Esta dissertação aborda a avaliação do desempenho ambiental do processo produtivo em uma indústria madeireira. O trabalho está baseado na revisão de literatura sobre o tema, no mapeamento do processo produtivo e na aplicação das ferramentas de verificação de desempenho ambiental de Echeveste et al. (2002) e de Lean Environment Toolkit. A revisão de literatura investigou aspectos como sustentabilidade, sistemas de gestão ambiental, normas e certificações, ecodesign, subprodutos e resíduos e classificação dos desperdícios ambientais. Já o levantamento de dados foi feito através de visitas ao local, fotografias, coleta de documentos e planilhas e entrevistas com funcionários. Com o mapeamento, foi possível ter entendimento de como é feito o produto e quais os locais onde se dá a geração de resíduos. Na quantificação de volume de produto e sobras ao longo das etapas do processo foi detectado que somente 19,20% de matériaprima se transformam em produto acabado, sendo o restante, 80,80%, subprodutos ou resíduos. Por fim, foi feita a descrição dos tipos de resíduos gerados, tais como, o cavaco, a serragem, a medula e a maravalha, verdes e secos além dos destopos, peças contaminadas e molduras descartadas. A aplicação da ferramenta para verificação de Echeveste et al, 2002 enfocou aspectos relativos ao ecodesign, produção mais limpa e sistemas de gestão ambiental. Através da lista de verificação foi possível obter informações sobre matérias-primas, processo de produção, produto, aspectos mercadológicos, manejo, conformidade e comunicação ambiental. A classificação de desperdícios ambientais, Lean and Environment Toolkit, criado pela Agência Ambiental dos Estados Unidos (United States Environmental Protection Agency) em 2001, detectou perdas relativas ao processo, tais como, espera, transporte, estoque, retrabalho e procedimentos desnecessários. As ferramentas se mostraram complementares e como resultados positivos destacam-se a estratégia pró ativa da empresa nas questões ambientais, a manutenção das certificações já adquiridas e a divulgação das práticas ambientais para clientes e colaboradores. Por outro lado, foi observada a necessidade de melhorias no desenvolvimento de produto e a necessidade de adoção de ferramentas que auxiliem na redução da geração de resíduos. / This thesis approaches the environmental performace evaluation of a productive process into a timber industry. The study is based on specific bibliography, productive process map and also on application of two environmental toolkit. The first one by Echeveste et al. (2002) and the second by United States Environmental Protection Agency. The research was about environmental sustainability, environmental management systems, standards and certifications, ecodesign, subproducts and wastes types, as well as, waste classification. On the other hand, the survey data based on visits, pictures, documents, spreadsheets and interviews with employees. Trough of the map, was possible to understand how the product is manufacturated and where are the waste points. It was also possible to detect that only 19,20% of raw material is processed as final product. The other 80,80% is processed as wastes or subproducts. Finally it was descript the waste types. The application of Echeveste et al, (2002) toolkit focused aspects of ecodesign, clean production and environmental management systems. Through this toolkit was possible to get informations about raw materials, production process, product, market aspects, management, environmental adequacy and environmental comunication. The Lean and Environment Toolkit, by United States Environmental Protection Agency (2001), detected wastes through the produtive process waitings, transport, stocks, rework and and extra processing. The two toolkits showed as additionals. As positives results at the company can be listed: a pro active strategy in environemntal subjects, the certifications maintenance and the comunication about environmetal practices to employees and custumers. On the other hand it necessary improvments in product development and a application of a toolkit to reduce the waste production

