Societal Responses to Pollution Problems

1
Societal Responses to Pollution Problems
Foul and Flee
Dilute and Disperse
Concentrate and Contain

• Pollution control remediation (end-of-pipe
  technology)
• Convert wastes and emissions into a less harmful
  form
• Move wastes and missions to a less harmful
  location

2
Material Flows and Environmental Pollution
Material Inputs Products Wastes Emissions
Air emissions
Production Process
Products
Raw materials energy
Solid wastes
Waste water
3
Pollution control of waste water and air
emissions
Mass balance principle (example FGD) CaCO3 SO2
½O2 2H2O ? CaSO4.2H2O CO2 2nd law of
thermodynamics
Air emissions
Production Process
Products
Raw materials energy
Solid wastes
Waste water
4
Pollution control of solid waste
Mass balance principle 2nd law of thermodynamics
Air emissions
Production Process
Products
Raw materials energy
Solid wastes
Waste water
5
The Development of Environmental Policy
1970s - Introduction of environmental
regulations (single process, single site and
single medium)
1990 - Integrated pollution control(single
process, single site, all mediums)
1999 - Integrated pollution prevention and
control (whole environmental performance of a
plant)
2004 - Integrated product policy (adoption of
life cycle perspective)
6
From Pollution Control to Pollution Prevention
In the USA

• Pollution prevention (P2) is reducing or
  eliminating waste at the source by
• modifying production processes,
• promoting the use of non-toxic or less-toxic
  substances,
• implementing conservation techniques, and
• re-using materials rather than putting them into
  the waste stream

• Under Section 6602 (b) of the Pollution
  Prevention Act of 1990, Congress established
  that
• pollution should be prevented or reduced at the
  source whenever feasible
• pollution that cannot be prevented should be
  recycled
• pollution that cannot be prevented or recycled
  should be treated
• disposal or other release into the environment
  should be employed only as a last resort.

Read more on Pollution Prevention in the USA
on http//www.epa.gov/p2/index.htm
7
From Pollution Control to Pollution Prevention
In Europe
All products cause environmental degradation in
some way, whether from their manufacturing, use
or disposal. Integrated Product Policy (IPP)
seeks to minimize these by looking at all phases
of a products' life-cycle and taking action
where it is most effective.

• In the communication paper COM(2003) 302 final
  the European Commission
• established that the IPP approach consists of
• Life cycle thinking
• Market incentives to encourage demand and supply
  of greener products
• Stakeholder involvement
• Continuous improvement (rather than a precise
  threshold)
• Policy instruments (such as voluntary approaches
  and mandatory measures)

Read more on Integrated Product Policy in Europe
on http//europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ipp/home
.htm
8
Pollution prevention reduces emissions and wastes
of a production and consumptionsystem by
modifying the production process and/or the
product design
Air emissions
Modified Production Process
Products
Raw materials energy
Solid wastes
Waste water
9
Material Flow Perspective of Pollution Prevention

• If pollution is caused by material flows, its
  prevention is also a material issue
• There are essentially three ways to reduce or
  prevent pollution
• Dematerialization (less material per economic
  output)
• Material substitution (different material)
• Reuse recycling (use material and value-added
  over and over)

10
Dematerialization examples

• Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) in
  automotive applications (25 weight reduction)
• Mass reduction of beverage containers
• Continuous casting technology in metals
  production
• Drip lines instead of sprinklers for irrigation
• Carsharing business models
• Spaceframe design concept
• Miniaturization in the electronics industry
  (e.g. precious metal content in consumer
  electronics)

Dematerialization typically has a natural
economic driver and is also often done in
conjunction with material substitution.
11
Material substitution examples

• Steel versus aluminum versus plastics versus
  composites in automotive
• Steel versus concrete versus timber in
  construction
• Glass versus steel versus aluminum versus PET
  versus laminated cardboard in packaging
• MTBE instead of lead as oxygenate in automotive
  fuels
• Bio-based plastics versus petroleum-based
  plastics (e.g. polylactic acid)
• Lead-based solder versus lead-free solder (e.g.
  tin silver copper antimony alloy,
  
  tin copper selenium alloy, etc.)

