Case study: Chemical approval at HADCO Corporation

This case study is the second in a four‐part series profiling environmental decision making at leading companies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Corporate performance standards at Kodak

Creating an effective and consistent corporate health, safety, and environment program for a decentralized, international company poses unique challenges. This article describes how, with global company input, Kodak has established a set of twenty-eight corporate HSE performance standards. Worldwide facility compliance with these standards is monitored through Kodak's Corporate HSE Assessment Program and through the Corporate Self-Appraisal Program.     

精细化工园区绿色发展研究：以杭州湾上虞经济技术开发区为例

近年来化工园区安全环保事故多发，园区生存发展面临极大挑战。深入推进绿色发展，是破解化工园区乃至整个行业发展瓶颈的唯一出路。本文以国内典型的精细化工园区——杭州湾上虞经济技术开发区为例，梳理该园区建设以来在产业发展、安全生产、污染整治方面的创新实践及成效，凝练出具有启示意义的管理与规划特点，以期为其他精细化工园区提供借鉴。实践显示，发展较成熟的化工园区向非化工园区转型难度大且代价高，而化工产业是国民经济的重要支柱，产业向园区集聚发展是趋势所在，科学地实施规划管理，是化工园区绿色发展的首要。化工园区推进绿色发展，宜在充分摸清园区"家底"基础上，强化顶层设计，即：以重点行业清洁生产、循环经济关键技术突破带动全产业链绿色发展；以大企业为核心，构建产品间、企业间协作的动-静脉耦合产业链接和共生网络；建设清洁化、多功能、集中与分散相结合的基础设施组团；构建全过程环境和安全管理体系，提高本质安全；资源环境要素约束倒逼产业结构调整及准入控制。2006-2015年，上虞园区整体实现了经济发展与资源能源消耗及污染物排放的相对脱钩，产生了积极的经济环境效益。其绿色发展实践对其他化工园区具有积极借鉴意义。     

Trends in Toxic Chemical Releases: A Case Study on the Drug Industry in Connecticut and New Jersey

To analyse trends in toxic chemical releases, an empirical study was conducted on Connecticut's and New Jersey's drug industry. It was the purpose of this study to investigatethese trends based on the following three questions: first, what is the trend of toxic chemical releases in the drug industry?; second, does the drug industry show patterns of qualitative growth?;and third, does the drug industry show substantial release reductionsof chemicalsknown to be highly toxic to public health and ecosystems? This analysis used the Toxics Release Inventory TRI data from 1988 to 1993. Given the trends, plausible driving forces for the observed changes in toxic chemical releases in the drug industry over the past five years are discussed. The study contends that the following four driving forces are most important in the illustrated development:the TRI, a publicly available database, can be used to reveal severe polluters; the TRI increased corporations' awareness of effective toxic chemical releases and may be used to reflect corporations' communicated commitment to sustainable development; federal and state environmental protection agencies enhance pollution prevention activities in a co-operative manner; and finally, since the late 1980s, the awareness of the business benefits of pollution prevention continuously increases.     

Industrial Development Versus Environmental Conservation at Local Scale: A Case Study from Southeastern Spain

Local scale has an important role in environmental management. In Spain, rapid industrialization has occurred in the last three decades, leading to substantial changes in socioeconomic relations and resulting in significant environmental degradation. This paper describes the environmental status of the township of Sax (Alicante, in southeast Spain), which has passed from agriculture to industrial manufacturing in 50 years. The human population has grown exponentially during the second half of the 20th century, with a 91% increase from 1955 to 1995, coinciding with strong growth in manufacturing (factories increased fivefold in the period 1955–1976) and important changes in the working population and land use. Illegal rubbish dumps, water pollution, forest fires, erosion, and degradation of wildlife habitats are the main outcomes of these dramatic socioeconomic and demographic changes. The administration has focused on the control of water pollution and waste management, while nongovernmental organizations have concentrated on the prevention of forest fires and the development of environmental education programs. These measures are insufficient to manage current environmental degradation, and an environmental management plan for the study area is discussed. Increasing effort in waste management and industrial wastewater control, changes in land-use policy, and the creation of an advisory committee to increase public participation in decision-making have been identified as environmental target objectives for the coming years.     

