Implementing stricter environmental regulation to enhance eco-efficiency and sustainability: a case study of Shandong Province’s pulp and paper industry, China

There has been much debate on the topic of whether stricter environmental regulations can promote environmental performance and economic performance at the same time. Different researchers have used different indicators to measure environmental performance and economic performance in their empirical studies. However, it is a surprise that few studies have checked the relationship between environmental regulation and eco-efficiency, as the latter is widely regarded as a quite powerful tool of considering ecology and economy together.In this study the background is the implementation in 2003 of the Stricter Discharge Standard (SDS) in Shandong Province’s Pulp and Paper Industry (SPPI), compared to the national standards of China. The stricter regulations were intended to promote corporate change from passive management to active control and from end-of-pipe treatment to cleaner production. This study investigated the eco-efficiency trends of SPPI from 2001 to 2008 in three fields: water efficiency, energy efficiency and environment efficiency. A “de-linking” and “re-linking” tool was used to attain a further evaluation. The study showed that with the implementation of stricter regulation most of the efficiency indicators (except CO₂ emission and energy consumption) had achieved significant improvements, and the overall environmental performance trends of SPPI showed it to be more sustainable. However, the study also found that it was not enough to address a single indicator in the environmental regulation of the pulp and paper industry. More holistic eco-efficiency indicators need to be further considered and introduced to the industry as the next step to create true sustainable development.     

The “Tsesis” oil spill: Acute and long-term impact on the benthos

The “Tsesis” oil spill in October 1977 resulted in the release of over 1 000 tons of medium grade fuel oil in an archipelago in the brackish Baltic Sea. Considerable oil quantities reached the benthos by sedimentation. Within 16 d benthic amphipods of the genus Pontoporeia, as well as the polychaete Harmothoe sarsi Kinberg, showed reduction to less than 5% of pre-spill biomasses at the most impacted station. The clam Macoma balthica (L.) was more resistant, and showed little or no mortality, but was heavily contaminated by oil (about 2 000 μg g^-1 dry wt total hydrocarbons). The meiofauna was strongly affected, with ostracods, harpacticoids, Turbellaria and kinorhynchs showing clear reductions in abundance, while nematodes, as a group, were more resistant. In the winter following the spill gravid Pontoporeia affinis Lindström females showed a statistically significant increase in the frequency of abnormal or undifferentiated eggs. Food-chain transfer of oil to flounder [Platichthys flesus (L.)] was indicated. Not until the second summer after the spill were the first signs of recovery noted at the most heavily impacted station: Amphipods, H. sarsi and harpacticoids increased and the oil concentrations in M. balthica decreased (to about 1 000 μg g^-1). In the area where amphipods had been virtually eliminated, there was an unusually heavy recruitment of M. balthica, reaching 4 000 juveniles, of 1.5–2 mm length, per square metre, probably from settling in summer 1978. Three years after the spill Pontoporeia spp. biomass was still depressed in the most affected area, while H. sarsi showed normal biomass, and M. balthica abundance was inflated. Oil concentrations in M. balthica (about 250 μg g^-1) and flounder were only slightly elevated and the oil could no longer be confidently ascribed to “Tsesis” origin, even using GC/MS-analysis. Recovery was thus underway, but the long lifespan of M. balthica implies that the disturbed community composition may persist for many years at this station. Full recovery is likely to require more than 5 yr and may take a decade or more. An effort to evaluate the accumulated monetary loss to fishery from the accident indicates that direct costs of shoreline cleanup and vessel damage were considerably greater.     

Pooled Analysis of Two Swedish Case-Control Studies on the Use of Mobile and Cordless Telephones and the Risk of Brain Tumours Diagnosed During 1997–2003

Here we present the pooled analysis of 2 case–control studies on the association of brain tumours with mobile phone use. Use of analogue cellular phones increased the risk for acoustic neuroma by 5%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2-9% per 100 hrs of use. The risk increased for astrocytoma grade III—IV with latency period with highest estimates using >10-year time period from first use of these phone types. The risk increased per one year of use of analogue phones by 10%, 95% CI = 6-14%, digital phones by 11%, 95% CI = 6-16%, and cordless phones by 8%, 95% CI = 5-12%. For all studied phone types OR for brain tumours, mainly acoustic neuroma and malignant brain tumours, increased with latency period, especially for astrocytoma grade III—IV.     

