Evaluating the impacts of packaging policy in The Netherlands

Packaging materials are one of the largest contributors to municipal solid waste production. This paper evaluates the material impacts packaging policy in The Netherlands in the period 1986-2007. Five different voluntary agreements were implemented over this period to reduce the environmental impact of packaging. The analysis shows that among the investigated indicators, population statistically is the most robust indicator to estimate the packaging demand. A baseline is developed on the basis of population growth in The Netherlands, and is used as reference to evaluate policy impacts. The policy periods are evaluated on the basis of overall effectiveness compared to the baseline and target achievement. Dutch packaging policies have been effective to reduce the total packaging volume until 1999. After 2000, packaging consumption increased more rapidly than the baseline, suggesting that policy measures have not been effective. The largest increase in packaging recycling rates was achieved during the first policy period. More clear and consistent packaging policy measures and targets could improve the effectiveness of policies.     

Towards a systematic approach of effect prediction: A handbook as guide and aid for environmental prediction. A review

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is based on the results of effect prediction. In general, there is much diversity in the expertise in the field of environmental prediction between the different categories of actors involved in EIA. In practice it became obvious in The Netherlands that the accessibility and comprehensibility of existing relevant information was insufficient. For improvement, a series of systematic handbooks on effect prediction, useful for all categories of actors, has been developed in The Netherlands. In this way, the selection of effect prediction methods to be used in concrete circumstances is improved and speeded up for all parties involved in environmental prediction. After a discussion of the purpose of the handbook, the realization and structure of the series are presented. Finally, the use and (potential) benefits of the handbooks for environmental management are indicated.     

智慧环保建设评价指标体系研究

随着信息技术在政务、环保等领域的广泛应用,智慧环保成为环境保护及环保信息化建设的重要方面。本研究以促进环境保护部及地方环境保护单位智慧环保建设为目标,在对比之前智慧环保定义的基础上,提出新一代智慧环保的定义,更加强调互联互通、业务协同、公众服务等方面,并且明确了智慧环保的三个应用目标。基于对智慧环保总体架构和目标内涵的解析,遵循指标具有代表性、可理解性、可采集性、可扩展性的原则,参考国家智慧环保建设相关政策文件要求以及智慧城市、电子政务绩效评价指标体系等相关文献,经过多次专家咨询建议,形成一套智慧环保建设评价指标体系,共包含4个维度、12个要素、42个指标。评价指标的提出对引导智慧环保建设有序发展、促进环保信息化发展具有重要意义。     

于GRI体系的机场企业环境信息披露研究

机场作为民航运输的关键节点和重要枢纽,肩负着服务区域经济的重要使命,同时也面临环境保护与可持续发展的巨大挑战。作为公共基础设施和城市形象窗口,机场上市公司具有披露环境信息的义务与责任。在充分研究国内机场上市公司环境信息披露制度背景的基础上,本研究借鉴全球报告倡议组织（GRI）发布的《可持续发展报告指南》（第四版）及机场运营者行业补充（GRI-AOSS）构建了适用于我国机场的环境信息披露评价指标体系,并利用公开数据对国内6家机场上市公司的环境信息披露情况进行了实际测评。结果表明：我国机场环境信息披露程度较低,存在内容简单、量化不足、质量下降等问题。机场上市公司环境信息披露亟待在法律法规层面进行系统规范。建议借鉴GRI等相关国际标准及成功经验,制定适用于我国的科学可行的环境信息披露标准和制度体系。     

The rise and fall of new knowledge interests in the Dutch environmental movement

Summary Since the late 1960s concern about the pollution of our physical environment has grown into a social and political issue. In this process of increasing awareness, environmental activists have played a catalysing role in most Western countries. Moreover the environmentalists formulated an alternative set of ideas and strategies concerning the production and use of knowledge. These new knowledge interests were organised around three dimensions: cosmology, technology, and the organisation of knowledge production. On the basis of a case-study of Dutch environmentalism this paper tries to demonstrate how the articulation of these new knowledge interests of international scope actually occurred in the particular Dutch national setting. The analysis shows that many of the ideas brought forward in the course of time by Dutch environmentalists have been imported from abroad, especially from the United States, Great Britain and West Germany. However, the specific ways in which Dutch environmentalists have defined the content of their own knowledge interests have depended very much on the particularities of the political culture and socio-economic climate of the Netherlands, as well as the internal dynamics within the various environmental groups themselves.Dr Jacqueline Cramer was until very recently a member of staff in the Department of Science Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam. She has now moved to the TNO Centre for Technology and Policy Studies, P.O. Box 541, 7300 AM, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. This paper forms part of a comparative study of the development of environmentalism in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands carried out in association with Ron Eyerman and Andrew Jamison of the University of Lund, Sweden.)     