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is a global challenge and the situation is worse in urban areas of developing countries due to ineffective disposal systems. In many industrialised countries, waste minimisation and recycling/reuse policies have been introduced to reduce the amount of waste generated, and increasingly, alternative waste management practices to waste disposal on land have been implemented to reduce the environmental impacts of MSWM. Nevertheless, research and MSWM in most developing countries have largely concentrated on waste collection. This doctoral study investigates how planning and decision-making for MSW disposal in developing countries with similar circumstances and MSW problems to Ghana can be improved, using the Wa Municipality as a case study. It established the baseline scenario of MSW disposal and examined MSW disposal management and operational performances. The methodology and research design for the study was a descriptive and interpretive case study that was analysed through both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The key research findings indicate that the current state of MSW disposal management performance in Ghana does not present an enabling environment for effective MSW disposal. Also, the present MSW disposal practices in the case study area and Ghana in general consist of some waste collection, transportation and open dumping, where the entire amount of waste is open dumped without pre-treatment. Evaluation of MSW disposal operational performance through modelling and scenario analysis showed that open dumping/landfilling of waste creates copious health effects (0.0001519 lbs/year on average), whereas, MSW disposal in an integrated solid waste management (ISWM) system optimises the minimisation of health effects (-0.0005812 lbs/year on average). The study developed and validated a framework for the improvement of planning and decision-making for MSW disposal, which can easily be applied in the context of developing countries. Also, the developed framework provides a theoretical standpoint for the concept of MSW disposal in ISWM. Appropriate MSW disposal treatment technologies based on the developed framework could be applied to ameliorate the impacts of MSW disposal in Ghana and other developing countries.

A pesquisa aborda o conceito de mutabilidade com vistas a contribuir para o processo e a análise de projetos de Habitação de Interesse Social e seu desempenho ambiental. A abordagem conceitual de mutabilidade e autonomia é desenvolvida sob a ótica da cibernética (ASHBY, 1957), cuja aplicação em projeto tem como referências o conceito de interdependências (YEANG, 1995) e o conceito de suportes ou support structure (HABRAKEN, 1999). A análise do Conjunto Habitacional Zezinho Magalhães Prado é importante para enfatizar estes conceitos explicitamente defendidos e aplicados pelos arquitetos autores do projeto, e que podem ser relacionados à qualidade ambiental do empreendimento observada após 40 anos de ocupação. O desempenho ambiental dos empreendimentos habitacionais é avaliado no Brasil através das certificações processo AQUA e selo Casa Azul. A análise comparativa destes processos de certificação e do Conjunto Habitacional Zezinho Magalhães Prado identificou o conceito de autonomia em arquitetura nas mudanças geradas a partir do diálogo contínuo entre o sistema edificado e o meio ambiente. Por fim, legibilidade e flexibilidade são novos critérios propostos para que, incorporados nos processos de certificação de empreendimentos de interesse social, venham a colaborar na perpetuação do desempenho ambiental conquistado pelo sistema edificado. / This research work discusses the concept of mutability so as to contribute to the process and the analysis of Social Housing projects and their environmental performance. From the concept of mutability there rises the concept of autonomy. The conceptual approach of mutability and autonomy is developed under the perspective of cybernetics (ASHBY, 1957), whose application to project takes as reference the concept of interdependence (YEANG, 1995) and the concept of support or support structure (HABRAKEN, 1999). The analysis of the Housing Complex Zezinho Magalhães Prado becomes important for the identification of those concepts as they were explicitly upheld and applied by the architects responsible for the project and which can be associated to the environmental quality of the housing development as observed after 40 years of use. The environmental performance of housing developments is evaluated in Brazil by means of the certifications AQUA process and Casa Azul stamp. The comparative analysis of these certification processes and the analysis carried out in the Housing Complex Zezinho Magalhães Prado enabled the identification of the concept of autonomy in architecture pinpointed as changes implemented from the ongoing dialogue between the built system and the environment. Lastly, legibility and flexibility are proposed as new criteria so that, once they have been incorporated into the certification processes related to social housing developments, they may contribute to maintain the environmental performance achieved with the stamp.

