Waste Management

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal, managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, theenvironment or aesthetics. Waste management is a distinct practice from resource recoverywhich focuses on delaying the rate of consumption of natural resources. All wastes materials, whether they are solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive fall within the remit of waste management Waste management practices can differ for developed and developing nations, for urban andrural areas, and for residential and industrial producers. Management of non-hazardous waste residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility oflocal government authorities, while management for non-hazardous commercial andindustrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator subject to local, national or international controls.
[edit]Methods [edit]Landfill Main article: Landfill

of disposal

Landfill operation in Hawaii.

A landfill compaction vehicle in action.

Spittelau incineration plant in Vienna

Disposal of waste in a landfill involves burying the waste, and this remains a common practice in most countries. Landfills were often established in abandoned or unused quarries,mining voids or borrow pits. A properly designed and well-managed landfill can be a hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of waste materials. Older, poorly designed or poorly managed landfills can create a number of adverse environmental impacts such as wind-blown litter, attraction of vermin, and generation of liquid leachate. Another common product of landfills is gas (mostly composed of methane and carbon dioxide), which is produced as organic waste breaks down anaerobically. This gas can create odor problems, kill surface vegetation, and is a greenhouse gas. Design characteristics of a modern landfill include methods to contain leachate such as clay or plastic lining material. Deposited waste is normally compacted to increase its density and stability, and covered to prevent attracting vermin (such as mice or rats). Many landfills also have landfill gas extraction systems installed to extract the landfill gas. Gas is pumped out of the landfill using perforated pipes and flared off or burnt in a gas engine to generateelectricity. [edit]Incineration Main article: Incineration Incineration is a disposal method in which solid organic wastes are subjected to combustion so as to convert them into residue and gaseous products. This method is useful for disposal of residue of both solid waste management and solid residue from waste water management.This process reduces the volumes of solid waste to 20 to 30 percent of the original volume. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are sometimes described as "thermal treatment". Incinerators convert waste materials into heat,gas, steam and ash. Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals and on a large scale by industry. It is used to dispose of solid, liquid and gaseous waste. It is recognized as a practical method of disposing of certain hazardous waste materials (such as biologicalmedical waste). Incineration is a controversial method of waste disposal, due to issues such as emission of gaseous pollutants.

Incineration is common in countries such as Japan where land is more scarce, as these facilities generally do not require as much area as landfills. Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) are broad terms for facilities that burn waste in a furnace or boiler to generate heat, steam or electricity. Combustion in an incinerator is not always perfect and there have been concerns about pollutants in gaseous emissions from incinerator stacks. Particular concern has focused on some very persistent organics such as dioxins, furans,PAHs which may be created which may have serious environmental consequences. [edit]Recycling Main article: Recycling

Steel crushed and baled for recycling

Recycling is a resource recovery practice that refers to the collection and reuse of waste materials such as empty beverage containers. The materials from which the items are made can be reprocessed into new products. Material for recycling may be collected separately from general waste using dedicated bins and collection vehicles are sorted directly from mixed waste streams and are known as kerb-side recycling, it requires the owner of the waste to separate it into various different bins (typically wheelie bins) prior to its collection. The most common consumer products recycled include aluminium such as beverage cans,copper such as wire, steel food and aerosol cans, old steel furnishings or equipment,polyethylene and PET bottles, glass bottles and jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers, magazines and light paper, and corrugated fiberboard boxes. PVC, LDPE, PP, and PS (see resin identification code) are also recyclable. These items are usually composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to recycle into new products. The recycling of complex products (such as computers and electronic equipment) is more difficult, due to the additional dismantling and separation required. The type of material accepted for recycling varies by city and country. Each city and country have different recycling programs in place that can handle the various types of recyclable materials. However, certain variation in acceptance is reflected in the resale value of the material once it is reprocessed. [edit]Sustainability The management of waste is a key component in a business' ability to maintaining ISO14001 accreditation. Companies are encouraged to improve their environmental efficiencies each year by eliminating waste through resource recovery practices, which are sustainability-related activities. One way

to do this is by shifting away from waste management to resource recovery practices like recycling materials such as glass, food scraps, paper and cardboard, plastic bottles and metal. [edit]Biological reprocessing Main articles: Composting, Home composting, Anaerobic digestion, and Microbial fuel cell

An active compost heap.

