Environmental management systems in further and higher education institutions

Many people within the further and higher education sector in the United Kingdom (UK) have now accepted that responsible environmental management of their day to day site operations is necessary, but they are still unclear as to what lengths they need to go to obtain marketplace credibility. Many people in other sectors believe that the only way to achieve real credibility in this area is to become accredited by the new British Standard BS7750 Specification for Environmental Management Systems. Others are expressing concern that such systems are cumbersome to operate and generate a needless level of bureaucracy and additional unwelcome paperwork.This paper briefly discusses the responsibilities of further and higher education institutions with regard to environmental management and outlines one possible alternative to the BS7750 approach, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Environment Initiative. It also outlines the approach taken by the University of Strathclyde over the past three years in the development of an environmental management manual for the Estates Management Department and the development of a system to control university-wide environmental management.In conclusion this paper will focus on the suitability of BS7750 systems within further and higher education institutions in comparison with the approach adopted in the CBI Environment Initiative.This paper was first presented at Global Forum '94 Academic Conference Towards a Sustainable Future: Promoting Sustainable Development, Manchester, UK.Mr K. McDonach is a research assistant and Dr P. Yaneske is Director in the Safety and Environmental Management Unit of the University of Strathclyde.     

Environmental management in the UK: The way ahead for business

Summary Increasingly stringent environmental lesislation and a growing consciousness of environmental issues within the community are spurring companies into adopting environmental improvement programmes. Enhanced environmental management not only ensures compliance with legislation but has other benefits, including reduced energy and waste disposal costs, improved public image, acess to green markets and lower insurance premiums. BS7750 and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme now offer businesses the opportunity to establish a systematic and accredited environmental management system which will serve as a yardstick of environmental quality.     

Preparing for ISO 14000: An assessment guide

With ISO 14000 expected to roll out in 1996, have you begun to evaluate how well your current environmental management policy, programs, procedures, and objectives conform to published national and evolving global Environmental Management System (EMS) standards?. The ISO expects to adopt a final standard by mid-1996 which specifies requirements for an EMS (e.g., ISO 14001). In addition, national EMS standards have already been developed and published by organizations such as The British Standards Institute and, in the United States, NSF International, for example, BS 7750 and NSF 110–1995, respectively. This article shows how managers can begin assessing their operations to prepare for these new standards and improve overall environmental performance.     

Case study: Sonoco's materials reclamation improves environmental performance through quality-based management

Multinational corporations are facing increasing pressures and finding stronger incentives to integrate environmental management into their overall business strategies. National and local environmental regulations are becoming more stringent in Europe, Japan, East and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and many developing countries, and international voluntary standards of environmental management are being endorsed by a growing number of governments. Multinational firms are embracing these standards not only to assure the public of their concern for environmental protection, but also to enhance their competitiveness in international markets. The British Standard 7750, the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), and the ISO 14000 series are setting new guidelines for effective corporate environmental management. Beyond complying with local and national laws, corporations now have wider latitude in how they adapt their business practices to these emerging environmental management standards. In order to capitalize on that creative latitude, companies must have corporate cultures and internal management systems that allow them to respond quickly and effectively to changing environmental requirements. Exemplary corporate environmental performance is usually related to strong and progressive leadership, a culture that recognizes the importance of environmental protection, and the willingness to operate by quality-based management principles. This article describes how one international corporation, Sonoco, in responding successfully to changing environmental pressures to reclaim and recycle its products in the wake of the solid waste crisis in the United States and more stringent environmental regulations in Europe, used its management competencies and corporate culture to turn what could have been serious barriers to expansion of its core businesses into new opportunities. By adopting a bold materials reclamation program, Sonoco was able to overcome potential limitations on its operations in the United States and abroad and to develop new business segments that benefited the company and the environment.     

构建流域水质综合监测体系的初探

流域水质监测是流域水环境改善与污染防治的重要前提,为流域水环境管理提供了必要的技术支撑。目前环保、水利、流域管理等众多部门均承担了一定范围内的流域水质监测工作,但由于监测方法、取样断面等方面的差异,各监测机构的数据往往存在较大差异,不利于流域水质现状评价、预警预报和水环境的综合管理。本文以长江流域的跨省界断面为研究对象,对构建流域水质综合监测体系进行初探研究,对于确保流域水质安全具有重要意义。     

区域污染源统计分析系统的设计与应用

区域污染源的管理和治理既涉及到广域的地理空间实体又涉及到众多相关的环境因素。改善区域环境质量需要高效适用的空间分析技术,统计分析与GIS平台有效集成是解决区域环境各类问题的突破口和发展趋势。本论文及其工作构建了基于GIS的区域污染源统计分析系统,并在平台基础上以北京市某区域的环境污染分析为例,对该区域的主要污染因子与相关变量进行了尝试性的分析评价。为区域环境管理及环境质量改善打造了高效的数字化管理平台与可借鉴的管理技术。     