<p>The focus in environmental management has during the last decades in many cases shifted to include all the phases in a product’s (or a service’s) life – the life-cycle perspective. The transport system has a large environmental pressure on the environment. Train traffic is habitually regarded as an environmentally preferable mean of transport, mainly depending on that trains often are driven by electricity. This view is also true when the operation phase alone is considered; at least if the electricity derives from renewable sources. In a life-cycle perspective the advantages of this mean of transport get less apparent. The extraction of the raw materials requires plenty of energy, energy which often is produced by fossil fuels. A dominating part of the material-related energy requirements in the railway infrastructure can be referred to a few materials. The main part of these materials can be found in a few products; rails, railway ties, ballast materials, cables and the contact wire system. It is here that the effort to reduce the environmental impact of the railway infrastructure should lie to become most efficient. The aim of the thesis is to investigate how the environmental pressure is affected by the service lives, i.e. the technical durability as well as the durability in practise, of the most energy-intense railway products, as well as reuse of them. The objective is to map estimated service lives and reuse in order to create scenarios representing the present state of how the products are used and reused in Sweden. The scenarios are used in order to analyse the importance of focusing on service lives and reuse when reducing environmental pressure. The objective is also to find out which possibilities and hindrances there are to increase the service lives and the reuse of the products.</p><p>To investigate the environmental pressure of the railway infrastructure, embodied energy is used as indicator. Embodied energy represents the energy needed to produce a product, from extracting the materials to the production phase. The present state concerning service lives and reuse of the studied products are mapped through interviews with employees at Banverket and at VTI. The empirical material is analysed and scenarios are created in order to evaluate the environmental importance of service lives and reuse. Organizational issues concerning service lives and reuse are also investigated.</p><p>The present state service lives varies between 25 and 100 years for the realistic scenarios for all the products. The estimated service lives varies between 25 and 100 years for the new technology scenarios. When it comes to the best-case scenarios the estimated service lives varies between 60 and 120 years, depending on railway product. The only products reused today are rails and railway ties. There are considerable improvements to be made by increasing service lives, and this pertains to all the studied products. The reductions in embodied energy per year go up to 75 % if the New-Technology Scenario is applied and to 33 % if the Realistic Scenarios are applied. If the Low Realistic Scenarios are applied the reductions goes up to 50 %. A great improvement potential exist for all the products if the New-Technology Scenarios are applied. The products where the main improvement potential when it comes to the Realistic and the Low Realistic Scenarios exist are the macadam-ballast, the cables, the rails and the railway ties. If the New-Technology Scenarios are applied for all the products the total improvement span is as much as 69 % altogether. If the Low Realistic Scenario instead is applied, the improvement span is calculated to 38-39 % (depending on the exchange level of macadam-ballast). If the Realistic Scenario is applied, the improvement span is calculated to 23 % and if the Best-Case Scenario is applied the span is calculated to 7 %, depending on that the most energy efficient strategy is to reuse the products possible to reuse. The main part of this improvement potential derives from the rails and the railway ties.</p><p>In reducing the environmental pressure it is important to make use of the products as much as possible, i.e. to reuse them and use them as long as possible. If rails and railway ties are reused and made use of during their entire service life, all energy invested in the products is made use of. The most environmental sound alternative is to reuse the products which are reusable and to use these products as long as they last. This gives a need for embodied energy of 16 GJ/yr and km for the railway ties and 38 GJ/yr for the rails on the mainline track. The energy allocated to the tracks where the products are reused is calculated to 3 GJ/yr and km for the railway ties and to 7 GJ/yr and km for the rails. Actions of maintenance prolong the durability of the products, e.g. by increasing the stability in the embankment and hence reduce the wearing. The administration of the used material is the main problem in order to create a well-functioning reuse of railway articles. This includes transports, storage and documentation of products. Tradition and routines also stand in the way of creating a sustainable reuse of these products.</p>

<p>A collaborative approach to industry-environment issues is acknowledged as a key aspect of sustainable development. Sincerely, resource sharing among firms offers the potential to increase stability of operations, especially in supply-constrained areas, by ensuring that access to important inputs such as water, energy and raw materials are guaranteed. Industrial Symbiosis (IS), a sub-field of Industrial Ecology, is primarily concerned with the cyclical flow of resources through networks of industrial units as a means of cooperatively approaching environmentally sustainable industrial activity. In line with this principle, a critical assessment of the change in environmental performance brought about by industrial symbiosis (IS) was conducted in nineteen selected eco-industrial park case studies identified in all regions of the world with the exception of the African continent. Case study selection criteria were based on models of eco-industrial parks proposed by Chertow (2000). A description of the type of material exchanges that go on in each case study was carried out which revealed evidence of implemented synergies in respective case studies. A comparative assessment of cross-case patterns which is a semi-quantitative matrix used to quantify the degree of environmental performance showed that there was a clear evidence of improved environmental performance among respective case studies investigated where water, energy and material flows served as indicators. Results obtained from the study showed a common pattern of industrial presence in respective case studies reflecting the occurrence of heavy process industries such as oil refineries, cement industries, petrochemical industries, and steel industries. The principle of “anchor tenant” proposed by some experts in the field of industrial ecology was strongly supported by the obtained results. Symbiotic cooperation among participating firms in respective case studies were mainly on areas like cogeneration, re-use of materials, recycling and wastewater treatment and re-use.</p>