Recoverable materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps, and paper products, can be recovered through composting and digestion processes todecompose the organic matter. The resulting organic material is then recycled as mulch orcompost for agricultural or landscaping purposes. In addition, waste gas from the process (such as methane) can be captured and used for generating electricity and heat (CHP/cogeneration) maximising efficiencies. The intention of biological processing in waste management is to control and accelerate the natural process of decomposition of organic matter. (See resource recovery). [edit]Energy recovery Main article: Waste-to-energy

Anaerobic digestion component ofLübeck mechanical biological treatment plant in Germany, 2007

The energy content of waste products can be harnessed directly by using them as a direct combustion fuel, or indirectly by processing them into another type of fuel. Thermal treatment ranges from using waste as a fuel source for cooking or heating and the use of the gas fuel (see above), to fuel for boilers to generate steam and electricity in a turbine. Pyrolysis andgasification are two related forms of thermal

treatment where waste materials are heated to high temperatures with limited oxygen availability. The process usually occurs in a sealed vessel under high pressure. Pyrolysis of solid waste converts the material into solid, liquid and gas products. The liquid and gas can be burnt to produce energy or refined into other chemical products (chemical refinery). The solid residue (char) can be further refined into products such as activated carbon. Gasification and advanced Plasma arc gasification are used to convert organic materials directly into a synthetic gas (syngas) composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The gas is then burnt to produce electricity and steam. An alternative to pyrolisis is high temperature and pressure supercritical water decomposition (hydrothermal monophasic oxidation). [edit]Resource

recovery

Resource recovery (as opposed to waste management) uses LCA (life cycle analysis) attempts to offer alternatives to waste management. For mixed MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) a number of broad studies have indicated that administration, source separation and collection followed by reuse and recycling of the non-organic fraction and energy and compost/fertilizer production of the organic material via anaerobic digestion to be the favoured path. [edit]Avoidance

and reduction methods

Main article: Waste minimization An important method of waste management is the prevention of waste material being created, also known as waste reduction. Methods of avoidance include reuse of second-hand products, repairing broken items instead of buying new, designing products to be refillable or reusable (such as cotton instead of plastic shopping bags), encouraging consumers to avoid using disposable products (such as disposable cutlery), [1] removing any food/liquid remains from cans, packaging, ... and designing products that use less [2] material to achieve the same purpose (for example, lightweighting of beverage cans). [edit]Waste

handling and transport

Main articles: Waste collection vehicle, Dustbin, and Waste sorting

Molded plastic, wheeled waste bin inBerkshire, England

Waste collection methods vary widely among different countries and regions. Domestic waste collection services are often provided by local government authorities, or by private companies in the industry. Some areas, especially those in less developed countries, do not have a formal waste-collection system. Examples of waste handling systems include:  In Europe and a few other places around the world, a few communities use a proprietary collection system known as Envac, which conveys refuse via underground conduits using a vacuum system. Other vacuum-based solutions include the MetroTaifun single-line and ring-line systems. In Canadian urban centres curbside collection is the most common method of disposal, whereby the city collects waste and/or recyclables and/or organics on a scheduled basis. In rural areas people often dispose of their waste by hauling it to a transfer station. Waste collected is then transported to a regional landfill. In Taipei, the city government charges its households and industries for the volume of rubbish they produce. Waste will only be collected by the city council if waste is disposed in government issued rubbish bags. This policy has successfully reduced the amount of waste the city produces and increased the recycling rate. In Israel, the Arrow Ecology company has developed the ArrowBio system, which takes trash directly from collection trucks and separates organic and inorganic materials through gravitational settling, screening, and hydro-mechanical shredding. The system is capable of sorting huge volumes of solid waste, salvaging recyclables, and turning the rest into biogas and rich agricultural compost. The system is used in California, Australia, Greece, Mexico, the United Kingdom and in Israel. For example, an ArrowBio plant that has been operational at the Hiriya landfill site since December 2003 [3] serves the Tel Aviv area, and processes up to 150 tons of garbage a day.







While waste transport within a given country falls under national regulations, trans-boundary movement of waste is often subject to international treaties. A major concern to many countries in the world has been hazardous waste. The Basel Convention, ratified by 172 countries, deprecates movement of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries. The provisions of the Basel convention have been integrated into the EU waste shipment regulation. Nuclear waste, although considered hazardous, does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Basel Convention. [edit]Technologies Traditionally the waste management industry has been slow to adopt new technologies such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags, GPS and integrated software packages which enable better quality data to be collected without the use of estimation or manual data entry.     Technologies like RFID tags are now being used to collect data on presentation rates for curb-side pick-ups. Benefits of GPS tracking is particularly evident when considering the efficiency of ad hoc pick-ups (like skip bins or dumpsters) where the collection is done on a consumer request basis. Integrated software packages are useful in aggregating this data for use in optimisation of operations for waste collection operations. Rear vision cameras are commonly used for OH&S reasons and video recording devices are becoming more widely used, particularly concerning residential services.

