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List of Entries
1–3 Butadiene: see Butadiene
2,4,5-T
Toxic herbicide. A component of the notorious Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War to denude large areas of the countryside. 45,000 US Vietnam War veterans sued the manufacturers of Agent Orange and received US$180 million in compensation.
2,4,5-T is banned in nine countries including the US, and restricted in eight others. It is classified as ‘moderately hazardous’ by the World Health Organization (WHO). 2,4,5-T is sold under many trade names, including Farmon, Kilnet and Nettleban.
Best Practice
• Do not use.
2,4-D
Moderately toxic selective weed killer for lawns. Irritates eyes and skin, and is an oestrogen mimic which reduces male fertility. Possibly a carcinogen.
Best practice
• Avoid use.
See also: Black list; Phenoxy acid.
ACCA Guidelines
Guidelines by the UK’s Chartered Association of Certified Accountants say that companies’ environmental reporting should cover the following issues:
| Qualitative |
| Company profile |
| Environmental policy |
| Targets and objectives |
| Community relations |
| Management |
| Environmental management system |
| Risk management |
| Site practices |
| Quantitative |
| Environmental indicators |
| Energy and natural resources |
| Regulatory compliance |
| Regulatory compliance |
| Products |
| Products |
| Processes |
| Contact personnel |
| See also: Report, environmental. |
Accounting
Traditional Accounting ignores any cost which does not appear on the balance sheet. As a result, environmental costs are not taken into account. Today, Accounting bodies are seeking ways of measuring companies’ full effects on the environment. The problem is how to value a view or a lake. Full-cost Accounting would include the cost of pollution, and it would allow natural capital (such as clay) to be translated into man-made capital (such as bricks). Environmental Accounting systems try to ensure a balance of ‘intergenerational capital’ (in other words, natural capital is not to be squandered).
Case Study 1: A Cost Sheet from Curtis Fine Papers
Curtis Fine Papers is part of Crown Vantage, a $1 billion business with 11 manufacturing sites in the US and Scotland and 4000 employees.
| £000 1994 | £000 1995
(projected) |
Sales turnover | 40,000 | – |
Effluent plant-operating costs | 337 | 345 |
Sludge disposal | 53 | 83 |
Solid-waste disposal | 20 | 25 |
Testing | 15 | 38 |
Management time | 77 | 83 |
Research projects | 5 | 24 |
External audits | – | 9 |
Training | 10 | 10 |
Environmental report | – | 25 |
Total environmental cost | 517 | 642 |
Capital costs in 1991 and 1992 totalled £3 million.
See also: Costs, LCA, Technology
Acids, Acidity
Acid in the air can corrode buildings and kill trees; when it falls on lakes it makes them acidic, which harms fish and other aquatic species. Acid comes from the emissions of acidic oxides (sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide etc) from power stations and car exhausts. Acid mine drainage also affects some water courses.
The scale of the acidity can be reduced by lessening these polluting emissions (through the use of filters, catalytic converters in cars, and through the use of renewable energy). The pH of acidified lakes has sometimes been reduced by lime, though this provides only temporary relief; stopping the pollution at source is the only long-term solution. The pH of acidic industrial waste water can be balanced by adding specific chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide.
See also: Acid rain.
Acid Rain
Sulphuric acid, nitric acid, other acids or ammonium, carried sometimes long distances by prevailing winds, and falling as rain, mist or dry particles. Technically, acid rain is acidic precipitation where the pH is less than 5.6, the normal equilibrium for carbon dioxide and water.
Acid rain is caused by sulphur dioxide emitted by coal-fired power stations, and nitrogen oxides from car exhausts. When it falls, acid rain makes lakes acidic, which kills the fish and other creatures. It damages trees (over half of Germany’s forests are dying though acid rain), and stonework on buildings. It also causes irritation to people’s airways, causing coughing or wheezing.
In the long term, acid rain is likely to diminish, as vehicles and power stations become cleaner.
Best Practice
• Companies can combat acid rain by conserving energy (thereby reducing the demand for energy from power stations).
• Power stations should filter their sulphur dioxide.
Acrylamide
Toxic substance used in the making of paper, dyes, artificial leather, photographic emulsion, and adhesives.
Activated Sludge
The treatment of organic waste (waste containing micro-organisms) by feeding it with compressed air and settled sludge. This technique converts a high proportion of the waste into stable inorganic matter, and is used in sewage treatment and industrial liquid wastes.
ADE
Advection Dispersion Equation. Used to model liquid flows, such as the dispersion of pollution in a river.
Adelphe
French packaging recovery organization for wine and spirit bottlers.
Adhesives
Adhesives are often applied with solvents, which are an environmental, fire, and health and safety hazard. Moreover, solvent adhesives may require solvent recovery systems and health and safety precautions. Some paper adhesives, such as those used in books, magazines and envelopes, cause difficulty in recycling.
Hot-melt adhesives do not use solvents but use a lot of energy. Water-based adhesives do not carry these disadvantages and may dry more easily.
Best Practice
• Investigate the feasibility of using adhesives that do not require solvents.
ADI
Acceptable Daily Intake. A measure used for pesticide residues in food.
See also: MRL.
ADR
(1) Alternative Dispute Resolution. See: Litigation.
(2) European Agreement on the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road. See: Transport of dangerous goods.
Adsorption
Process where a substance, usually a gas, accumulates on the surface of a solid and forms a thin film, often just a single molecule thick.
See also: Liquid waste.
Advertising: see Marketing
Aerobic
Containing air. Some processes...
