Firms need to implement environmental principles

Firms need to implement environmental principles

JAKARTA (JP): The participation of government agencies,
particularly the Ministry of Industry, is needed to encourage
industrial companies to implement principles of sound
environmental management, an environmental consultant says.

Barry Little, the director of Aspects International of
Britain, said that given time and guidance industrial companies
could obtain a sound production approach, enabling them to use
natural resources in a more efficient way.

"Industries need to know that implementing the principles of
sound environmental management is financially profitable," he
said at the opening of an environmental management course here
yesterday.

The two-day course, attended by executives of various
companies, also discussed the ISO-14000 standardization for
environmental management systems, which will be introduced next
year.

Little said that the involvement of government agencies other
than the office of the State Minister of Environment, such as the
Ministry of Industry, was required for law enforcement, close
monitoring and guidance purposes.

Last year in Britain, he said, a major project called Project
Catalyst was conducted jointly by 14 major companies, the
Department of Trade and Industry and a number of environmental
consulting firms.

The project, which involved a total investment of 900,000
pounds, resulted in total annual savings of almost 10 million
pounds.

The savings represented an accumulation of many items,
including product modification, raw materials modification or
reduction as well as energy or utilities reductions.

Among the participating companies were CMP Batteries Ltd., HJ
Heinz Company Ltd. and JW Lees & Co (Brewers) Ltd.

CMP spent 175,000 pounds to increase the efficiency of its
water usage and saved 175,000 pounds annually after using the new
system.

Heinz, which prepares and packages foodstuffs, spent 25,000
pounds to improve its cooker coolers. The improved system saved
50,000 pounds annually and energy costs associated with steam
losses.

Meanwhile, Lees saved 25,000 pounds a year after changing its
water distribution and plumbing system, all of which was made at
zero cost.

Little said that the environmental management systems which
are currently recognized are the British Standard (BS) 7750,
which was first introduced in 1992, and the Eco Management and
Audit System (EMAS), regulated by the European Union in April,
1995.

Since 1991, however, a number of countries, including Canada,
France and South Africa, have developed their own environmental
management system and others have adopted the BS 7750.

ISO-14000

Meanwhile, the ISO-14000, an international standard developed
in 1993 by the Geneva-based International Organization for
Standardization, will be introduced next April. The ISO-14000
uses the BS 7750 as a model.

Apart from overseeing environment management systems, the ISO-
14000 series also covers auditing, environmental performance,
evaluation, environmental labeling, life cycle assessments and
other environmentally related topics.

Little emphasized that in introducing environmental management
systems, industries must "find out what they are responsible for,
what they use and what they produce".

"They can't hide (environmental problems) forever. Greenpeace
and the public will find out sooner or later," he said.

Little pointed out that industries can be persuaded to apply
environmentally-sound technologies if they understand that it is
possible to convert pollutants into marketable products and
increase profits from the modifications made. (pwn)