Brood sex ratios, female harem status and resources for nestling provisioning in the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

The theory of parental investment and brood sex ratio manipulation predicts that parents should invest in the more costly sex during conditions when resources are abundant. In the polygynous great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus, females of primary harem status have more resources for nestling provisioning than secondary females, because polygynous males predominantly assist the primary female whereas the secondary female has to feed her young alone. Sons weigh significantly more than daughters, and are hence likely to be the more costly sex. In the present study, we measured the brood sex ratio when the chicks were 9 days old, i.e. the fledging sex ratio. As expected from theory, we found that female great reed warblers of primary status had a higher proportion of sons in their broods than females of lower (secondary) harem status. This pattern is in accordance with the results from two other species of marsh-nesting polygynous birds, the oriental reed warbler, Acrocephalus orientalis, and the yellow-headed blackbird Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. As in the oriental reed warbler, we found that great reed warbler males increased their share of parental care as the proportion of sons in the brood increased. We did not find any difference in fitness of sons and daughters raised in primary and secondary nests. The occurrence of adaptive sex ratio manipulations in birds has been questioned, and it is therefore important that three studies of polygynous bird species, including our own, have demonstrated the same pattern of a male-biased offspring sex ratio in primary compared with secondary nests. Received: 1 June 1999 / Received in revised form: 10 January 2000 / Accepted: 12 February 2000     

Feeding rates of the jellyfish Aurelia aurita on fish larvae

We quantified feeding rates of field caught Aurelia aurita feeding on yolk sac cod (Gadus morhua) larvae in a series of incubation experiments. A short-time (~1 h) functional response experiment with a wide range of prey concentrations (0.5–16 prey l⁻¹, initial concentration) revealed that ingestion rates increased linearly over this range, such that clearance rates were similar between the different prey concentrations. This suggests that A. aurita is capable of efficiently utilizing dense prey patches. This indication was further supported by a linear increase of prey captured by A. aurita during 2.5 h of feeding at extremely high prey concentration (>200 prey l⁻¹). Clearance rate in darkness scaled with jellyfish diameter to a power of ~1.7 for jellyfish 3.9–9.5 cm in diameter. The jellyfish did not alter their umbrella pulse frequency in response to presence of fish larvae. There were no significant differences between A. aurita feeding rates in light and darkness for yolk sac prey ages 0–7 days (at 7.5°C). Although prey vision and escape abilities of fish may develop rapidly during early larval ontogeny, these factors apparently have little impact on interactions with predators such as A. aurita during the yolk sac stage.     

Risk management—the Swedish way(s)

We have compared three legal and administrative systems of risk management in Sweden, namely those responsible for work environment, environmental protection and chemicals control. Large differences were found in terms of the organisational structure and the general modi operandi of government activities in the three areas. Many of these differences seem to be the result not of deliberate choice, but rather of the lack of coordination between policy areas. One of the most striking differences is the much lower priority assigned to enforcement activities in the environmental than in the occupational health sector. It is concluded that systematic comparisons of experiences from different policy areas can be helpful in improving the efficiency of risk management.     

Environmental representatives: whom,what, and how are they representing?

Literature on environment and representation in politics, management, and deliberation has paid little attention on the people involved: environmental representatives. The aim of this paper is to illuminate how environmental representatives in various organizational and professional contexts understand their role as representatives, and how they are shaped by their contexts. The paper argues that it is crucial to learn about the everyday reality of individual representatives to better understand the limitations and possibilities they face. The study is based on 19 interviews with environmental representatives from five organizational and professional contexts: the state, civil society, business, science, and media in Sweden. The paper concludes that some differences in experiences, for example, in freedom and constraint, can be understood in relation to the representatives’ organizational and professional affiliation. Other experiences are common: (i) all categories stated the importance of being impartial and well read; (ii) complex layers of affiliation imply that representation requires sensitivity and adjustment between different situations; and (iii) the performative aspects of representation include the representatives’ claims-making, others’ attributions, and long-term learning of their role. The article contributes an understanding of organizational conditions and the often paradoxical, layered, multifaceted, and cautious representation these individual actors perform.