nitrogen-containing compounds formed more stable compounds. Spent mushroom substrate promoted the formation of nitrogen oxides by converting nitrogen to an inactive form. Sulfates were decomposed at high temperatures partially turning into sulfide. 30% spent mushroom substrate increased the relative sulfate content at 800 °C and fixed sulfur into inorganic compounds. The relative contents of aromatics, and nitrogen-containing compounds rose in the bio-oils, whereas alkanes fell with the elevated temperature. Spent mushroom substrate enhanced the formation of aromatics and reduced the yields of nitrogen-containing compounds, and acidic volatiles. The co-pyrolysis appeared to improve the bio-oil quality and the pyrolytic performance of textile dyeing sludge.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) provides holistic information on systems including the trade-offs between environmental impacts and the drivers of such impacts. Coupling life cycle assessment with a decision analysis (DA) method can help ensure that a life cycle assessment is focused on pertinent decision performance measures. In this paper, a framework integrating life cycle assessment with a decision analysis method to enhance the application of life cycle assessment is presented with a real-world case study of developing a material inclusion criterion for sustainable electronics standards. The proposed DA-LCA framework is a five-step process that tracks the flow of information between the steps of decision analysis and life cycle assessment. The case study considered the level of post-consumer-recycled or biobased content in laptop enclosures. Elicitation with a mock stakeholder panel was used to structure a means-ends network and create a utility-based influence diagram to link changes in material inclusion to environmental objectives using life cycle impact scores. Unlike typical life cycle assessment, the decision analysis approach allows for explicit incorporation of non-environmental factors and better constrains product options. Using this approach, the optimum decision for a possible range of 0–30% material content is 5% or 10%, depending on weighting. The DA-LCA framework can provide a blueprint for placing life cycle assessment results in context for decision-makers.

Urban mining has been promoted globally in order to recover secondary resources. In this paper, a bibliometric and visual analysis on urban mining related research articles collected from the Web of Science (WOS) database between 1993 and 2018 was conducted. The results show that in total 277 publications were published in 108 journals. Waste management, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Resources Conservation & Recycling were the top three most productive journals. 501 authors published their urban mining related papers and the top three most productive authors are Krook J, Hogland W, and Fellner J. Based on co-citation cluster analysis, the intellectual bases and research hot topics on urban mining were analyzed. The co-citation network was divided into 7 clusters, including enhanced landfill mining, metal recycling, e-waste, urban mining, landfill mining, metal stocks, and GIS. Finally, keywords burst detection was conducted to track the hot topics and research trend. The hot topics have switched from recycling, metal stock, and life cycle assessment to waste electrical and electronic equipment. This study provides a research landscape and future research directions of urban mining research so that future researchers can identify their research topics and partners.

Waste prevention assessments aim at the systematic identification, evaluation and implementation of waste prevention opportunities. Furthermore, an assessment should initiate an ongoing waste prevention programme catalysing the corporate effort in achieving environmental improvements in its operations. To achieve success, the assessment procedure should be tailored to company characteristics, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. This paper describes how we conducted a waste prevention assessment at a foundry. This case study is used to elaborate on the success factors that should be borne in mind if one wishes to initiate a system of continuous environmental improvement. These are: achieving visible waste prevention benefits; organizing a capable and motivated project team; generating new insights; and introducing a preventive environmental care system.

The mission of the Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory is to advance the understanding, development and application of engineering solutions for the prevention or reduction of risks from environmental contamination. This mission is accomplished through basic and applied research studies, engineering technology evaluations, new process developments and demonstration studies. This paper provides an overview of the ongoing pollution prevention research that supports this mission.

In 1987 the Italian Parliament allocated resources for the promotion of ‘the redesign of products and processes, in order to make them more compatible with the environment’. In the five years since this Waste Management Act (L441/87), little has been achieved. The aim of this paper is to discuss constraints and perspectives of Italian cleaner production strategies, and to single out the first significant results achieved by some industrial sectors.

The promotion of cleaner production has to take possible green consumption patterns into account. The synergetic relations between green products, their production and related consumption patterns are examined in this paper so as to set out a course of action for a better and sustainable environment. The first part of this paper looks into the green consumption-production relations, followed by an analytical account of the way in which green consumption is being promoted. The standardization of green products and the related production processes that went along with the differentiated consumption patterns are discussed. This paper ends with an argument that green consumption must be correlated with green production.