[edit]Waste

management concepts

Diagram of the waste hierarchy.

There are a number of concepts about waste management which vary in their usage between countries or regions. Some of the most general, widely used concepts include:  Waste hierarchy - The waste hierarchy refers to the "3 Rs" reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability in terms ofwaste minimization. The waste hierarchy remains the cornerstone of most waste minimization strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste see: resource recovery. Polluter pays principle - the Polluter Pays Principle is a principle where the polluting party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With respect to waste management, this generally refers to the requirement for a waste generator to pay for appropriate disposal of the unrecoverable material.



What Is Business Environment?
Meaning: - The term Business Environment is composed of two words „Business‟ and „Environment‟. In simple terms, the state in which a person remains busy is known as Business. The word Business in its economic sense means human activities like

production, extraction or purchase or sales of goods that are performed for earning profits.

On the other hand, the word „Environment‟ refers to the aspects of surroundings. Therefore,Business Environmentmay be defined as a set of conditions – Social, Legal, Economical, Political or Institutional that are uncontrollable in nature and affects the functioning of organization. Business Environment has two components: 1. 2. External Environment Internal Environment: It includes 5 Ms i.e. man, material, money, machinery and management, usually within the control of business. Business can make changes in these factors according to the change in the functioning of enterprise. External Environment: Those factors which are beyond the control of business enterprise are included in external environment. These factors are: Government and Legal factors, Geo-Physical Factors, Political Factors, Socio-Cultural Factors, DemoGraphical 1. factors etc. It is of two Types: Environment Micro/Operating Internal Environment

2. Macro/General Environment Micro/Operating Environment: The environment which is close to business and affects its capacity to work is known as Micro or Operating Environment. It consists of Suppliers, Customers, Market Intermediaries, Competitors and Public. (1) Suppliers: – They are the persons who supply raw material and required components to the company. They must be reliable and business must have multiple suppliers i.e. they should not depend upon only one supplier.

(2) Customers: - Customers are regarded as the king of the market. Success of every business depends upon the level of their customer‟s satisfaction. Types of Customers: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) Foreigners (3) Market Intermediaries: - They work as a link between business and final consumers. (i) Middleman (ii) Marketing (iii) (iv) Physical Intermediaries (4) Competitors: - Every move of the competitors affects the business. Business has to adjust itself according to the strategies of the Competitors. (5) Public: - Any group who has actual interest in business enterprise is termed as public e.g. media and local public. They may be the users or non-users of the product. Macro/General Environment: – It includes factors that create opportunities and threats to business units. Following are the elements of Macro Environment: (1) Economic Environment: - It is very complex and dynamic in nature that keeps on changing with the change in policies or political situations. It has three elements: (i) (ii) (iii)Economic (iv) Other Economic Factors: (2) Non-Economic – Infrastructural Facilities, Banking, - Following are included in companies, money markets, capital markets etc. Environment: non-economic environment:(i) Political Environment: - It affects different business units extensively. Components: (a) (b) Political Political Belief Strength of of the Government Country Economic Economic Conditions Policies of of the Public country System Insurance Financial Agencies Intermediaries Types:Government and Other Wholesalers Retailers Industries Institutions

(c) (d) (e)

Relation Defense Centre State

with and Relationship

other Military in the

countries Policies Country

(f) Thinking Opposition Parties towards Business Unit (ii) Socio-Cultural Environment: - Influence exercised by social and cultural factors, not within the control of business, is known as Socio-Cultural Environment. These factors include: attitude of people to work, family system, caste system, religion, education, marriage etc. (iii) Technological Environment: - A systematic application of scientific knowledge to practical task is known as technology. Everyday there has been vast changes in products, services, lifestyles and living conditions, these changes must be analysed by every business unit and should adapt these changes. (iv) Natural Environment: - It includes natural resources, weather, climatic conditions, port facilities, topographical factors such as soil, sea, rivers, rainfall etc. Every business unit must look for these factors before choosing the location for their business. (v) Demographic Environment :- It is a study of perspective of population i.e. its size, standard of living, growth rate, age-sex composition, family size, income level (upper level, middle level and lower level), education level etc. Every business unit must see these features of population and recongnise their various need and produce accordingly. (vi) International Environment: - It is particularly important for industries directly depending on import or exports. The factors that affect the business are: Globalisation, Liberalisation, foreign business policies, cultural exchange. Characteristics:1. Business environment is compound in nature. 2. Business environment is constantly changing process. 3. Business environment is different for different business units. 4. It has both long term and short term impact.

