Searching for the profit in pollution prevention case studies in the corporate evaluation of environmental opportunities


Book Description

The concept of pollution prevention, or "P2," signifies a new, proactive environmental mindset that targets the causes, rather than the consequences, of polluting activity. While anecdotal evidence suggests that P2 opportunities exist and that many have been pursued, there is also the perception that the pace of P2 is far too slow. To explore that claim -- and to shed light on barriers to P2 innovation -- this paper presents case studies of industrial P2 projects that were in some way unsuccessful. Economic, financial, and accounting analysis is used to assess the rationale for, and soundness of, these corporate decisions. While based on a very limited sample, the evidence contradicts the view that firms suffer from organizational weaknesses that make them unable to appreciate the financial benefits of P2 investments. Instead, the projects foundered because of significant unresolved technical difficulties, marketing challenges, and regulatory barriers. Based on evidence from the cases, the paper concludes with a discussion of environmental policy reforms likely to promote P2 innovation.




Environmental Protection


Book Description

This report: (1) examines the extent to which companies have adopted pollution prevention (PP) measures, (2) identifies the major factors that facilitate or encourage companies to use PP strategies, & (3) identifies the major factors that discourage their use of PP. Examines quantitative data available from the EPA & other sources on companies' PP practices, interviewed representatives of relevant national organizations & individual companies, & reviewed existing literature on the subject. Also conducted site visits to a number of firms to obtain detailed insights on their experiences in employing PP measures. Charts & tables.




EPA National Publications Catalog


Book Description




The Open Corporation


Book Description

The Open Corporation, originally published in 2002, set out a blueprint for effective corporate self-regulation, offering practical strategies for managers, stakeholders and regulators to build successful self-regulation management systems. Christine Parker examined the conditions under which corporate self-regulation of social and legal responsibilities were likely to be effective, covering a wide range of areas - from consumer protection to sexual harassment to environmental compliance. Focusing on the features that make self-regulation or compliance management systems effective, Parker argued that law and regulators needed to focus much more on 'meta-regulating' corporate self-regulation if democratic control over corporate action was to be established.




Environmentalism Unbound


Book Description

A call for a broadened environmental movement that addresses issues of everyday life. In Environmentalism Unbound, Robert Gottlieb proposes a new strategy for social and environmental change that involves reframing and linking the movements for environmental justice and pollution prevention. According to Gottlieb, the environmental movement's narrow conception of environment has isolated it from vital issues of everyday life, such as workplace safety, healthy communities, and food security, that are often viewed separately as industrial, community, or agricultural concerns. This fragmented approach prevents an awareness of how these issues are also environmental issues. After tracing a history of environmental perspectives on land and resources, city and countryside, and work and industry, Gottlieb focuses on three compelling examples of this new approach to social and environmental change. The first involves a small industry (dry cleaning) and the debate over pollution prevention approaches; the second involves a set of products (janitorial cleaning supplies) that may be hazardous to workers; and the third explores the obstacles and opportunities presented by community or regional approaches to food supply in the face of an increasingly globalized food system.




Computer Simulated Plant Design for Waste Minimization/Pollution Prevention


Book Description

Full of examples based on case studies from a variety of industries, Computer Simulated Plant Design for Waste Minimization/Pollution Prevention discusses preventing pollution and minimizing waste using computer simulation programs. The author examines the computer technologies used in the field, including the design and analysis of computer-aided flow sheets. With this book, readers will understand how to use computer technology to design plants that generate little or no pollution and how to use information generated by computer simulations for technical data in proposals and presentations and as the basis for making policy decisions.




Improving Regulation


Book Description

Is there potential for a U.S. regulatory system that is more efficient and effective? Or is the future likely to involve 'paralysis by analysis'? Improving Regulation considers the challenges faced by the regulatory system as society and technology change, and our knowledge about the effects of our activities on human and planetary health becomes more sophisticated. While considering the difficulty in linking regulatory design and performance, Improving Regulation makes the case for empowering regulatory analysis. Studying applications as diverse as fire protection, air and water pollution, and genetics, its contributors examine the strategies of different stakeholders in today's complex policymaking environment. With a focus on the behavior of institutions and people, they consider the impact that organizational politics, science, technology, and performance have on regulation. They explore the role of technology in creating and reducing uncertainty, the costs of control, the potential involvement of previously unregulated sectors, and the contentious public debates about fairness and participation in regulatory policy. Arguing that the success of many regulations depends upon their acceptance by the public, Fischbeck, Farrow, and their contributors offer extensive, inductive evidence on the art of regulatory analysis. The resulting book provides 'real world' examples of regulation, and a demonstration of how to synthesize analytical skills with a knowledge of physical and social processes.




Implementing Ecological Integrity


Book Description

This book contains some of the papers which were presented at the NATO Science, Environmental Security, Advanced Research Workshop on "Implementing Ecological Integrity: Restoring Regional and Global Environmental and Human Health" held in Budapest from June 26 to July 1, 1999. All papers presented are summarized in the Introduction and, in some cases, shorter versions are published. A mUltidisciplinary core of American and Western European participants had met over the preceeding years to discuss the concept of ecological integrity. The term "ecological integrity" is found in environmental policy documents but, generally, is not defined. It competes with other recent terms, or environmental narratives, such as "ecosystem health" and "sustainable development" and also with older ones such as "conservation". Therefore, it is deemed important not only to sort out the definitions of these concepts but also to find out whether their practical implications differ. Moreover, it was interesting to find out whether participants from Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) and, more generally, from NATO partner countries would be, first, responsive to this concept and, second, would hold different views of it. This explains the broad, albeit not always consistent, range oftopics which are covered in this book. The core group learned that CEEC and other NATO partners participants were responsive to the concept but that they were less exclusive of human influence.




Corporate Environmental Responsibility


Book Description

Traditionally, industry has been accused of sacrificing sustainable development in the pursuit of short-term profit. Yet today, under the banner of Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER), a growing number of business organizations are claiming to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. So, what is this emerging phenomenon of CER and what does it aspire to achieve? How pervasive is it and what are its implications for both business and the environment? This collection of essential articles and papers maps the development of the CER concept, traces the principal debates concerning its contribution to environmental protection, assesses the evidence as to what extent corporations are seeking to "do well be doing good" and explains why some companies have gone down this path when others, similarly situated, have been unwilling to do so. In essence, it asks: what has CER accomplished, what can it accomplish, and what is beyond its reach?




Empirical Studies of Environmental Policies in Europe


Book Description

John W. Maxwell and Jiirgen von Hagen Kelley School of Business, Indiana University; ZEI, University of Bonn, Indiana University, and CEPR Prior to the 1970's, economic studies of the natural environment were chiefly concerned with the optimal extraction of natural resources such as oil, coal, and timber. This focus reflected the commonly held belief that the natural environmental was sufficient to sustain the world's population in relative comfort (at least in developed nations) and was "there for the taking". By the late 1960's, however, the spectacular levels of economic growth that had taken place since the Second World War began to exact a visible toll on the natural environment. This visibility prompted growing concern for the environment among activists, government officials, academics and the pUblic. This concern has followed a general upward, though cyclic, trend to the present day. Remarkable events during this trend include the issuing of the Brundtland report, and the world environmental summits help in Rio and Kyoto. Concern for the natural environment has impacted the discipline of economics, resulting in the birth of the field of environmental economics that has recently eclipsed in popularity its parent field of natural resource economics.