In many areas, government is moving towards self-regulation or marketplace regulation of corporate environmental activity. One such opportunity, under the US securities laws, is quite promising but has not been developed to its potential. The paper explores the requirements for corporate disclosure of environmental liabilities, compliance costs and related matters. It examines the extent of authority which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has under the US securities laws and the policy choices faced by the SEC in exercising that authority. The paper concludes that the implementation of disclosure requirements is not serving a valuable informational function for investors. Changes are recommended to make the requirements more responsive to investor needs, consistent with the SEC's view of the statutory framework.

This paper explores the practical application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to product system development. While life cycle assessment methods have been studied and demonstrated extensively over the last two decades, their application to product design and development has not been critically addressed. Many organizational and operational factors limit the integration of the three LCA components (inventory analysis, impact assessment and improvement assessment) with product development. Design of the product system can be considered a synthesis of individual decisions and choices made by the design team, which ultimately shape the system's environmental profile. The environmental goal of life cycle design is to minimize the aggregate environmental impacts associated with the product system. Appropriate environmental information must be supplied to decision makers throughout each stage of the development process to achieve this goal. LCA can serve as a source of this information, but informational requirements can vary as the design moves from its conceptual phase, where many design choices are possible, to its detailed design and implementation. Streamlined approaches and other tools, such as design checklists, are essential. The practical use of this tool in product development also depends on the nature and complexity of the product system (e.g. new vs. established), the product development cycle (time-to-market constraints), availability of technical and financial resources, and the design approach (integrated vs. serial). These factors will influence the role and scope of LCA in product development. Effective communication and evaluation of environmental information and the integration of this information with cost, performance, cultural and legal criteria will also be critical to the success of design initiatives based on the life cycle framework. An overview of several of these design initiatives will be presented.

Ecolabelling is intended to provide a mechanism for conveying information to consumers on products within broad classes of goods which meet tight standards for environmental impact, and to manufacturers or retailers on targets for reducing environmental impact. Therefore life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to identify the most significant environmental impacts, as a basis for defining a minimum number of simple criteria for award of an ecolabel. This process introduces a number of problems which do not always aruse in other applications of LCA. This paper identifies some of the practical difficulties in carrying LCA through to ecolabel criteria, and summarizes some of the solutions being adopted. Specific areas of concern are definition of the functional unit, definition of ‘cradle’ and ‘grave’ in the context of different disposal and recycling practices throughout the European community, sourcing of raw materials, and validation, especially of imported goods.

In planning a product life cycle inventory analysis, the correct choice of methodology often depends on market information. This paper discusses a number of points in the life cycle inventory methodology (choice of product alternatives, geographical system boundaries, technological levels and co-product allocation rules) where the market aspect becomes obvious and where a disregard for these aspects may lead to serious flaws in the results.

This paper examines the minimum essential requirements that must be satisfied when a database is established for life cycle inventory calculations. It shows that the format of the database is governed by the physical requirements of the system being examined, by the need to include iterative calculations within the analysis and by the demands of the final data presentation.

This paper briefly presents the current practice for carrying out life cycle inventories, and mentions some advantages and drawbacks of a few dedicated software tools that are commercially available. A list is presented of some features that we think should be present in an ‘ideal’ life cycle analysis (LCA) software tool, after the specifications made at Ecobilan for the development of a specific tool for LCA. Some consideration is given to the technical difficulties involved, and the benefits that could be expected from the implementation of such features.

Current attempts for sustainable-focused smart community evaluation have failed to make significant advancements, and quantitative analysis for sustainable development is still a major challenge in China. In recent years, smart community evaluation (SCE) for sustainable development has attracted considerable attentions. Government decision-makers can make it easier to stimulate household sustainable consumption by conducting SCE. This paper develops a combined analytical framework that will assist in the process of multi-source data integration and uncertain reasoning of SCE. This framework is used to combine quantitative metrics and subjective judgment with evidential reasoning approach, and this frarmework can also take decision makers’ risk preferences into consideration using prospect theory. Four urban communities are evaluated by the proposed framework to demonstrate its applicability and effectiveness.

The Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated assessments of the pollution potential associated with the chemistry of chemical manufacturing processes in its review of pre-manufacture notices submitted by manufacturers of chemicals not on the Toxic Substances Control Act Inventory. The objectives of the assessments are to: (1) achieve pollution prevention by determining whether the process chemistry of a manufacturing process has significant raw material utilization inefficiencies, especially in terms of the generation of toxic substances in the waste streams, prior to the use of any control technology; (2) indicate, where possible, the causes for the inefficiencies and associated waste products; and (3) suggest possible approaches for reducing the use or generation of toxic substances. The rationale for such assessments is based on the idea that, as the use or generation of toxic substances is reduced or eliminated, the potential for exposure and releases, and therefore the risk, is correspondingly reduced. The methodology used in the assessments is described in this paper.

Over the last two years Stenum GmbH has conducted projects to minimize industrial waste and emissions at source, working with several companies involved in textiles, machine building, circuit board manufacturing, the automobile industry and the printing industry. This paper presents our experiences from recent projects with three companies, with about 200 employees each, from the textile and machine building industries within the Austrian PREPARE project, in cooperation with the Institute of Chemical Engineering, Graz University of Technology and the Institute for Ecological Economical Research (IOW) in Vienna. The size and structure of these companies is typical of the Austrian industry. In all, the companies' hazardous waste could be reduced by at least 50%, and big savings arising from small technological or organizational changes could be realized. The reasons why these changes had not been found earlier were: lack of time on the part of staff; no systematic approach towards waste and emission problems; lack of information about which technologies are available in the market; and lack of clearly responsibilities for coping with environmental problems.

This paper aims at specifying the relation between economic transition and the environment, in particular emission reduction. The paper proceeds with a hypothetical analysis of the link between economic growth, transition and the environment. Three stages of transition are distinguished, based on different combinations of economic progress and emission of polluting gasses. Next, a descriptive analysis of the present emission and production patterns is presented, providing a first rough test of the hypothetical relation between economic transition and emissions. The paper concludes with prospects for emission patterns and efficient restructuring of, in particular, the energy sector.

This paper is a result of an initiative taken by the Environmental Council in the country of Storstrom, Denmark. In 1987 it was decided to give priority to the environmental department so it became possible to establish cooperation with companies in the country. Interaction was with companies fulfilling the Environmental Act or working towards integrated pollution control. The article gives the preliminary results of this work. This became a very important benchmark for the use of cleaner production in Denmark.

In the last 5 years, local, state and federal governments in the USA have made increased efforts to help small and medium-sized manufacturers solve environmental problems, particularly through pollution prevention. While these programmes provide useful services to firms, they have significant limitations, including their small size, the inhibiting effects of their close ties to regulatory agencies, and their lack of integration with manufacturing technical assistance programmes. The paper proposes a new model for pollution prevention technical assistance. These new approaches rely in large part on integrating the mission of pollution prevention into a variety of industry-based organizations. Widespread adoption of these approaches by these organizations could significantly improve the ability of small and medium-sized firms to prevent pollution.

Cleaner production (CP) working methods should facilitate the search for feasible CP options and contribute to their on-going implementation in a company. Over the past decade, numerous working methods have been developed in order to cater for specific segments of industry. This paper describes, compares and analyses the core components of six Dutch working methods to develop a framework for CP methodologies, to draft guidelines for the selection of an appropriate working method for a certain industry, and to identify areas which require additional methodology development. A division is proposed between four types of CP working methods: indicators, scan, pre-assessment and assessment. Each of these has its strengths and weaknesses, which calls for a careful selection of the working method, which in turn could be based on size of the company, material- and energy-intensity of the production, and complexity of the production processes. This comparative evaluation further proves that the working methods are still weak in stimulating the corporate transition process from ‘end-ofpipe’ to CP thinking and acting. It is tentatively concluded that an ‘assessment’ is superior in identifying comparatively radical environmental improvements (‘innovations’) as well as in fostering the integration of CP into the daily operation and management of a company. The use of simplified working methods in selected industries, is, however, justified given their ability to contribute to the implementation of relatively obvious CP options.