Dieser Bericht ist einzuordnen in das zweite Projektjahr des laufenden Forschungsprojektes EPM-KOMPAS und die bisherigen Dokumentationen über dessen Projektfortschritte. Gerade die intensive Kooperation und die Diskussionen mit den Projektunternehmen erbrachten konstruktive und anwendungsorientierte Kritik und Anforderungen an das EPM-Instrument. Daraus resultieren eine Reihe von Modifizierungen, die in Form von Prototypen in der Praxis Abgleich finden und dargestellt werden. Jedoch ist die Entwicklung des Prototypen und seine Weiterentwicklung kontinuierlich von den Impulsen aus der Praxisarbeit beeinflusst und in einem ständigen Prozess. Der akutelle Forschungs- und Projektstand soll daher skizziert werden.

The focus in environmental management has during the last decades in many cases shifted to include all the phases in a product’s (or a service’s) life – the life-cycle perspective. The transport system has a large environmental pressure on the environment. Train traffic is habitually regarded as an environmentally preferable mean of transport, mainly depending on that trains often are driven by electricity. This view is also true when the operation phase alone is considered; at least if the electricity derives from renewable sources. In a life-cycle perspective the advantages of this mean of transport get less apparent. The extraction of the raw materials requires plenty of energy, energy which often is produced by fossil fuels. A dominating part of the material-related energy requirements in the railway infrastructure can be referred to a few materials. The main part of these materials can be found in a few products; rails, railway ties, ballast materials, cables and the contact wire system. It is here that the effort to reduce the environmental impact of the railway infrastructure should lie to become most efficient. The aim of the thesis is to investigate how the environmental pressure is affected by the service lives, i.e. the technical durability as well as the durability in practise, of the most energy-intense railway products, as well as reuse of them. The objective is to map estimated service lives and reuse in order to create scenarios representing the present state of how the products are used and reused in Sweden. The scenarios are used in order to analyse the importance of focusing on service lives and reuse when reducing environmental pressure. The objective is also to find out which possibilities and hindrances there are to increase the service lives and the reuse of the products. To investigate the environmental pressure of the railway infrastructure, embodied energy is used as indicator. Embodied energy represents the energy needed to produce a product, from extracting the materials to the production phase. The present state concerning service lives and reuse of the studied products are mapped through interviews with employees at Banverket and at VTI. The empirical material is analysed and scenarios are created in order to evaluate the environmental importance of service lives and reuse. Organizational issues concerning service lives and reuse are also investigated. The present state service lives varies between 25 and 100 years for the realistic scenarios for all the products. The estimated service lives varies between 25 and 100 years for the new technology scenarios. When it comes to the best-case scenarios the estimated service lives varies between 60 and 120 years, depending on railway product. The only products reused today are rails and railway ties. There are considerable improvements to be made by increasing service lives, and this pertains to all the studied products. The reductions in embodied energy per year go up to 75 % if the New-Technology Scenario is applied and to 33 % if the Realistic Scenarios are applied. If the Low Realistic Scenarios are applied the reductions goes up to 50 %. A great improvement potential exist for all the products if the New-Technology Scenarios are applied. The products where the main improvement potential when it comes to the Realistic and the Low Realistic Scenarios exist are the macadam-ballast, the cables, the rails and the railway ties. If the New-Technology Scenarios are applied for all the products the total improvement span is as much as 69 % altogether. If the Low Realistic Scenario instead is applied, the improvement span is calculated to 38-39 % (depending on the exchange level of macadam-ballast). If the Realistic Scenario is applied, the improvement span is calculated to 23 % and if the Best-Case Scenario is applied the span is calculated to 7 %, depending on that the most energy efficient strategy is to reuse the products possible to reuse. The main part of this improvement potential derives from the rails and the railway ties. In reducing the environmental pressure it is important to make use of the products as much as possible, i.e. to reuse them and use them as long as possible. If rails and railway ties are reused and made use of during their entire service life, all energy invested in the products is made use of. The most environmental sound alternative is to reuse the products which are reusable and to use these products as long as they last. This gives a need for embodied energy of 16 GJ/yr and km for the railway ties and 38 GJ/yr for the rails on the mainline track. The energy allocated to the tracks where the products are reused is calculated to 3 GJ/yr and km for the railway ties and to 7 GJ/yr and km for the rails. Actions of maintenance prolong the durability of the products, e.g. by increasing the stability in the embankment and hence reduce the wearing. The administration of the used material is the main problem in order to create a well-functioning reuse of railway articles. This includes transports, storage and documentation of products. Tradition and routines also stand in the way of creating a sustainable reuse of these products.