川化股份有限公司循环经济竞争力评估研究

循环经济建设是从根本上缓解资源环境短缺与经济快速发展之间的尖锐矛盾的有效模式。本文对四川省发展循环经济建设成效较显著的试点企业——川化股份有限公司进行基于循环经济的企业竞争力评估。通过建立企业循环经济竞争力评估指标体系,采用数学模糊评估模型,系统分析了企业的基于循环经济的竞争力水平。报告的评估成果显示,经5年的企业循环经济建设,截止2009年,川化股份有限公司基于循环经济的企业竞争力总体处于“强”的水平。     

我国民营企业对美国直接投资的空间分布特征研究——以华为技术有限公司为例

自2005年以来,中国对外直接投资快速增长,美国是中国直接投资的重要东道国。而我国民营企业以其产权明晰、机制灵活、运作高效等优势成为我国对美国直接投资中最具发展潜力和最活跃的一部分。根据国家商务部提供的数据,对我国民营企业对美国直接投资的现状、投资的行业分布、投资的方式、投资的空间分布等进行了分析,并以我国最大的民营企业华为技术有限公司为例,研究其在美国的直接投资空间分布特征,从而为我国民营企业在美国直接投资的区位选择提供参考依据。     

Case study: Voluntary agreements in environmental management at formosa plastics

Three agreements addressing environmental and safety performance, zero discharge of wastewater and sustainable development have been signed between Formosa Plastics Corporation, Texas (Formosa Plastics), and its former adversaries. The key element of the agreements is the improvement of the affected community. These agreements go beyond public information and beyond procedures for public participation. They have led to meaningful public participation and partnership and are unique in this respect. The following article explores the setup and results of each agreement. The initial agreement, the Blackburn-Formosa Agreement, signed in 1992, set the stage for subsequent partnerships. The Wilson-Formosa Zero Discharge Agreement followed in 1994. Finally, the Sustainable Development Agreement was signed by Jim Blackburn, Diane Wilson, and Formosa Plastics in late 1997. These agreements have proven very successful in avoiding disputes and helping improve company performance in environmental and safety issues. In many respects, these agreements offer a model for others in working with an affected community.     

Case study: Risk prioritization and ISO 14001 at Acushnet rubber company

Increasingly, companies are striving to prioritize environmental management decisions based on risk and perceived impact. This case study on Acushnet Rubber begins a four‐part series profiling environmental decision making at leading companies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

POEMS: A Case Study of an Italian Wine-Producing Firm

Over the last decade, researchers paid much attention to concepts such as Design for Environment, Extended Producer Responsibility, Responsible Chain Management, and Eco-design. Many management tools and standards (such as EMAS, ISO 14001, LCA, EPD, Ecolabel) have been developed to support companies in the evaluation and management of their environmental performance and to pursue continual environmental improvement. The more recent development of the aforesaid fields looks at interorganizational environmental management. Such an approach can complement the more traditional intraorganizational corporate environmental management approaches and tools. A typical example of this new trend is the Product Oriented Environmental Management System (POEMS), which represents the natural evolution of the above-mentioned tools, combining the features of EMS, EPD and Ecolabel. Although the structure of the POEMS is still not standardized, many experimental applications have yet been carried out in Europe. In developing a POEMS, a company needs to determine all of the environmental impacts caused at all life-cycle stages of the product and, ideally, to reduce all of them through a continual commitment. The aim of the present study was to perform a survey of the developed POEMS models and to analyze their peculiarities and drawbacks in the application to Small and Medium Enterprises. A case study regarding an Italian winery company is presented. The study analyzes the structure and the activities of the examined firm, in order to estimate direct and indirect environmental impacts following a life-cycle approach. The chosen functional unit is a 0.75-L bottle of red wine. The article also suggests some solutions to improve the environmental performances of the firm’s products.     

Mapping of Air Emissions: A Case Study for Mauritius

Emissions modeling provides a basis for reducing greenhouse gases, improving air quality, and planning for healthy development     

Urban Stream Rehabilitation: A Design and Construction Case Study

/ This paper describes the fundamental design features, and construction methods and sequence, of a rehabilitation project on a small suburban creek in Moscow, Idaho, USA. A meandering channel pattern was reestablished for approximately 280 m of straightened, dredged channel, a new floodplain was excavated, and the new riparian zone was replanted. The new stream channel was sized to accommodate an estimated natural bankfull discharge ( approximately 5.6 cms), and floodplain design attempted to match the conveyance of the old enlarged channel (14-20 cms). The project was coordinated by a local nonprofit environmental organization, and the design and construction were tailored to donated materials and a largely volunteer labor force. A high-magnitude flood event (ca. 50-year recurrence interval) six months after construction had no significant impact on the newly constructed channel and revetments, but underscored the need for important detailing of the structures. The use of volunteer labor, while entailing certain benefits, complicates project planning and construction. The most general lesson learned from this project is that sponsoring agencies and clients need to be informed of the many steps and sequencing of properly constructed, complex stream rehabilitation projects as well as the high time and cost requirements for these tasks. KEY WORDS: Stream corridor restoration; Channel design; Streambank revetments     