This paper examines some of the contributions by the public and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to the promotion of clean production. It examines the need for public participation within the ‘precautionary approach’, the benefits of actively disseminating company emission and toxic use data to local communities and the importance of international NGO networking and campaigning. It also raises the importance of labour and Third World NGO participation in achieving environmentally and socially sustainable communities. Finally, some policy recommendations are made to increase public participation.

This paper introduces a bottom-up approach towards sustainability which is called the Island approach. The basic assumption of ‘Islands of Sustainability’ is that development towards sustainability can be introduced starting from small sustainable regions. An Island is an area where sustainability is reached locally. Key points to create a sustainable region are communication activities, such as exchange of matter, energy, information, culture, capital and persons within the regional network and with the environment. One of the main theses is that sustainability is linked to the complexity of the regional network. The intensity, the speed and the comprehensive of internal and external interactions, as well as the connectedness of the regional network, have to be changed in order to reach local sustainability. Relations between different approaches such as the Cleaner Production approach, the Industrial Ecology approach and the Island approach are investigated. It is assumed that a combination of these approaches will lead to sustainability, which might not be the case with one approach in isolation. All concepts are based on the new Network Paradigm, which is a reduction of the holistic world view. Cooperation on different hierarchical levels, from the interfirm level up to the interregional level, becomes an important part of behaviour. Networks, such as information networks or matter-flow networks, are introduced and become most important with regard to sustainability.

This paper reviews the growing interaction between (community) environmental concerns and environmental care in the chemical industry in The Netherlands in the past few decades. Under the influence of community concerns in about 1970, the Dutch authorities developed safety and environmental regulations and standards. This, however, was not the starting point for structural environmental care. Its starting point is believed to be the Bhopal disaster in 1984, which led to the ‘Responsible Care’ initiative. Since then environmental policies, programmes, management systems and standards were developed by the chemical industry as well as the government. Experience with safety and quality management have helped to effectively and efficiently implement environmental care in the chemical industry in The Netherlands as is illustrated in one example. From this it is clear that environmental care is part of an integral quality process that requires commitment throughout the organization. By applying quality management concepts and tools and approaching the organization as a learning organization, further improvement in environmental care can be realized, achieving less emissions and waste and less energy consumption at much lower costs than traditional end-of-pipe pollution control treatments. The role of the authorities may change from prescribing, permit-granting bodies, towards consultants, who join the companies in their efforts to reduce the environmental effect of their operations, balanced with further economic growth.

This paper summarizes the results and experiences of the first phase of the Dutch PRIMA project (project for the introduction of ecologically sound assortments in the retail trade). PRIMA is a research and demonstration project aiming at Environmental Improvement of Retail Assortments (EIRA)1. Explanatory practical experiments in cooperation with three multiple-store retail companies are the core of PRIMA. These companies are: Gamma (construction materials), Peek & Cloppenburg (clothes), and Vroom & Dreesmann (stationery department of a department store). These practical experiments have been used for the development of a generalized working methodology for retail companies. Furthermore, an initial assessment has been made of the opportunities and constraints for mediation by retailers between demand and supply of environmentally improved products.

This paper deals with the experience gained with a new type of Cleaner Production Program called ‘ECOPROFIT-Graz…-dissemination program’. The consultants, coming from both the local department and the university, cooperate with enterprises in a relaxed atmosphere. They come together in workshops, held once a month over nearly a year. A manual shows how the enterprises can perform a Pollution Prevention Program of their own.

The paper focuses upon the organization of a federal state-funded pollution prevention project in the Styrian industry. The project includes 13 companies from the textile, pulp and paper, machine building, wood working and printed circuit board manufacturing industries, covering most of the sectors and sizes in the Styrian industry. It started in January 1994 and will last for one year. It will demonstrate the possibilities of pollution prevention and the need for further research work. This project will make use of the methods and tools that were refined in the Austrian Prepare project. As a first step, a systematic balance of all the inputs and outputs of a company is made, after which the weak points and inefficiencies of material and energy use are identified and the options for improvements, both economical and ecological, are defined. Consequently, modifications in products and production lead to a situation with less waste and emissions. The preliminary lessons from these projects are presented: as a rule, the utilities (consumption of process materials and water, cleaning, energy, preparatory and finishing steps) are treated as black boxes and usually represent a considerable optimization potential. In these areas especially there is usually a lack of information and coordination as well as a need for a systematic and comprehensive approach. Leadership in the company and creative consultants are needed for starting lasting successful pollution prevention projects.