建立我国环境民事纠纷仲裁制度刍议

目前,我国环境民事纠纷的处理方式主要有协商、调解和诉讼三种方式,这几种方式分别存在着一定的缺陷。环境仲裁是解决环境民事纠纷的一种良好方式,在某种程度上可以克服以上几种方式存在的一些缺陷,同这几种方式能起到一定的互补作用。文章介绍了环境民事纠纷仲裁制度的意义并分析了我国环境民事纠纷仲裁制度应具备的特点,力图为建立环境民事纠纷仲裁制度提出法律建议。     

Environmental in-service training: European issues and US comparisons

Summary This paper focuses on the emphasis placed on environmental considerations and values in the context of environmental in-service training programs for governmental personnel in England, Austria, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Netherlands. The paper is generally based on field research conducted in Europe during August 1979; issues were identified and comparisons were made with training programs in the United States. The major issues considered include: (1) early versus later emphasis, (2) resistance, (3) specialists and techno-scientific emphasis, (4) technique orientations, (5) lack of environmental administrative training, and (6) innovations.Despite various contrasts between European and United States environmental in-service training programs, there are some similarities. Many of these similarities center around a lack of emphasis on environmental training per se as well as on a lack of emphasis on environmental considerations and values because of various constraints, perceptions, and orientations. As developed nations with advanced governmental-technological systems in environmental affairs, their training programs are highly oriented toward these systems, and there is a lack of attention devoted to environmental aspects per se. The environmental titles and responsibilities do not automatically insure the incorporation of environmental considerations and values into the policy-making process with obvious training needs.European governments may adhere to a more legalistic, formal, and structured approach with less discretion available. But specialist and administrative personnel, as in the United States, are intimately involved in value judgments and decision-making in environmental affairs. Because of this, training programs have a special responsibility to educate personnel about environmental considerations and values to insure that the environmental public interest is adequately presented in the decision-making process, i.e., that they develop environmental competencies as well as governmental and technological ones on an interface basis.Dr Daniel H. Henning is Professor of Political Science and Distinguished Scholar Professor at Eastern Montana College. His interest and expertise is in the field of environmental training for government officials.     

Information requirements of integrated environmental policy experiences in the Netherlands

During the last few years in the Netherlands an integrated environmental policy has been developed. Solving environmental problems by means of effective and efficient solutions requires that the entire environmental cycle be considered in order to take all relevant compartments and aspects into account. Four different phases can be identified during the treatment of an environmental problem by management: recognition, formulation, solution, and control.Some qualitative and quantitative aspects of the information demand of environmental policy are explored. Special attention is given to the consequences of the integral approach in environmental policy in terms of information requirements. The process of information supply starts with an analysis of the demand. Subsequently data from the environmental cycle have to be selected, aggregated, and presented adequately. Further, integrated environmental policy puts increased demands on the associative power of environmental information systems.     

Coefficients of pollution: Interindustry linkage and pollution in Belgium

The paper briefly develops an approach toward using pollution coefficients from one country as an expedience for applying an environmental economic analysis to a separate, but similar country for which hard data may not be available.The Coefficients are defined based upon information available from the Netherlands and the United States in combination with input-output data available for Belgium. A combination of the various data results in a crude estimate of the direct and indirect pollution generation per unit activity in different sectors on a country-wide basis.     

The classic environmental issue

Summary Environmental issues are rarely straightforward. The construction of the Tellico Dam not only proved to be an exceptionally complex environmental problem but also developed into a major political issue in its own right. Following the discovery of a previously unknown species of fish near the site of the nearly completed dam, environmentalists began a long legal battle to halt construction work and protect the habitat of the fish. The United States Supreme Court found in their favour, but local political interests, through a series of clever manoeuvres, succeeded in exempting the dam from all legislation to secure its completion. The blatant use of political expediency to resolve an environmental dilemma makes the Tellico Dam a classic case study for students of environmental policy and decision-making.Graham Bennett was born in London in 1948 and graduated from the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia where he also completed his doctoral research. Since 1980 he has been working in The Netherlands as an Associate in the Department of Environmental Science at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. His research interests lie in the field of environmental management and he is currently involved in the study of environmental policy making in Britain and The Netherlands with particular reference to the control of pollution by local authorities.     

