Is industrial pollution inevitable?

Industry plays an important role in the process of economic development in

the world, and it enhances the economic welfare. Hence the way in which society
will develop in the future is totally dependent on how the growth which industry
generates is distributed. Then Industries are also a major consumer of natural
resources and at the same time a major contributor to the overall pollution load
globally. Therefore the industrial sector generates both traditional pollutants and
newly recognized pollutants for example organic substances, sulfur dioxide,
particulates, nutrients and toxic substances. As a result there is a wide range of
environmental impacts created from industries. These pollutants from industries
are divided into three major categories namely gas, solid and liquid. Therefore
industries should have particular environmental responsibilities in terms of plant
location and design and environmental pollution, vibration and noise control,
waste disposal, occupational health and safety aspects, and long range aspects
and long range planning.

One of the strategies which can be used to minimize the waste stream and
maximize the cost saving is waste minimization; it provides companies with true
sustainable advantages in the form of economical environmental and social
benefits. Therefore Waste minimization refers to strategies that are aiming to
prevent waste through upstream interventions. This strategy is mainly focusing on
optimizing the resource and energy use and lowering the toxicity levels during the
manufacture. For instance representatives from each area of operation can form
‘green teams’ in order to communicate ideas and progress up to senior leadership
and down to department employees, ensuring a comprehensive approach to
waste minimization throughout the faculty. Therefore it is not only considered as
a best management practice but it is also the law for manufactures regulated
under United States resource conservation and recovery act (RCRA). This states
that all large quantity generators of hazardous waste must have a formal waste
minimization plan in place. As during a year the ministry in india has received
more than 250 complaints regarding pollution caused by industries, the
complaints were mostly related to pollution being caused in air, water, land and
noise resulting in degradation of the eco system, some of the complaints were
also related to the discharge of untreated chemicals contaminating water bodies,
land and ground water. Hence minimizing waste often provides economic
benefits such as inputs being efficient in order to reduce purchases of raw
materials; gradually manufactures will see the reduction of waste spend as the
volume of non product output decreases. As a result reduction in hazardous
waste can have the effect of reducing the overall toxicity of the manufacturing
process and the final product; this may cause fewer employees and consumers’
exposure to toxins and an improvement in workplace health, because when
hazardous heavy metals are discharged to the environment it causes heath
damages and these leads to lower employee satisfaction. In addition waste
minimization is one of the strategies adopted for minimizing the industrial
pollution, the main objective here is to assist the small and medium scale
industries in adaptation of cleaner production practices, so far 115 waste
minimization circles have been established trough out India, implementation of
this project has helped in identification of more than 200 options for resource and
energy conservation in various small scale industries. Similarly the potential
environmental benefits include reduction in carbon, air and water emissions and
conservation of natural resources, which is associated with raw material
extraction and waste disposal. Likewise consumer’s preferences are also shifting
towards products or manufacturers with environmental benefits. Consumers are
willing to pay premium price for products which are environment friendly. Often
in many cases, waste can be minimized but it cannot always be eliminated. Waste
is a natural product of research and testing, it is advisable to manage all wastes as
efficient as possible. The management of chemical waste is most efficient when
the waste is properly segregated which also helps in the reduction of disposal
cost.

Secondly recycling industrial waste is another strategy which could be used

to eliminate industrial pollution. Many of us feel overwhelmed by the term
“recycling” it is a form of waste management that involves converting waste and
other used materials into reusable products, recycling helps to reduce energy
usage, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce air and water
pollution from landfills by reducing the need of waste disposal land eventually
reduce the green house gases emissions. Recycling reduces the amount of
garbage produced or waste that would otherwise go into landfills; therefore
recycling slows the creation of landfills and reduces much of resulting pollution.
Yet by recycling of the industrial waste such as plastic and chemicals which go a
long way towards cutting back on levels of pollution, as these waste products are
then reused rather than being thrown away recklessly. Moreover another great
benefit of recycling is that it protects our environment in the most balanced way.
Such as recycled paper are being manufactured from specific trees to reduce
deforestation. Although recycling plays a bigger role in reducing the rate of
pollution, but unfortunately recycling still is just a small part of long-term success.
Yet recycling is mostly common in schools and homes and has not hit a bigger
milestone, for instance it has not been wholly used at local industries or used at a
global stage. As a result conservation of trees at school is incomparable to the
massive destruction of trees and oil spills happening at industrial levels. However
recycling minimizes global warming and its grave impacts, during waste disposal a
huge amount of waste gets combusted which leads to emission of vast
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur and nitrogen which contributes
to climate change and global warming. In addition recycling also opens up job
opportunities from a long chain of recycling plants as all the recycling activities
are performed by humans, so this will trigger an explosion of opportunities.
Despite recycling sites are always unhygienic and unsafe, consequently the
locations where every manner of waste is piled provides a nice ground for the
formation of debris an spread of infectious diseases thus the full recycling process
poses health risks for dedicated individuals responsible for recycling the waste
products. Since knowing the pros and cons of recycling it is very vital that if this
process is carried out properly then it can bring immeasurable benefits to the
environment and humans. Despite recycling plays a big role in reducing energy
consumption, which is very important for large scale production like mining and
refining. Although recycling plays a bigger role in reducing the rate of pollution
but the process has not been widely spread and developed.
 In conclusion it appears that waste minimization minimizes the use of
resources, and it improves the production process with minimum waste
production and the basic components needed to adopt this is to change in
‘process technology’ and change in ‘input material’ but since this process
conserves a lot of water and energy for the procession of the waste so the
industries are not attracted to it. However some of the industries are now in a
position to achieve the goal of waste minimization in effective ways. Slowly it is
gaining much attention in medium and small scale industries. Whereas on the
other hand recycling the industrial waste plastic and chemicals also has many
advantages like conserving natural resources as recycling is a way of conserving
existing raw materials and protecting them for future use, for example recycled
papers are continually utilized in order to reduce deforestation. Thus recycling old
materials into reusable products reduces the possibility of choking of landfills, this
is beneficial as it helps to minimize the land and water pollution because landfills
contribute mightily to environment degradation. Nevertheless if you ever go to
any waste recycling site you will see unhygienic, unhealthy and un slightly
conditions. The harmful chemicals from these wastes are dangerous enough to
spread infectious diseases. Moreover the quality of products manufactured from
recycled waste may not be on good quality, this makes products of recycled waste
less durable and low priced. To sum up it seems that waste minimization is
focusing on optimizing resources and energy use and lowering the toxicity levels
during the manufacture. Alternatively in recycling the waste products are reused
rather than just being thrown away, waste is transformed into reusable materials.

In conclusion the industries department should consider one of the

strategies mentioned above in order to fight industrial pollution, for instance
industries can promote setting up of industries in a manner so that the waste of
one industry becomes the raw materials for another and recycling industries,
equally there are also many reasons for implementing a waste minimization
strategy. The benefits range from cost savings to risk avoidance to carbon
reductions and more, with so many gains the only thing that the manufacture has
to lose is waste. Therefore it seems that industrial pollution is inevitable if correct
procedure is attempted.
Sources:-

1. www.conserve-energy-future.com
2. www.safeenviorment.wordpress.com
3. www.sciencing.com
4. E-14-02-00.pdf
5. Waste minimizationinsight.pdf
6. Chap-05.pdf
7. Chap711.pdf
8. Ip.pdf
9. Waste minimization plan.pdf