Lean manufacturing has proven its positive effects on operational and economic performance in multiple cases. However, growing consciousness regarding sustainability and the Triple Bottom Line approach requires an integral performance based on three main goals: economic growth, environmental preservation, and social responsibility. Given the relevance that lean manufacturing has acquired, it is important to understand its effects on sustainability. Thus, this paper presents a literature review, discussing the most relevant findings of research in this sphere, and identifying current trends concerning the effect of lean manufacturing on sustainable performance. A total of 69 papers were reviewed, following a five-step synthesis methodology. Common and contrasting results were categorized according to each pillar of the triple bottom line, which allowed for the identification of not only growing research trends, but also of knowledge gaps. Unlike previous literature reviews, this study approaches lean manufacturing's effect on performance from a multidimensional point of view, accounting for all three triple bottom line pillars. It contributes on the identification of the main current research trends, which favors branches: one which supports complementary interactions between lean manufacturing and all three pillars of the triple bottom line, and the other, which evidences trade-offs among them. According to the results of the review, knowledge gaps on the matter remain, which require further research.

Currently waste and emission prevention projects with excellent and promising results are carried out within laboratories and offices of Utrecht University in The Netherlands. This short paper will focus on how these projects evolved and their results. In particular it will discuss the pilot project on pollution prevention in research laboratories, the method, results and solutions. Furthermore the impact and role of these pilot projects to reach long-term environmental care and sustainable development will be discussed.

During the past five to ten years, increased public and government attention has been drawn to the harmful effects on the environment of business and industry. Consequently, legislation and encouragement in the form of incentives have acted to pressurize industry to review its practices and processes in connection with their effects on the environment. As a result, environmental technology as a specialist area of knowledge and skill has emerged. National capacities, particularly in scientific education and training, need to be strengthened. This will enable governments, employers and workers to attain their environmental and development objectives by facilitating the transfer and assimilation of new environmentally sound, socially acceptable and appropriate technology and know-how. With this development there is an increasing need for specialists in this field, for technologists in other areas to be able to put into practice environmental applications, for assessors of the environmental impacts of specific technological developments and for general managers with a knowledge and understanding of environmental management. Thus, there is now an increasing need for environmental education and training in clean production to be applied to a vast array of industrial processes and applications. This paper will: 1. • review environmental technology and environmental management in relation to sustainable development; 2. • describe the basic components of environmental management systems in relation to environmental technology; 3. • examine the tools available for monitoring and assessment (e.g. technology assessments, environmental impact analysis, environmental auditing, etc.) and their training requirements; 4. • access the training requirements of chief executives, management and the workforce.

This paper is a summary of research undertaken for Friends of the Earth in which two international environmental technology databases were evaluated. Once the importance of cleaner technology to the attainment of sustainable development is established, the databases are assessed in terms of their contribution to both the development and diffusion of cleaner technology. Both the UNEP's ICPIC and the EC's NETT aim to overcome a major obstacle to the adoption of clean technologies: lack of knowledge. However, they are found to do this in two distinct ways, with ICPIC aiming to raise awareness and NETT seeking to bring together potential users and suppliers. Serious doubts are raised concerning the capacity of these initiatives to achieve their aims, given a combination of very small user bases and inappropriate delivery technology. However, the heart of the problem appears to be a lack of demand for information on cleaner technologies. Thus, governments and international institutions are urged to integrate such initiatives with policy measures that can generate demand for this information (e.g. regulation and economic incentives). This is in contrast to current practice which has seen information provision initiatives established in isolation because they are a relatively easy and high profile option.