5. Unlimited influence of external environment factors. 6. It is very uncertain. 7. Inter-related components. 8. It includes both internal and external environment.

Environmental Quality Management
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"EQM" redirects here. For Elite Qualifying Miles, see Frequent-flyer program. Environmental Quality Management, Inc. (EQM) is an environmental engineering and remediation company headquartered inCincinnati, Ohio that has been active in providing environmental remediation support in response to terrorist attacks, the space shuttle disaster, superfund site cleanup, hazardous chemical spills and natural disasters.

Environmental Quality Management

Environmental Quality Management was founded in 1990 by four environmental consultants in the Cincinnati suburb of Forest Park. It has grown to include 10 more offices across the United States and three subsidiaries in Serbia, Slovakia and Chicago. EQM is an environmental consulting, engineering and remediation firm that provides air, water, soil and waste clean-up and industrial hygiene. Its

services include air quality, water management, clean-up of contaminated sites, engineering and community relations. Last year, for example, EQM was awarded an eight-year contract valued at $354 million by the EPA to do emergency-response cleanup at abandoned hazardous-waste sites and respond to natural and man-made disasters in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Other recent projects include conducting air monitoring at the Dayton International Airport and a $4 million contract to remove mold at more than 200 rooms at an Air Force base in Florida. The firm, with more than $90 million in annual revenue, has been in the Top 200 list of environmental firms in the nation for many years, according to Engineering News Record. It has served several industries, including steel, cement, automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical and alternative fuels.

Sustainable development From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia See also: Sustainability

Solar power towers utilize the natural resource of theSun, and are a renewable energy source. From left: PS10and PS20 solar towers. Sustainable development (SD) refers to a mode of human development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving theenvironment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come. The term 'sustainable development' was used by theBrundtland Commission which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.".[1][2]

Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity ofnatural systems with the social challenges faced by humanity. As early as the 1970s, "sustainability" was employed to describe an economy "in equilibrium with basic ecological support systems."[3] Ecologists have pointed to The Limits to Growth,[4] and presented the alternative of a "steady state economy"[5] in order to address environmental concerns. The concept of sustainable development has in the past most often been broken out into three constituent parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and sociopolitical sustainability. More recently, it has been suggested that a more consistent analytical breakdown is to distinguish four domains of economic, ecological, political and cultural sustainability. This is consistent with the UCLG move to make 'culture' the fourth domain of sustainability.[6] (See below under the subheading 'Culture'.) Contents [hide]
 

   





1 Definition 2 Domains o 2.1 Economics o 2.2 Ecology o 2.3 Culture o 2.4 Politics 3 History of the concept 4 Environmental sustainability 5 Economic sustainability 6 Types of capital o 6.1 Market failure o 6.2 Business case 7 Sustainable agriculture o 7.1 Elements 8 Criticisms



  

8.1 Consequences o 8.2 Vagueness of the term o 8.3 Basis o 8.4 "De-growth" o 8.5 Measurability 9 See also o 9.1 Organizations and research 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links
o

[edit]Definition In 1987, the United Nations released the Brundtland Report, which included what is now one of the most widely recognised definitions: "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." [7] According to the same report, the above definition contains within it two key concepts:




the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.[7]

The United Nations 2005 World Summit Outcome Document refers to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection.[8] Based on the triple bottom line, numerous sustainability standards and certification systems have been established in recent years, in particular in the food industry.[9][10] Wellknown standards include organic, Rainforest Alliance, fair trade, UTZ Certified, Bird Friendly, and The Common Code for the Coffee Community.

The natural resource of wind powers these 5MW wind turbines on this wind farm28 km off the coast of Belgium. Indigenous peoples have argued, through various international forums such as the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Convention on Biological Diversity, that there are four pillars of sustainable development, the fourth being cultural. The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO, 2001) further elaborates the concept by stating that "... cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature”; it becomes “one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence". In this vision, cultural diversity is the fourth policy area of sustainable development. A useful articulation of the values and principles of sustainability can be found in the Earth Charter. It offers an integrated vision and definition of strong sustainability. The document, an ethical framework for a sustainable world, was developed over several years after the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and launched officially in 2000. The Charter derives its legitimacy