构建开放监督型工业源挥发性有机物排污申报平台的建议

工业源挥发性有机物(VOCs)以无组织排放为主,其排放量的确定和申报对现行的以有组织排放管理为主的环境管理模式提出挑战。为顺利实施VOCs排污收费、总量控制、环境影响评价、污染防治管理,切实降低环保部门收集信息、监督管理的成本,促进环境信息的真实性和有效性,我国迫切需要在国家层面结合环境信息公开和公众参与对VOCs排污申报管理模式进行研究和构建。在研究国内外排污申报平台的基础上,提出以VOCs管控为契机,整合环境统计、排污费征收等要求,建立面向企业的唯一开放监督型VOCs排污申报平台,采取数据联审制度,推行信息公开和开放型监督。通过申报功能、试算功能、监督审核功能、决策支持功能、减排技术评价功能、信息公开功能、资料和文件功能、培训和试报功能等平台八大功能的有机融合,建立公众、企业和政府相互监督、制约的三级VOCs排放监督管理新机制,为我国环境管理模式的更新升级提供参考。     

美国空气质量许可证制度及其启示

美国空气质量许可证制度是美国控制污染的一项重要的环保措施,经过几十年的实践已经形成了完善的框架和丰富的内涵,可为我国在建构和完善排污许可证制度的过程中作一借鉴。美国的空气质量许可证制度有周密细致的法律法规和先进成熟的科学技术作为支持,在理论上其性质定位为一种事先的全面的许可,在实践上许可证的执行强调企业的责任和技术的更新,并引入排污削减指标的交易政策把环保事业推向市场,这些都是我国的排污许可证制度所值得研究和学习的。     

Assessment of risk to aquatic biota from elevated salinity -- a case study from the Hunter River, Australia

A linear engineering project--i.e. a pipeline--has a potential long- and short-term impact on the environment and on the inhabitants therein. We must find better, less expensive, and less time-consuming ways to obtain information on the environment and on any modifications resulting from anthropic activity. We need scientifically sound, rapid and affordable assessment and monitoring methods. Construction companies, industries and the regulating government organisms lack the resources needed to conduct long-term basic studies of the environment. Thus there is a need to make the necessary adjustments and improvements in the environmental data considered useful for this development project. More effective and less costly methods are generally needed. We characterized the landscape of the study area, situated in the center and north-east of Argentina. Little is known of the ecology of this region and substantial research is required in order to develop sustainable uses and, at the same time, to develop methods for reducing impacts, both primary and secondary, resulting from anthropic activity in this area. Furthermore, we made an assessment of the environmental impact of the planned linear project, applying an ad hoc impact index, and we analyzed the different alternatives for a corridor, each one of these involving different sections of the territory. Among the alternative corridors considered, this study locates the most suitable ones in accordance with a selection criterion based on different environmental and conservation aspects. We selected the corridor that we considered to be the most compatible--i.e. with the least potential environmental impact--for the possible construction and operation of the linear project. This information, along with suitable measures for mitigating possible impacts, should be the basis of an environmental management plan for the design process and location of the project. We pointed out the objectivity and efficiency of this methodological approach, along with the possibility of integrating the information in order to allow for the application thereof in this type of study.     

土地利用规划环境影响评价的技术方法

评价方法的选择是实现土地利用规划环境影响评价的重点。借鉴项目环评和规划环评的某些方法,根据土地利用规划的层次、类型和阶段的特点,给出一个土地利用规划环评的方法集,并对几种主要方法的适用范围、优缺点进行分析,最后指出方法选择应注意的事项。     

浅谈我国土壤问题特征及国外土壤环境管理经验借鉴

随着我国社会经济的发展,土壤污染问题逐渐显露。而且我国土壤环境问题及污染防治工作在相当长时间内没有得到应有的重视,土壤污染问题逐渐暴露。加强土壤环境管理是我国土壤环境保护的一项基础性工作,具有十分重要的意义。本文研究分析我国与国外土壤环境问题的差异,总结美国、荷兰、日本三个国家土壤环境管理的经验及其借鉴意义,综合考虑我国发展国情、土壤环境问题特征及土壤环境管理基础,确定我国土壤环境管理要依靠"行政推动和法律监管相结合",提出一个涵盖土壤环境法律法规、标准、技术和装备能力建设(监测、监管、监理、风险管控)、人员队伍建设的适应我国土壤环境问题特征的综合环境管理体系。     

A regional environmental information system for analyzing and predicting the impacts of nonferrous mining on an agricultural environment