This paper explores the potential size of the export market for cleaner industrial technology from developed to developing countries. Technology for cleaner industrial production already exists and is part of the export market of electrical and non-electrical machinery, chemicals and services sectors from developed to developing countries. Even so, not much is known about the size of the market. The literature on this topic is scanty. This paper compares estimated values of the exports of end-of-pipe and cleaner process technologies (fewer residuals per unit of output) from developed to developed countries. The value of the exports of end-of-pipe technologies is extracted from an OECD report and is estimated to be US $6.7 billion in 1990. The value of exports of cleaner industrial technology is an indirect estimate based on the embedded share of cleaner proceses in the export of electrical and non-electrical machinery for a selected group of OECD countries. The export of these two sectors amounted to US $132.5 billion in 1990 (47.6% of the total manufacturing). If only 5% of the value of the export of these two sectors alone had been embedded cleaner technology, it would have been equal to the value of the export of end-of-pipe technology. The paper proceeds to compare, in a similar fashion, the relative size of the value of exports of end-of-pipe and cleaner industrial process technologies from the Netherlands and Denmark to developing countries. This paper concludes with a few recommendations on how to expand the export market for cleaner industrial technology.

The United States Postal Service was faced with increased regulatory and organizational pressures caused by increasing environmental requirements and a massive reorganization in 1992. Moreover, states and local governments were granted authority to impose fines and penalties on government facilities. The Postal Service responded to these challenges by implementing a new organization with the environmental function placed in an operations portion of the organization and by placing the environmental responsibility on line management. This paper describes the implementation of a strategy of leadership and compliance which was developed by a cross-function team and endorsed by senior management. The strategy focuses on ten target areas including pollution prevention/recycling, hazardous chemicals, paint spray operations and regulatory outreach.

This paper describes a methodology for the development of ideal eco-products. It focuses on complex technical products such as computers, cars and washing machines. For these products, the exclusive use of life cycle assessment results as the only input for the consideration of eco-aspects in the design process is not sufficient. Other instruments, such as guidelines or checklists as well as suitable eco-design methodologies, should also be applied. One of those methodologies is the ‘ideal-eco-product approach’. This approach includes two phases. In the first phase, ‘extreme product versions’ are developed which are ideal in respect to one specific type of environmental impact, e.g. one product which is ideal for remanufacturing or one which has minimal waste generation. In the second phase, a unification of these ‘extreme versions’ is carried out, which leads to the best compromise or to an ‘ideal eco-product’.

More and more researches and practitioners are seeing environmental questions as strategically important for a growing number of industries. A new focus on environmental damage, created by development, production and consumption of products, is creating a demand on industries to use a proactive approach in order to utilize the advantages of environmentally based business possibilities. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief description of the Product Ecology Project, a Swedish industrial environmental project, and to penetrate two areas of importance: (1) the usage of life cycle assessment, and (2) the importance of organizational aspects in a technologically driven process.

This paper explores some environmental concepts and initiatives which influence the content of the new concept of sustainable product development.

Experiences from the implementation of the approach of ‘cleaner products’ or ‘environmentally sound product development’ in general, and from the use in this process of computer tools for life cycle assessments in particular, are covered in this paper. The work has been done within The Swedish Product Ecology Project, and its joint Nordic continuation Sustainable Product Development. The projects aim at integrating environmental optimization in product design and product development by developing user-friendly computer tools for calculating the total environmental impact of products from cradle to grave. The Product Ecology Project started in 1992 and finished in 1994. The Nordic Sustainable Product Development Project will be reported in 1995.

Mental models are a feature used by the human brain to handle complexity. In the environmental context, mental models are both useful to understand and to solve problems. The paper is specifically designed to address managerial thinking. To prove a conceptual skeleton for the notion of sustainability, a simple spreadsheet model is developed to show basic patterns of resource behaviour: constant stock, constant flow, regenerative stock and combinations thereof. Self-imposed limits are a means to manage sustainability. Uncertainty and competition are shown to be dangers to sustainability. The problems with current models in mainstream managerial thinking lie first in the limits of human perception itself. Second, in the economic theory, the issue of time is not handled adequately, for example, in discounting, the treatment of free goods and information provided by the market place. Similarly, the belief that technology might solve the problems does not include dynamic considerations. The fatalist view, that environmental problems cannot be solved at all, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It can be overcome by managing both ecology and economy in a coherent way. Improved thinking tools may be derived from a systemic consideration of the environmental situation of a company or from the second law of thermodynamics. Challenges for science are the development of measurements for sustainability and an extension of economic theory to appropriate consideration of the issues ‘dynamic behaviour’ and ‘future’.