from the participatory process in which it was drafted, which included contributions from hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals, and from its use since 2000 by thousands of organizations and individuals that have been using the Earth Charter as an educational instrument and a policy tool. Economic Sustainability: Agenda 21 clearly identified information, integration, and participation as key building blocks to help countries achieve development that recognises these interdependent pillars. It emphasises that in sustainable development everyone is a user and provider of information. It stresses the need to change from old sectorcentered ways of doing business to new approaches that involve crosssectoral co-ordination and the integration of environmental and social concerns into all development processes. Furthermore, Agenda 21 emphasises that broad public participation in decision making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving sustainable development.[11] According to Hasna Vancock, sustainability is a process which tells of a development of all aspects of human life affecting sustenance. It means resolving the conflict between the various competing goals, and involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity famously known as three dimensions (triple bottom line) with the resultant vector being technology, hence it is a continually evolving process; the 'journey' (the process of achieving sustainability) is of course vitally important, but only as a means of getting to the destination (the desired future state). However, the 'destination' of sustainability is not a fixed place in the normal sense that we understand destination. Instead, it is a set of wishful characteristics of a future system.[12] The concept has included notions of weak sustainability, strong sustainability, deep ecology, and just sustainability. "Just sustainability" offers a socially just conception of sustainability. Just sustainability effectively addresses what has been called the 'equity deficit' of environmental sustainability (Agyeman, 2005:44).[13] It is “the egalitarian conception of sustainable development" (Jacobs, 1999:32).[14] It generates a more nuanced definition of sustainable development: “the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of

supporting ecosystems” (Agyeman, et al., 2003:5).[15] This conception of sustainable development focuses equally on four conditions: improving our quality of life and well-being; on meeting the needs of both present and future generations (intra- and intergenerational equity); on justice and equity in terms of recognition (Schlosberg, 1999),[16] process, procedure and outcome and on the need for us to live within ecosystem limits (also calledone planet living) (Agyeman, 2005:92).[17] Open-source appropriate technology has been proposed as an approach for reaching just sustainable development.[18][19] Green development is generally differentiated from sustainable development in that Green development prioritizes what its proponents consider to be environmental sustainability over economic and cultural considerations. Proponents of Sustainable Development argue that it provides a context in which to improve overall sustainability where cutting edge Green Development is unattainable. For example, a cutting edge treatment plant with extremely high maintenance costs may not be sustainable in regions of the world with fewer financial resources. An environmentally ideal plant that is shut down due to bankruptcy is obviously less sustainable than one that is maintainable by the community, even if it is somewhat less effective from an environmental standpoint. However, this view depends on whether one determines that it is the development (the plant) which needs to be sustainable, or whether it is the human-nature ecology (the environmental conditions) in which the plant exists which should be sustainable. It follows, then, that an operational but heavily polluting plant may be judged as actually 'less sustainable' than having no plant at all. Sustainability educator Michael Thomas Needham referred to 'Sustainable Development' "as the ability to meet the needs of the present while contributing to the future generations‟ needs."[20] There is an additional focus on the present generations' responsibility to improve the future generations' life by restoring the previous ecosystem damage and resisting to contribute to further ecosystem damage. [edit]Domains [edit]Economics

Circles of Sustainability image (assessment - Melbourne 2011) The domain of 'economics' is fundamental to considerations of sustainable development, however there has been considerable criticism of the tendency to use the three-domain model of the triple bottom line: economics, environment and social. This approach is challenged to the extent that it treats the economy as the master domain, or as a domain that exists outside of the social; it treats the environment as a world of natural metrics; and it treats the social as a miscellaneous collection of extra things that do not fit into the economic or environmental domains (see the section on Economic sustainability below). In the alternative Circles of Sustainability approach, the economic domain is defined as the practices and meanings associated with the production, use, and management of resources, where the concept of „resources‟ is used in the broadest sense of that word. [edit]Ecology The domain of 'ecology' has been difficult to resolve because it too has a social dimension. Some research activities start from the definition of green development to argue that the environment is a combination of nature and culture. However, this has the effect of making the domain model unwieldy if culture is to be considered a domain in its own right (see below). Others write of ecology as being more broadly at the intersection of the social and the environmental - hence, ecology. This move allows culture to be used as a domain alongside economics and ecology.[21] [edit]Culture

