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It is said that public opinion leads industry responds and legislation tries to keep up. When it comes to protecting the environment, public opinion has never been more in favour. The best companies respond to this with initiatives that both help the environment and promote their own success, keeping at least one step ahead of the punitive approach likely to be adopted by government. The Climate Change Levy is a case in point. Whether you see it as an opportunity to further improve your efficiency and environmental awareness or as just another tax burden on your company will depend on how you see your role - as a leader in the field or as someone who follows others. ABB have developed a 6-point programme for users to determine the best ways of achieving savings in their own plants. The public has never been more ready to buy from a company whose products help protect the environment and more and more OEMs have environmental policies that favour suppliers who offer 'green' products. One of the major ways that companies use to improve their environmental credentials is through the adoption of the quality standard ISO 14001. Instead of laying down absolute requirements for environmental performance, ISO 14001 aims to provide the structures that environmentally committed companies need to manage their processes. It provides a framework for integrating environmental factors into industrial operations, and requires that the organisation demonstrate commitment towards continual improvement and compliance with the relevant legislation. As ISO 14001 certification is site or location specific, companies should seek certification for all of their major world-wide sites. By the beginning of 2000 some 13,000 certificates had been issued, which indicates that many companies - even major ones - still have a long way to go. Certification is well worth the effort, however, as it locks the facilities into a process of continuous environmental improvement. Whether or not a company plans to achieve ISO 14001 certification, all companies should adopt an environmental management system. An effective EMS shows that a company has made a considerable effort to 'put its house in order' in the environmental sense. The environmental policy should - as a minimum - include a commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance, prevention of pollution, and compliance with all relevant legislation. The most progressive manufacturers have already achieved certification for all their major sites and have now started work to prepare Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for their core products. An EPD is a document, which describes the most important environmental aspects and effects of a product line and are based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies. The life cycle assessment should cover all the phases of the product's life. It should start with suppliers' raw material and component production and processing - after all, suppliers' environmental performance is an important aspect of the product's overall life cycle environmental impact - then progress through manufacturing and usage to disposal. It should also include the environmental impacts of transportation (of raw materials, components, and the product itself). Good environmental management starts from product design. Minimising the use of different materials at the design stage naturally increases a product's recyclability, for instance. Design work that is environmentally effective will provide for planned disposal of products once they are withdrawn from service. Saving the environment has a lot in common with saving money: they are both concerned with reducing waste. Saving on materials and the energy used to extract, process, transport them and turn them into products helps achieve both goals. Some of the general principles common to both are: Eliminate parts or operations Simplify parts or operations Substitute alternative materials Use standard parts or materials Use standard manufacturing methods Eliminate unnecessary design features Eliminate material waste Eliminate unnecessary handling or transportation within the factory Use non-polluting and biodegradable packaging Specifically, a designer should ask himself these questions when designing a new product: What materials will the product use in its construction and manufacture? Some materials used in the construction of a product may be environmentally damaging, usually during their extraction and processing and when the product is being scrapped. Also, certain materials and chemicals used in the actual manufacture of the product may cause adverse environmental effects, particularly if waste products need to be disposed of. These waste products may also require expensive filtering or cleaning technology to meet environmental laws. The use of these materials should be minimised if possible and substitutes found. Are the materials sourced from distant countries? If the materials used to manufacture the product are sourced from distant countries, the total energy used to produce the product is increased because of the energy needed to transport them. If possible, a source closer to the site of manufacture should be chosen. How much energy is used in manufacturing the product? Could it be redesigned so that it does not employ such energy intensive processes? Can the energy used be gained from renewable sources? When the product is scrapped, can the components be easily and efficiently recycled? Ideally, components should not combine metals with plastic, so that the materials from which they are formed can be readily recycled. In the case of some electrical and electronic products - such as drives - the LCA may reveal that the use of the product actually has a positive environmental impact. The Tables and Diagram show the environmental impact of a typical three-phase AC drive (in this case the ABB ACS 400). The results clearly show that the energy saved by using the unit far outweighs the environmental impacts caused by its manufacture, transportation and disposal. The results in Diagram 1 are shown in ELU (Environmental Load Units) per kilowatt. This is a theoretical value providing a measure of the environmental impact of a product or process. The use of the per kilowatt basis means that customers can directly compare the environmental performance of different products. This is an extremely useful feature of EPDs. Additionally, the EPD provides customers with data they can use when conducting LCAs for their own products. This can save a lot of time for the customer and so manufacturers who prepare EPDs give themselves a competitive advantage. The effort of preparing an EPD also brings other benefits for the manufacturer. It provides a good image for the manufacturer and establishes a benchmark that can be used to improve the environmental performance of later versions of the product. Environmental Product Declarations represent the next step in environmental effort. The next development on the horizon is the EU's proposed "WEEE directive" (Directive on Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment), which would oblige electronics producers to arrange for the disposal and recycling of their products. The most progressive companies are already preparing for this directive's requirements. It is never too early to start looking at the environmental effect of how you design your products.  Table 1. Environmental load caused by the manufacture, use, disposal and transportation of a typical three-phase AC drive. The data in Tables 1 and 2 are shown in terms of commonly accepted environmental categories.  Table 2. The beneficial environmental impact of the drive when it is used in a typical pumping or ventilation application. The negative figures indicate that these impacts are reduced by using the product.  Diagram 1. The life cycle environmental impact of the drive in ELU/kW. The negative figures indicate positive environmental effects: the energy saved by using the unit outweighs the environmental impacts caused by its manufacture, transportation and disposal. Presentation of data in ELU (Environmental Load Units) per kilowatt means that products can be directly compared. Top of the page |
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