Pollution Prevention Plan
Designing an economical pollution prevention plan to pay off at the university.
According to ‘Biolas, Sulvan and Schneller,2006’, the university is classified as a large quantity generator of hazardous waste going by the rules in Texas producing over 1000kg of waste annually. Scientific and teaching activities in the university generate large quantities of waste which can be attributed from the quantities above. This waste generated from the scientific and teaching activities is discarded as required by the EPA. The TCEQ requires that a five year pollution prevention plan is prepared so as to get rid or rather minimize the amount of waste that is generated from the institution. This article focuses on a prevention plan that is designed and developed at a low cost and also the least implementation obstacles that can be applied in the development of the plan.
Safely bulking compatible chemical wastes using a combination of several individual containers into a larger container is one of the steps involved in the development and implementation of this project. A lab pack consists of about 14 to 16 individual bottles in the absorbent packing material therefore, there must be a reduction in the quantity of the lab pack for there to be a successful bulking of the chemical waste (Osmani, Glass and Price, 2008). The most significant percentage is the packing material although the entire drum is considered hazardous waste. Photographic paper helps in forming images. The photographic laboratories at the institution generated approximately 6 tons of liquid silver containing waste in 2003 and 6.5 tons in 2004. Silver is not an ingredient of the original photographic solution but a product of the film and the paper processing. A number of techniques can be used to remove silver that is in form of thiosulfates anionic complex from the photographic processing solutions. Some of these techniques include electrolytic recovery, metallic replacement, ion exchange and precipitation. Combining the electrolytic recovery system then followed by the chemical recovery cartridge system is the most appropriate alternative for the university.
The main benefit that will be realized from P2 plan development for the university is that the existing recycling efforts that have already been put in place will be improved as this in particular is important to the oil recycling at the institution. The university has an auto shop that carries out routine maintenance on about 139 trucks and cars it owns. There is a used oil collection system with a pump, an associated piping and a 1000 gallon storage tank at the shop ‘Bialowas, Sullivan and Schneller, 2006’. A 100% savings on oil disposal is expected to be realized since the team dealing with waste minimization came to know that oil from other parts could be added to that from the auto shop.
The P2 plan is quite comprehensive since its designed and developed to take care of the areas affecting the institution. Implementing this plan will help to empower the previous disposal operations and help the institution save on the cost disposal. Examples of those disposal operations include waste disposal and collecting waste.
References.
Bialowas, Y. D., Sullivan, E. C., & Schneller, R. D. (2006). Designing a low-cost pollution prevention plan to pay off at the University of Houston. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 56(9), 1320-1324.
Osmani, M., Glass, J., & Price, A. D. (2008). Architects’ perspectives on construction waste reduction by design. Waste Management, 28(7), 1147-1158.
State Pollution Prevention Programs and Policies’ Effectiveness.
The use of policies based on management and the application of regulatory information by the state in the encouragement of the adoption of pollution prevention plans together with minimizing levels of pollution is gradually raising. Examining the effectiveness levels of state legislations when it comes to the rise of the P2 and toxic waste reduction was made through making use of dynamic panel data models (Harrington, 2013). The samples used in the examination were from S7P 500 firms which between the years 1991 to 2001, failed to report to the Toxic Releases Inventory. According to the authors, legislations regarding toxic waste enhance the use pollution prevention plans.
Whether a state advocates for the reduction of toxic waste or not, facilities containing mandatory reporting and planning have higher pollution plans in terms of numbers. Facilities with experience in P2 show a high probability in adoption the mandatory planning (Bui, & Mayer, 2003). The facilities with a notable level of good performance are more effective in reporting than facilities with poor performance. Public image can be improved through promotion of P2 practices through mandatory requirement and reporting which will result to huge benefits to the technical team.
Tracking of management of toxic chemicals is carried out by the Toxic Releases Inventory (TRI) whereby annual reports are made by facilities regarding the amounts of toxic chemical waste that can be reused through recycling, treatment, and that which can be burnt in attempts to recover energy. The use of TRI has led to improvements in the waste management and has simplified the pollution impact analysis process.
From my point of view, the implementation of the regulatory programs has benefits to the environment, the organization, and to the people and therefore, each state, facility and organization should promote the adoption and implementation of the P2 programs.
References.
Bui, L. T., & Mayer, C. J. (2003). Regulation and capitalization of environmental amenities: evidence from the toxic release inventory in Massachusetts. Review of Economics and statistics, 85(3), 693-708.
Harrington, D. (2013). Effectiveness of state pollution prevention programs and policies. Contemporary Economic Policy, 31(2), 255-278.
