The Industrial Green Game Implications for Environmental Design and Management (1997) / Chapter Skim
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Japan's Changing Environmental Policy, Government Initiatives, and Industry Responses
Japan's Changing Environmental Policy, Government Initiatives, and Industry Responses
Pages 234-252
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From page 234... ...
At its first meeting, the council set forth six directives for global environmental conservation (Japan Environment Agency, 1990) : • Participate positively in formulating an international framework for pro tecting the global environment and promote measures from a global view point • Promote the observation (monitoring)
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From page 235... ...
. The 24 guidelines cover 11 corporate environmental policy areas, including implementing internal environmental auditing and management, and improving environmental attributes of products (Appendix 1)
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From page 236... ...
The new legislation, in principle, is an integrated national environmental policy act that incorporates the former Basic Pollution Control Law, the Nature Conservation Law, and the government's basic policy principles for global environmental conservation. In the context of industrial ecology, BEL includes consideration of environmental load in addition to kogai, or pollution; directions and goals of a future sustainable economic society, including extended corporate responsibilities; and government policies to promote and encourage corporate and other efforts to enhance environmental performance.
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From page 237... ...
Simultaneous frugal use and environmentally preferable selection of materials and energy sources lower the overall environmental load resulting from human activities to ensure local, regional, and global sustainable development. In reality, however, the current economic growth of industrialized nations can hardly be characterized as environmentally sustainable.
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From page 238... ...
To approach complete closure of materials cycles in society, present industrial ecosystems, which are readily identifiable in interrelated production processes, interacting industrial sectors, and interacting production, consumption, and waste-management systems need to be assessed to identify opportunities for enhancing and continually improving environmental efficiencies. THE POTENTIAL AND LIMITS OF USING LIFE CYCLE APPROACHES Industrial practices to minimize total environmental load and improve the environmental efficiency of industrial ecosystems occur in three areas: product design and makeup, process design and operation, and business management strategy.
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From page 239... ...
(Distribution) • Collection • Separation • Dumping • Mining • Industry • Distributors • Transport • Shredding • Landfills The • Refining • Manufacture • Wholesalers • Recovery • Incineration • Emissions Public • Agriculture • Processing • Retailers • Sorting • Composting • Effluents or Resources • Forestry • Fabrication • Services Environment Consumers • Processing • Fishery • Construction • Businesses JAPAN'S CHANGING ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY • • • • • • • • • Ecosystem Ecosystem Business Wastes Reuse/Recycling Recovery/Recycling FIGURE 3 Material flows in the human ecosystem or society.
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From page 240... ...
The second approach, based on detailed material and energy balances or inventories taken at different stages of product life cycle, requires a quantitative analysis and evaluation of a product and its associated processes, or the product system. The terms life cycle inventory, life cycle analysis, and product life cycle assessment (PLCA)
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. The scheme includes clear goal definition and scoping at the outset but emphasizes the dynamic and reiterative nature of life cycle assessment practices for continuous improvement of environmental attributes of products.
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Data from output tables are used for inventory analysis, (e.g., for an average automobile) , and total life cycle environmental loading -- materials and energy used in different but interrelated industrial sectors and consumption -- is estimated and evaluated.
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Closing the material circle as a whole is necessary if the model of natural ecology is to be used to construct a mature sustainable industrial ecology and to transform the present throw-away society into a sustainable recycle society. Hence, from an industrial ecology perspective, recycling is important for improving the overall environmental performance of society.
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For example, if recovered waste paper is of low quality and other technical and economic factors prevent reprocessing and reuse, the paper should first be recycled into the next lower grade paper product, then into a nonpaper product such as wallboard or compost, then into refuse-derived fuel to be eventually burned to recover energy in the form of steam or electricity. Several commodity-specific recycling rates and schedules for meeting the goals are provided by the Japanese government to gauge environmental progress in industry and to set goals for other industrial efforts to improve the environmental efficiency.
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From a practical viewpoint, life cycle analysis has been limited to products of simple design because of the difficulty of performing detailed analysis on and collecting large amounts of data about more complex products. • A more efficient industrial ecology in the context of Seaborg's recycle society is necessary for a global sustainable society, and recycling rates can be a measure of environmental progress.
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We must radically revise various social and economic systems, such as the layout of cities and the arrangement of transport networks, and we must also upgrade social infrastructure and, indeed, raise the consciousness of citizenry. On the international agenda are such world-scale problems as global warming, the depletion of tropical rain forests, desertification, acid rain, and pollution of the oceans.
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Guidelines for Corporate Action Companies must carry on their business activities to contribute to the establishment of a new economic social system for realizing an environmentally protective society leading to the sustainable development. General Management Policies Companies should always consult the guidelines below in carrying on their activities.
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Companies shall endeavor to use resources efficiently and reduce waste products through recycling, and shall appropriately deal with pol lutants and waste products. Technology Development In order to help solve global environmental problems, companies shall endeavor to develop and supply innovative technologies, products and services that allow conservation of energy and other resources together with preservation of the environment.
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2. In participating in official development assistance projects, companies shall carefully consider environmental and antipollution measures.
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Companies shall work to provide information gained from their experi ences to administrative authorities, international organizations, and other bodies formulating environmental policy, as well as participate in dia logue with such bodies, in order that more rational and effective policies can be formulated.
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Environmental conservation shall be promoted so that a society can be formulated where the healthy and productive environment is conserved and sustainable development is ensured by fostering sound economic development with reduced environmental load, through practices on environmental conservation such as reducing as much as possible the environmental load generated by socio-economic and other activities, which are voluntarily and positively pursued by all the people sharing fair burden; and so that interference with environmental conservation can be anticipatorily prevented through enhancing scientific knowledge. ARTICLE 8 (Responsibility of Corporations)
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3. Besides the responsibilities prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs, in manufacturing, processing or selling products, or engaging in other business activities, corporations are responsible for making efforts to reduce the environmental loads resulting from the use or disposal of the products and other goods related to their activities; and for making ef forts to use recyclable resources and other materials and utilities which contribute to reducing the environmental loads in their activities, so as to prevent interference with environmental conservation, pursuant to the basic principles.
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