A collaborative approach to industry-environment issues is acknowledged as a key aspect of sustainable development. Sincerely, resource sharing among firms offers the potential to increase stability of operations, especially in supply-constrained areas, by ensuring that access to important inputs such as water, energy and raw materials are guaranteed. Industrial Symbiosis (IS), a sub-field of Industrial Ecology, is primarily concerned with the cyclical flow of resources through networks of industrial units as a means of cooperatively approaching environmentally sustainable industrial activity. In line with this principle, a critical assessment of the change in environmental performance brought about by industrial symbiosis (IS) was conducted in nineteen selected eco-industrial park case studies identified in all regions of the world with the exception of the African continent. Case study selection criteria were based on models of eco-industrial parks proposed by Chertow (2000). A description of the type of material exchanges that go on in each case study was carried out which revealed evidence of implemented synergies in respective case studies. A comparative assessment of cross-case patterns which is a semi-quantitative matrix used to quantify the degree of environmental performance showed that there was a clear evidence of improved environmental performance among respective case studies investigated where water, energy and material flows served as indicators. Results obtained from the study showed a common pattern of industrial presence in respective case studies reflecting the occurrence of heavy process industries such as oil refineries, cement industries, petrochemical industries, and steel industries. The principle of “anchor tenant” proposed by some experts in the field of industrial ecology was strongly supported by the obtained results. Symbiotic cooperation among participating firms in respective case studies were mainly on areas like cogeneration, re-use of materials, recycling and wastewater treatment and re-use.

The Green factory mark system validated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs will be officially launched in 2012. The assessment of green plants covers not only in the prohibition of harmful substances during the manufacturing process, reduction of unnecessary waste and promotion of environmental protection policies, but also extends to the whole supply chain from raw materials, parts suppliers to proceed with the environmental protection policies, and ultimately helps to achieve the objective of the green supply chain. However, there are no related laws to require part suppliers to adhere to green production plant objective currently in car industry. This study focuses on how customers affect and influence suppliers¡¦ environmental commitment based on its own environmental strategies and environmental performance requirements. The study is mainly from the constructs of customer¡¦s environmental strategy and customer¡¦s environmental performance requirements which includes moderators of contract, evaluation, and encouragement to investgae the relationship with suppliers environmental commitment. The study takes 246 suppliers of Honda Taiwan Motor Co., Ltd as sampling and utilizes Likert five-level scaling method from 1 to 5, from ¡uStrongly disagree¡v¡B¡uDisagree¡v¡B¡uNeither agree nor disagree¡v¡B¡uAgree¡v¡B¡uStrongly agree¡vto confirm hypothesises of the study. According to the results of this study, the predictive factors for improving suppliers¡¦s environmental commitment are customer environmental performance requirements; customer environmental strategy and contract in order. The statistical results are significant. In other words, suppliers will raise its environmental commitment according to its major customers¡¦ environmental performance requirements and environmental strategies. Suppliers also agree that contract restrictions signed with major customers would enhance and raise its environmental commitment. The study takes Honda Taiwan Motor Co., Ltd. as an example trying to see how to raise suppliers¡¦ environmental commitment without any laws reinforcement and expects to set the standard for other companies in Taiwan.

Mining is essential to the human well-being in many aspects. Mining activities, however, contribute significantly to pollution and other environmental impacts in South Africa. Recently much more stringent environmental legislation has been developed in South Africa due to increased public awareness and environmental disasters caused by mining activities. Authorisations constitute one of the main "command and control" instruments that can be used to influence and direct the behaviour of individuals and organisations to achieve sound environmental protection ultimately. The problem is that in the ever-changing maze of South African environmental legislation, it is often difficult for individuals and organisations to identify, obtain and maintain environmental authorisations. This article provides a legislative framework for the mining sector, explores the purpose and importance of environmental authorisations, gives an overview of the underlying relationship between environmental authorisations, risk assessment and environmental management systems before proposing a generic procedure for identifying, obtaining and maintaining environmental authorisations. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.