Assessing Landscape Health: A Case Study from Northeastern Italy

This article investigates the concept of biophysical landscape health for what are termed “highly governed landscapes.” It proposes a definition of landscape health along with a preliminary diagnostic model and methods. The idea of landscape health derives from the emerging integrative science of ecosystem health, which seeks to diagnose ecosystem condition as humans diagnose human health. Highly governed landscapes, such as the reclaimed areas of coastal northeastern Italy, are landscapes that have been subject to even greater degrees of human manipulation than normal cultural landscapes. These highly altered landscapes are not easily served by existing environmental paradigms and concepts of health are seen to have numerous advantages. This paper condenses a broader investigation of landscape health into three main sections. A brief review of the literature is followed by a case study, which details two different phases of landscape transformation in the Lower Piave area of northeastern Italy. A definition and general parameters of biophysical landscape health are then presented after this background stage. Some key parameters of biophysical health include absence of distress and risk factors, sustainability, biodiversity, resilience, and balance. For certain parameters, a preliminary landscape health diagnostic framework is presented that includes potential diagnostic methods and thresholds based on findings from this case study. At the paper's conclusion, a summary diagnostic model is presented, which suggests a process needed to implement landscape health assessment into practice.     

Science-Driven Management of Protected Areas: A Philippine Case Study

The lack of scientific baseline information hinders appropriate design and management of protected areas. To illustrate the value of science to management, we consider five scenarios for the 202.0 km² Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Philippines: (1) closure to human activities, (2) and (3) two levels of increase in unplanned human activities, (4) creation of a forest corridor and (5) additional allocation of land for permanent or shifting agriculture. We then use habitat-specific bird density estimates to simulate the net effect of each scenario on 18 focal bird populations. Closure has significant benefits—populations of five species are predicted to increase by >50 % and nine by >25 %, but two secondary forest flycatchers, including the endemic and ‘Vulnerable’ Palawan flycatcher, decline dramatically, while the creation of a 4.0 km² forest corridor yields average increases across species of 2 ± 4 % (SD). In contrast, heavier unplanned park usage produces declines in all but a few species, while the negative effects of an extra 2.0 km² of shifting cultivation are 3–5 times higher than for a similar area of permanent agriculture and affect species whose densities are highest in primary habitats. Relatively small changes within the park, especially those associated with agricultural expansion, has serious predicted implications for local bird populations. Our models do not take into account the full complexities of bird ecology at a site, but they do provide park managers with an evidence base from which to make better decisions relating to biodiversity conservation obligations which their parks are intended to meet.     

A Systematic Framework for the Design and Implementation of a Quality Management Practice: The Case of a Consulting Engineering Company

Company productivity and competitiveness in today's marketplace requires creative design, innovation, and the reduction of nonconformances, which require costly rework and can damage a firm's reputation with its customers and potential customers. Using the International Organisation of Standardization's (ISO) 9000 and 14000 series of standards, the authors of this article walk readers through the rigorous process of obtaining upper management buy‐in and sponsorship and engaging workers in a bottom‐up approach to establish the procedures necessary to perform world‐class engineering services.     

城市新区都市旅游开发实证研究——以宁波市鄞州新城为例

我国城市化日益加快,但众多城市新区在建设和发展过程中其旅游功能尚未完全发挥出来。城市新区在建设过程中会创造众多的旅游资源,如商贸街区、标志性建筑或景观、文化场馆、体育场馆等,它们对本地市民和外来游客均具有一定的观赏、游憩、商贸和文化价值。鄞州新城作为我国东南沿海城市新区建设的代表,具有发展都市旅游得天独厚的资源和区位条件。对其都市旅游的现状及存在问题进行了细致分析,提出打造都市RBD、引入低碳旅游、植入文化元素、增加购物比重等对策与措施。     

Case study: Life‐cycle design strategies at the saturn corporation

This case study is the third in a four‐part series profiling environmental decision making at leading companies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.