Mineral exploitation is a necessary component of China's economic development goals. Such exploitation brings with it the potential for serious environmental degradation. Careful environmental impact assessments of mining projects are required in order to implement China's environmental protection law and identify measures for protecting surrounding agricultural environments. This article describes an environmental information system that has been developed for the purpose of assisting with the environmental impact assessment of nonferrous mining operations with a particular focus on agricultural impacts. An application of the environmental information system to the Yongping copper mine, located in Jiangxi Province, is discussed. The role of the environmental information system is analyzing and predicting soil contamination from heavy metals and other types of impacts from this mining operation is described. The environmental information system is designed for implementation on an IBM PC/XT microcomputer. The experience gained from the Yongping copper mine application and the growing popularity of microcomputers in China indicate a significant potential for the effective use of a microcomputer-based environmental information system in other parts of China.     

Informing or Empowering? Disclosure in the United States and the Netherlands

This paper studies the emergence of one particular 'new' environmental policy instrument: disclosure of emission and pollution data. Disclosure is part of a relatively new sub-set of regulatory measures, based on monitoring, transparency, citizen-empowerment and accountability. It originated in the United States but has recently attracted international attention. The attractiveness of disclosure is obvious; it promises environmental improvement combined with strengthened environmental democracy and community empowerment. By analysing the experiences in the US, and the developments in the Netherlands, this paper seeks to assess the functioning and effectiveness of disclosure. The available empirical evidence suggests that disclosure has a positive impact on the environmental performance of industrial facilities as well as a democratising effect. It is argued that Dutch policy makers wrongfully assume that disclosure cannot work in the Netherlands. The consequence is that citizens are provided with little specific information that cannot be used to put pressure on polluters.     

Sharing environmental space: the role of law,economics and politics

The concept of ‘environmental space’ has been put forward as a means for providing specific meaning to sustainability. The concept combines the idea of the existence of environmental limits with a strong principle of environmental justice. It has been used as a basis for the development of sustainable action plans for many European countries, and has attracted political interest. However, thus far, the concept has found limited application by governments. The paper identifies and discusses several issues that need to be addressed for the environmental space approach to be implemented. Three main options for the institutionalization of the approach are discussed: within the legal‐constitutional framework (as rights and obligations), within the economic system (as environmental property rights), and through green planning (as specific objectives and targets contained in national environmental plans or strategies). The paper discusses the ability of the three options to deal with the issues identified, assessing their relative advantages and disadvantages, and to what extent these options are complementary. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the viability of the concept of ‘environmental space’.     

Power,responsibility and justice: a review of local stakeholder participation in European flood risk management

Over the past few decades, there has been an increasing interest in the active involvement of local stakeholders in the management of floods in Europe. Such involvement is seen as necessary as the management of floods becomes more complex. Management approaches now seek to include a range of potential measures to reduce risk (e.g. structural defence, spatial planning and property-level protection measures). Local stakeholder involvement is seen to be important because governments lack the capacities such as knowledge and funding required to deliver all these measures alone. This paper focuses on the implications that more participative approaches have on the fairness of European flood risk management (FRM). Studies of environmental justice are well placed to address this question because they are interested in who is included and excluded from decisions related to the distribution of environmental goods (resources) and bads (risks). Existing literature suggests that fair decision-making processes (procedural justice) can lead to fair distribution or resources and risks (distributive justice). This literature review of 30 peer-reviewed papers provides an analysis of justice and FRM by assessing practices of participation which are presented in the recent literature on local stakeholder involvement in FRM in England, Germany and the Netherlands. It was found that participation in practice generally focuses on transferring responsibility to the local level at the expense of power. This paper discusses the implications that this finding has for justice and synthesises potential ways forward based on recommendations of the reviewed literature.     

ISO 14001: A systems approach to managing environmental risk

The field of environmental risk management is relatively new and has developed rapidly over the past several years. There has been, however, a significant lack of integration of seemingly dissimilar disciplines into a meaningful context for top management risk decisions—until now. A new holistic approach, centered on the ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems, addresses many of the issues that have kept environmental risk management focused on technical rather than strategic issues. This article describes the risk management process, illustrates how the ISO 14001 standard can be used by organizations to integrate and assess technical environmental information, and shows how to place this information in a strategic risk management context. It also explains how key ISO 14001 concepts such as policy implementation, operational control, and continuous improvement form the basis of a systems approach, and why the systems approach is the preferred, cost-effective structure for controlling environmental risk.