Working with a different emphasis, some researchers and institutions have pointed out that a fourth dimension should be added to the dimensions of sustainable development, since the triple-bottom-line dimensions of economic, environmental and social do not seem to be enough to reflect the complexity of contemporary society. In this context, the Agenda 21 for culture and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Executive Bureau lead the preparation of the policy statement “Culture: Fourth Pillar of Sustainable Development”, passed on 17 November 2010, in the framework of the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders – 3rd World Congress of UCLG, held in Mexico City. This document inaugurates a new perspective and points to the relation between culture and sustainable development through a dual approach: developing a solid cultural policy and advocating a cultural dimension in all public policies.[6] The Network of Excellence "Sustainable Development in a Diverse World",[22] sponsored by the European Union, integrates multidisciplinary capacities and interprets cultural diversity as a key element of a new strategy for sustainable development. The Circles of Sustainability approach defines the cultural domain as practices, discourses, and material expressions, which, over time, express continuities and discontinuities of social meaning. [edit]Politics The United Nations Global Compact Cities Programme has defined sustainable political development is a way that broadens the usual definition beyond states and governance. The political is defined as the domain of practices and meanings associated with basic issues of social power as they pertain to the organisation, authorisation, legitimation and regulation of a social life held in common. This definition is in accord with the view that political change is important for responding to economic, ecological and cultural challenges. It also means that the politics of economic change can be addressed. This is particularly true in relation to the controversial concept of 'sustainable enterprise' that frames global needs and risks as 'opportunities' for private enterprise to provide profitable entrepreneurial solutions. This concept is now being taught at many business schools including the Center for Sustainable Global

Enterprise at Cornell University and the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. Sustainable development is an eclectic concept and a wide array of political views fall under its umbrella. The concept has included notions of weak sustainability, strong sustainability and deep ecology. Different conceptions also reveal a strong tension betweenecocentrism and anthropocentrism. Many definitions and images (Visualizing Sustainability) of sustainable development coexist. Broadly defined, the sustainable development mantra enjoins current generations to take a systems approach to growth and development and to manage natural, produced, and social capital for the welfare of their own and future generations. During the last ten years, different organizations have tried to measure and monitor the proximity to what they consider sustainability by implementing what has been called sustainability metrics and indices.[23] This has engendered considerable political debate about what is being measured. Sustainable development is said to set limits on the developing world. While current first world countries polluted significantly during their development, the same countries encourage third world countries to reduce pollution, which sometimes impedes growth. Some consider that the implementation of sustainable development would mean a reversion to premodern lifestyles.[24] Others have criticized the overuse of the term: "[The] word sustainable has been used in too many situations today, and ecological sustainability is one of those terms that confuse a lot of people. You hear about sustainable development, sustainable growth, sustainable economies, sustainable societies, sustainable agriculture. Everything is sustainable (Temple, 1992)."[24] [edit]History of the concept The concept of sustainable development was originally synonymous with that of sustainability and is often still used in that way. Both terms derive from the older forestry term "sustained yield", which in turn is a translation of the German term "nachhaltiger Ertrag" dating from 1713.[25][26] According to different sources, the concept of sustainability in

the sense of a balance between resource consumption and reproduction was however applied to forestry already in the 12th to 16th century.[27] „Sustainability‟ is a semantic modification, extension and transfer of the term „sustained yield‟. This had been the doctrine and, indeed, the „holy grail‟ of foresters all over the world for more or less two centuries. The essence of „sustained yield forestry‟ was described for example by William A. Duerr, a leading American expert on forestry: “To fulfill our obligations to our descendents and to stabilize our communities, each generation should sustain its resources at a high level and hand them along undiminished. The sustained yield of timber is an aspect of man‟s most fundamental need: to sustain life itself.” A fine anticipation of the Brundtland-formula.[25] Not just the concept of sustainable development, but also its current interpretations have its roots in forest management. Strongsustainability stipulates living solely off the interest of natural capital, whereas adherents of weak sustainability are content to keep constant the sum of natural and human capital.[28] The history of the concept of sustainability is however much older. Already in 400 BCE, Aristotle referred to a similar Greek concept in talking about household economics. This Greek household concept differed from modern ones in that the household had to be selfsustaining at least to a certain extent and could not just be consumption oriented.[27] The first use of the term "sustainable" in the modern sense was by the Club of Rome in March 1972 in its epoch-making report on the „Limits to Growth", written by a group of scientists led by Dennis and Donella Meadows of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Describing the desirable "state of global equilibrium", the authors used the word "sustainable": "We are searching for a model output that represents a world system that is: 1. sustainable without sudden and uncontrolled collapse; and 2. capable of satisfying the basic material requirements of all of its people."[25][26] [edit]Environmental sustainability