全面加强环境监测质量管理工作初探

环境监测是环境管理和决策的重要技术支持,环境监测质量管理工作与环境监测整体发展不相适应的矛盾日益突出。目前环境监测质量管理工作中存在的机构制度不健全、质量管理技术发展缓慢、现场监测质量管理薄弱等问题,可通过完善制度、转变工作方式、发挥质量监督员作用、加强现场监测质量管理、拓展质量管理范围等全面加强环境监测质量管理工作的措施得到解决。     

Integrated economic-ecological analysis and evaluation of management strategies on nutrient abatement in the Rhine basin

Management of river basins involves the making of informed choices about the desired levels of economic activities and ecosystem functioning in the catchment. Information on the economic and ecological effects of measures as well as their spatial distribution is therefore needed. This paper proposes the following instruments to support decision-making in river basins: (1) the linking of models and indicators to describe the economic and ecological effects of management actions and their spatial distribution and (2) an extended evaluation framework that aims to evaluate management actions on three objectives for sustainable river management. These are cost-effectiveness, spatial equity, and environmental quality. This paper illustrates the potential of these instruments for river basin management by a case-study on nutrient management in the Rhine basin. In this case-study four nutrient abatement strategies are formulated, based on policies of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine and the North Sea Commission. These strategies are analysed and evaluated on their contribution to the three management objectives. Results show that none of these strategies score highest on cost-effectiveness, spatial equity and environmental quality simultaneously. It appears that cost-effectiveness is in conflict with environmental quality, whereas spatial equity and cost-effectiveness show quite close correspondence. This means that a trade-off has to be made between costs and spatial equity on the one hand, and environmental standards on the other hand. This paper offers a framework to make these trade-offs more explicit and provides quantitative information on cause-effect relationships, economic and environmental effects and the spatial distribution of these effects for various management strategies. This information can be particularly useful in the development of compromises required to establish international agreement and co-operation.     

Environmental quality management in the united states in the 1980s and beyond: An appraisal

Summary This paper presents an overview of: (1) the institutional context of the environmental pollution sector of environmental quality management; (2) accomplishments and problems in some representative subsectors; and (3) prospects. The author describes levels of government within the US federal system and lists types of organizational structures, explains the division of responsibilities for managing environmental quality among legislative bodies/executive agencies, state and federal courts, and state public utility commission, and notes the significant role of nongovernmental environmental groups. In order to assess both the past performance and present status of environmental quality management in the United States, Bower cites some specific and generic problems in such subsectors as water quality, soil erosion, air quality, and hazardous wastes. He goes on to characterize recent approaches and their results using these observations as a basis for an appraisal of future prospects in the context of intermedia impacts and multiple modes of impact on various species. Remarks prepared for presentation at theColloque International, Les Politiques de l'Environnement Face à la Crise, Paris, 10–12 January, 1984. Blair T. Bower, a Registered Civil Engineer, is a Consultant in Residence at Resources For the Future in Washington, DC. He has worked extensively in the US and abroad on environmental quality management with such international organizations as the UN, WHO, OAS, and OECD. His current involvements include consultancies with the US National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration, Strategic Assessments Branch/Oceans Assessment Division; as Leader for Utilization of Coastal Water Problem Areas/Analyzing Biospheric Change Programme, International Federation of Institutes for Advances Study; and with the Office of Policy Analysis/US Environmental Protection Agency. An early supporter of integrated approaches to natural resource/environmental planning and management and to residuals disposal, Mr Bower is the author of many publications on a wide range of environmental topics and management options.     

Big society,little justice? Community renewable energy and the politics of localism

This paper challenges “Big Society (BS) Localism”, seeing it as an example of impoverished localist thinking which neglects social justice considerations. We do this through a critical examination of recent turns in the localist discourse in the UK which emphasise self-reliant communities and envisage a diminished role for the state. We establish a heuristic distinction between positive and negative approaches to localism. We argue that the Coalition Government's BS programme fits with a negative localist frame as it starts from an ideological assumption that the state acts as a barrier to community-level associational activity and that it should play a minimal role. “BS localism” (as we call it) has been influential over the making of social policy, but it also has implications for the achievement of environmental goals. We argue that this latest incarnation of localism is largely ineffective in solving problems requiring collective action because it neglects the important role that inequalities play in inhibiting the development of associational society. Drawing upon preliminary research being undertaken at the community scale, we argue that staking environmental policy success on the ability of local civil society to fill the gap left after state retrenchment runs the risk of no activity at all.     

TQM and the cost of environmental quality

Because management is driven largely by financial concerns, determining the cost of environmental quality is a critical step in developing an environmental TQM program for which management will actively demonstrate commitment and support. Costs of environmental quality can be grouped into three categories: failure, prevention, and appraisal. The total cost of environmental quality can be used as a benchmark to monitor the level of environmental quality and to justify the redirection of resources.     