12
Material substitution Case study 1 Lead-free
solder
Background Electronics industry consumes around
90 Kt pa of lead-based solder
(60Sn-40Pb), 25-50 of which is process waste
(recycling rate ?). Issue Toxicity
of lead (EU ROHS Directive 2002/95/EC bans lead
in EEE) Substitute Lead-free solder (e.g.
the one announced by Sony in 1999
93.4 tin, 2 silver, 4 bismuth, 0.5
copper and 0.1 germanium)
13
Material substitution Case study 1 Lead-free
solder

• Lead-free solder announced by Sony in1999
• 93.4 Sn, 2 Ag, 4 Bi, 0.5 Cu and 0.1 Ge
• New issues
• Production capacity for increased use of
  alloying materials If all solder was based on
  Sonys alloy, world production would increase as
  follows Sn 12, Ag 11, Bi 89, Ge 103
• Bismuth by-product of mining other metal,
  especially lead, copper and tin
• Depletion of some of the alloying metals

Alternative Electrically conductive adhesives
(polymer binder plus conductive filler)?
14
Material substitution Case study 2 Bio-based
plastics
Background Production of plastics worldwide
consumes around 270 MMT pa of fossil
fuel, 120 MMT as feedstock and another
150 MMT as process energy. Issues
Depletion of fossil fuels
Additives (plasticizers, stabilizers, flame
retardants, blowing agents) Lack of
biodegradability (growing and persistent solid
waste stream) Substitute Bio-based
polymers (e.g. PLA or PHA) Examples
NatureWorks (Cargill Dow Polymers, USA)
packaging films, bottles,
textile fibers based on polylactic acid from
maize fermentation
GreenFill (GreenLight Products, UK) loosefill
packaging derived from
wheat starch Mater-Bi
(Novamont, Italy) films, tableware, nappies
based on a copolymer of
maize starch and polycaprolactone
(PotatoPak, UK) supermarket display
trays based on potato starch
(Rodenburg Polymers, NL) packaging
materials from potato starch
NatureFlex (Surface Specialities, UK)
cellulosic packaging films
15
Material substitution Case study 2 Bio-based
plastics
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
definition Biodegradable plastic a degradable
plastic in which the degradation results from
the action of naturally occurring microorganisms
such as bacteria, fungi and algae. The first
compostable logo for cutlery went to Nat-Ur. The
Biodegradable Products Institutes (BPI) symbol
demonstrates that the product meets the ASTM
D6400 Specifications for Compostable Plastics.
16
Material substitution Case study 2 Bio-based
plastics

• European Standard for biodegradability is BS EN
  13432 (2000)
• Biodegradation over 90 compared with cellulose
  in 180 days under conditions of
  controlled composting using
  respirometric methods (ISO14855)
• Disintegration over 90 in 30 months (ISO FDIS
  16929)
• Ecotoxicity test results from aquatic and
  terrestrial organisms (Daphnia magna,
  worm test, germination test) as for
  reference compost
• Absence of hazardous chemicals (included in the
  reference list)

17
Material substitution Case study 2 Bio-based
plastics

• In an LCA the cradle-to-gate GHG emissions of
  polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a bio-polymer
  extracted from genetically modified corn, were
  compared to those of polyethylene (PE).
• New issues
• The extraction process of PHA from corn stover
  is quite energy intensive.
• If the extraction energy comes from fossil
  fuels, the cradle-to-gate GHG emissions of PHA
  are higher than those of PE.
• Cradle-to-gate GHG emissions of PHA are lower
  than those of PE only if the stover is burned
  for energy generation, i.e. no fossil fuels are
  required for PHA extraction.

18
Reading for Wednesday, 14 FebruaryGeyer
Jackson (2004) Supply Loops and Their
Constraints The Industrial Ecology of Recycling
and Reuse, California Management Review, 46(2)
55-73(is posted on course website as
GeyerJackson-2004)