Water is an important natural resource that covers 71% of the Earth's surface. Image is the Earth photographed from Apollo 17. Environmental sustainability is the process of making sure current processes of interaction with the environment are pursued with the idea of keeping the environment as pristine as naturally possible based on ideal-seeking behavior. Thus, environmental sustainability demands that society designs activities to meet human needs while indefinitely preserving the life support systems of the planet. This, for example, entails using water sustainably, only utilizing renewable energy, and sustainable material supplies (e.g. harvesting wood from forests at a rate that maintains the biomass and biodiversity). An "unsustainable situation" occurs when natural capital (the sum total of nature's resources) is used up faster than it can be replenished. Sustainability requires that human activity only uses nature's resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally. Inherently the concept of sustainable development is intertwined with the concept of carrying capacity. Theoretically, the long-term result of environmental degradation is the inability to sustain human life. Such degradation on a global scale could imply extinction for humanity. Consumption of renewable resources State of environment Sustainability

More than nature's ability to Environmental replenish degradation

Not sustainable

Equal to nature's ability to replenish

Environmental equilibrium

Steady state economy

Less than nature's ability to replenish

Environmental renewal

Environmentally sustainable

[edit]Economic sustainability

Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three constituent parts. (2006) The Venn diagram of sustainable development has many versions,[29] but was first used by economist Edward Barbier (1987).[30] However, Pearce, Barbier and Markandya (1989)[31] criticized the Venn approach due to the intractability of operationalizing separate indices of economic, environmental, and social sustainability and somehow combining them. They also noted that the Venn approach was inconsistent with the Brundtland Commission Report, which emphasized the interlinkages between economic development, environmental

degradation, and population pressure instead of three objectives. Economists have since focused on viewing the economy and the environment as a single interlinked system with a unified valuation methodology (Hamilton 1999,[32]Dasgupta 2007).[33] Intergenerational equity can be incorporated into this approach, as has become common in economic valuations of climate change economics (Heal 2009).[34] Ruling out discrimination against future generations and allowing for the possibility of renewable alternatives to petro-chemicals and other non-renewable resources, efficient policies are compatible with increasing human welfare, eventually reaching a golden-rule steady state (Ayong le Kama 2001[35] and Endress et al. 2005).[36] Thus the three pillars of sustainable development are interlinkages, intergenerational equity, and dynamic efficiency (Stavins et al. 2003).[37] Arrow et al. (2004)[38] and other economists (e.g. Asheim,1999[39] and Pezzey, 1989[40] and 1997)[41] have advocated a form of the weak criterion for sustainable development – the requirement than the wealth of a society, including human capital, knowledge capitaland natural capital (as well as produced capital) not decline over time. Others, including Barbier 2007,[42] continue to contend that strong sustainability – non-depletion of essential forms of natural capital – may be appropriate. Economic development has traditionally required a growth in the gross domestic product. This model of unlimited personal and GDP growth may be over.[43] Sustainable development may involve improvements in the quality of life for many but, particularly for the affluent, may necessitate a decrease in resource consumption.[44]

Air Pollution Control Act From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Before the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, air pollution was not considered a national environmental problem. The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 (Pub.L. 84–159, ch. 360, 69 Stat. 322) was the first United States Clean Air Act enacted by Congress to address the nationalenvironmental problem of air pollution on July 14, 1955. This was "an act to provide research and technical assistance relating to air pollution control".[1] The act "left states principally in charge of prevention and control of air pollution at the source".[2] The act declared that air pollution was a danger to public health and welfare, but preserved the "primary responsibilities and rights of the states and local government in controlling air pollution".[3] The act put the federal government in a purely informational role, authorizing the United States Surgeon General to conduct research, investigate, and pass out information "relating to air pollution and the prevention and abatement thereof".[4] Therefore, The Air Pollution Control Act contained no provisions for the federal government to actively combat air pollution by punishing polluters. The next Congressional statement on air pollution would come with the Clean Air Act of 1963. The Air Pollution Control Act was the culmination of much research done on fuel emissions by the federal government in the 1930s and 1940s. Additional legislation was passed in 1963 to better fully define air quality criteria and give more power in defining what air quality was to the

secretary of Health, Education, and Labor. This additional legislation would provide grants to both local and state agencies. A replacement, the United States Clean Air Act (CAA), was enacted to substitute the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955. A decade later the Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act was enacted to focus more specifically on automotive emission standards. A mere two years later, the Federal Air Quality Act was established to define "air quality control regions" scientifically based on topographical and meteorological facets of air pollution. California was the first state to act against air pollution when the metropolis of Los Angeles began to notice deteriorating air quality. The location of Los Angeles furthered the problem as several geographical and meteorological problems unique to the area exacerbated the air pollution problem.[2] Contents [hide]
     