环境监测质量管理实践与探讨

环境监测质量管理是环境监测实验室的重要工作之一,是保证环境监测数据“准确性、精密性、代表性、完整性、可比性”的重要手段。在总结环境监测实验室（二级站）环境监测质量管理实践经验的基础上,针对管理过程中存在的领导重视程度不够、体系文件宣贯不到位、技术人员上岗证考核不系统、现场采样和样品管理质控有缺陷等方面问题,提出了强化制度落实、加强技术培训、试行全过程质控等对策建议。     

GIS噪声环境监测与管理

环境噪声是评价城市环境质量的一个重要指标,但噪声污染与水污染、大气污染不同,不能通过"资源化"、"化害为利"等方式来治理,因而要解决噪声污染就必须准确地获取环境噪声信息,并对其影响进行科学评价,以及时进行噪声治理决策规划和管理。本文探讨了GIS在噪声环境监测与管理中的应用。     

Hybrid power supply solutions for off-grid green wireless networks

Increasing deployment of cellular networks across the globe is pushing the energy consumption in cellular networks at an exceptional rate. The integration of renewable energy (RE) harvesting technology into future mobile networks has the potential to positively cope with environmental contamination and ensure self-energy sustainability as a means to decrease fossil fuel consumption. Diesel generator (DG) in conjunction with on-site RE harvester has emerged as an economic and extent efficient option where commercial grid supply is not viable. This paper is focused on the cost aware energy management framework addressing to least net present cost (NPC) for the envisioned hybrid powered green cellular base stations (BSs) considering tempo-spatial traffic dynamics. In such wireless networks, solar photovoltaic modules are considered as a primary energy source, while the DG and energy storage device are kept as the standby supply in case of inadequate solar energy to ensure zero outage. A comprehensive simulation-based investigation is carried out in the context of downlink Long-Term Evolution (LTE) cellular networks for evaluating cost-efficiency and reliability performance under a wide range of network settings. Particularly, this paper examines the energy yield, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost analysis based on the optimal architecture of Remote Radio Head-enabled LTE BS. Moreover, wireless network performance in terms of throughput, energy efficiency gain, and radio efficiency is thoroughly investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. Numerical results demonstrate a substantial reduction of carbon footprints with minimum NPC while satisfying the quality of service requirements.     

关于秦皇岛市创建国家环境保护模范城市的对策与建议

创建国家环保模范城市是提高城市管理水平,改善城市环境质量,实施城市经济可持续发展的重要举措,本文结合秦皇岛市创建国家环保工作的当前进展,客观分析总结了创建工作存在的差距和面临的任务,对下步工作提出了意见和建议。     

区块链技术在环境监测中的应用研究

我国环境监测质量控制体系已经基本建立,但人为数据造假等违规违法行为仍时有发生,现有技术和管理手段无法有效防止。本文通过分析区块链技术的特点,梳理环境监测数据质量控制面临的问题,针对人为影响环境监测数据质量的主要手段,研究区块链保障环境监测数据质量的技术方案,提出基于区块链智能数据质量控制器改造现有监测系统的方案,并在北京市开展了试点示范,验证了区块链提高环境监测数据质量的可行性。     

加强全过程管理提升环境监测质量

环境监测是环境保护的基本工作,是环境管理的耳目和手段。做好环境监测的管理,提高环境监测的质量极为重要。文章从环境监测管理工作实际出发,介绍了环境监测过程管理,分析了样品采集、样品管理、实验室分析等影响环境监测质量的主要因素,结合环境监测日常运行管理,对环境监测进行全过程分析,提出了监测人员综合素养、设备设施、全过程质量控制等质量管理措施,以持续提升环境监测水平,促进生态文明和经济社会的共同发展。     

环境质量管理新模式:启程与挑战

污染物总量控制是我国近10年环境保护中一个重要的治理模式。但在环境容量"硬约束"、公众对良好环境质量"硬需求"的大背景下,我国的环境管理应逐步从总量控制转向以环境质量改善为核心,改善环境质量已经成为环保工作的出发点和落脚点。2015年,随着新《环境保护法》的实施和"三大战役"的先后打响,法律保障、行动计划、政府问责、质量监测等逐步就绪,环境质量管理的基础手段不断夯实。2016年,环境质量管理新模式将全面启动,建议从强化公众环境健康、实行区域流域总量控制、改革生态环保管理体制、强化市场机制、推行排污许可证制度、加强信息公开和公众参与等方面着手,全面推进环境质量管理转型与创新。     

从《“十三五”生态环境保护规划》看环境监管的转变

"十三五"时期是以环境质量为核心的生态文明建设的重要时期,完善环境监管制度转变是推进生态文明制度体系建设的重要内容。本文研究提出了加快实现环境监管的三个重要转变:环境管理向环境治理的转变,环境监管能力向环境治理能力现代化的转变和环境监管方式向环境综合监管的转变。另外,本文还对三个转变如何落地提出了建议。