An important goal of (inter) national environmental policy is to realize a sustainable development. However, the implications of sustainability for society are not yet fully understood. This paper contributes to the interpretation and elaboration of the concept of sustainability. It outlines a procedure to measure the sustainability of production systems. The method presented in this paper is not an instant recipe to measure sustainability. However, it indicates the social and scientific barriers that are to be overcome in order to understand, elaborate and measure sustainability.

Tanzania is currently promoting the development of industry and exploitation of natural resources in an attempt to improve its economic stability. Regrettably, this development process is inevitably accompanied by environmental pollution. A survey of water, air and noise pollution is presented. Tanzania lacks the economic base and trained manpower essential for the implementation of a regulatory and corrective strategy using costly and sophisticated pollution control technology. Furthermore, the country lacks a conceptual framework, the public support, governmental motivation, legislation and regulatory infrastructure needed for effective environmental pollution management. This paper concludes with a simplified approach towards a pollution prevention strategy, including some of the important elements for an environmental pollution management system for Tanzania.

The paper describes a model for environmental quality and resource efficiency parameters to be used in evaluation of options for improvement of product systems in a life cycle and system perspective. Four main preventive strategies for product system improvements are described and discussed in the paper. (1) Reformulating user needs and requirements to the system; (2) improvement of product system performance; (3) substitution of the whole product systems or system components on different levels; (4) optimization within and between system units and components. These main strategies are discussed with respect to the structure of the product system (the domain theory), and with respect to efficiency in general. It is concluded that at present, it is not possible to make any definite rank of priorities between the different strategies, but that this should be evaluated when more systematic studies of cases are available.

Traditionally, treatment of solid waste has been given limited attention in connection with life-cycle assessments (LCAs). Often, only the amounts of solid wastes have been noted. This is unsatisfactory since treatment of solid waste, e.g. by landfilling or incineration, is an operation, requiring inputs and producing outputs, which should be described in the inventory of an LCA, in parallel to other operations. However, there are difficulties in describing emissions from solid waste treatments and there is a need for development of such methods. In this paper an approach for describing emissions from incineration and landfilling is outlined. Methodological questions concerning the time-frame and allocation principles are discussed. Methods for estimating potential emissions from landfilling of municipal solid waste and industrial wastes are suggested. The methods are used for calculating potential emissions from landfilling of some typical wastes. These emissions are compared with the emissions from other stages in the life cycle for some materials and wastes. it is shown that the potential emissions from landfilling are, for some products, of importance for the final results. Hence, if emissions from landfilling are neglected, or underestimated, results and conclusions in an LCA may be misleading.

This paper addresses the issue of stimulating diffusion of pollution abatement and prevention technologies, by analysing the electroplating industry's response to environmental regulation implemented by municipal authorities in Denmark. Our study indicates that existing environmental regulations have a significant effect in reducing the level of heavy metal discharges and on inducing the regulated firms to respond innovatively to the environmental demands.

Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a major concern for industry. In order to reduce these, and to apply prevention options, it is necessary to accurately quantify them. A reliable methodology for such quantification does not yet exist. This paper presents an overview of methods currently available, together with some shortcomings. It urges further work to develop reliable techniques, and suggests possible areas for future work.

Microalgae can play a key role in overcoming the shortage of biomass in the European bioeconomy. This study evaluates the potential of using microalgal residues from the production of lipopeptides as a feedstock for polylactic acid. In order to investigate the environmental potential of the proposed multi-output product system, eight different studies on microalgae production and application as well as 12 investigations on polylactic acid production and disposal were analysed to identify environmental strengths and weaknesses. A pedigree matrix was developed to assess the significance of the findings of each study. The results suggest that microalgae could potentially reduce several of the major environmental hot spots of polylactic acid production. A high improvement potential was found for land use and terrestrial ecotoxicity, which could result in environmental advantages of microalgae-PLA blends over conventional plastics. For eutrophication, human toxicity, photochemical oxidant formation and acidification lower amelioration potentials were identified. For the remaining impact categories, the results showed no enhancement or even the risk of worsening the environmental performance of polylactic acid. Further research, however, is necessary to optimize the growing conditions of algal biomass and to investigate the effects of microalgae on the properties of polylactic acid.