1 Prior to 1955 2 Amendments to the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 3 National Air Pollution Symposium 4 Effects of the Act 5 See also 6 References [edit]Prior to 1955 Prior to the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, little headway was made to initiate this air pollution reform. U.S. cities Chicago and Cincinnati first established smoke ordinances in 1881. In 1904, Philadelphia passed an ordinance limiting the amount of smoke in flues, chimneys, and open spaces. The ordinance imposed a penalty if not all smoke inspections were passed. It wasn't until 1947 that California authorized the creation of Air Pollution Control Districts in every county of the state.[5] [edit]Amendments to the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 There have been several amendments made to The Air Pollution Act of 1955. The first amendment came in 1960, which extended research

funding for four years. The next amendment came in 1962 and basically enforced the principle provisions of the original act. In addition, this amendment also called for research to be done by the U.S. Surgeon General to determine health effects of various motor vehicle exhaust substances.[1] In 1963, the Senate Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution was created and was soon overwhelmed with public concern over air and water pollution. It was then that the Clean Air Act of 1963 was passed. This act directed $95 million over the next three years to state and local governments to better develop "air pollution criteria." Amendments were made to the act in 1965 regarding emissions standards for new automobiles. This amendment also recognized the problem of transborder air pollution and began research on the effects of air pollution to and from Mexico and Canada.[6] In 1966, another federal amendment was made expanding local air pollution control programs. These changes initiated the creation of the National Air Pollution Control Administration (NAPCA) and designated Air Quality Control Regions across the U.S. to monitor ambient air.[6] In 1967, the Air Quality Act of 1967 was passed. This amendment allowed states to enact federal automobile emissions standards. Senator Edmond Muskie (D-Maine) said that this was the “first comprehensive federal air pollution control.” The National Air Pollution Control Administration then provided technical information to the states, which the states used to develop air quality standards. The NAPCA then had the power to veto any of the states' proposed emission standards. This amendment was not as effective as it was initially thought to be, with only 36 air regions designated, and as well as no states having fully developed pollution control programs.[6]In 1969, another amendment was made to the act. This amendment further expanded the research on low emissions, fuels, and automobiles.[6] The 1970 amendments completely rewrote the 1967 act. In particular, the 1970 amendments required the newly created The United States Environmental Protection Agency to set the National Ambient Air Quality Standards to protect public health and welfare. In addition, the 1970 amendments required various states to submit state implementation plans for attaining and maintaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

This amendment also allowed citizens the ability to sue polluters or government agencies for failure to abide by the act. Finally, the amendment required that by 1975, the entire United States would attain clean air status.[5] 1990 was the most recent amendments to the act under President George H.W. Bush. The 1990 amendments granted significantly more authority to the federal government than any prior air quality legislation. Nine subjects were identified in this amendment, with smog, acid rain, motor vehicle emissions, and toxic air pollution among them. Five severity classifications were identified to measure smog. To better control acid rain, new regulatory programs were created. New and stricter emission standards were created for motor vehicles beginning with the 1995 model year. The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants program was created to expand much broader industries and activities.[5] [edit]National Air Pollution Symposium

SRI participant Paul Magill discussing the smog on Black Friday in Los Angeles at the first air pollution conference in 1949 The first National Air Pollution Symposium in the United States was held in 1949 and hosted by Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International).[7] At first, smaller governments were responsible for the passage and enforcement of such legislation.[8] The main purpose of the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 was to provide research assistance to find a way to control air pollution from its source. A total of $5 million was granted to the public health service for a five-year period to conduct this research.[6] According to a private website, the amount was $3 million allotted per year for the five-year period of research.[9]

[edit]Effects of the Act This was the first act from the government that made U.S. citizens and policy makers aware of this global problem. Unfortunately, this act did little to prevent air pollution, but it at least made government aware that this was a national problem. The act allowed Congress to reserve the right to control this growing problem.[10] The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 was the first federal law regarding air pollution. This act began to inform the public about the hazards of air pollution and detailed new emissions standards. Public opinion polls showed that the percentage of Americans who regarded air pollution as a serious problem almost doubled from 28% in 1965 to 55% in 1968 with the addition of all the amendments made to the original Air Pollution Control Act of 1955.[6] Despite having the term "control" in the title of the act, this legislation had no regulation component.[11] In the early 1950s Congress did not want to interfere with states' rights; as such, the early laws of the act were not strong. This act set up the role that the government would play in research on air pollution effects and control. As such, the act was the forefront of the air pollution movement that continues to this day. Amendments were added to the The Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 as well as the Clear Air Act frequently by the government, as the government continued to further research on the topic and improve air quality. [edit]See also