The Pollution Prevention and Control Regime in the UK - Term Paper Example

Introduction The BAT concept, d as the 'Best Practicable Means', was first used in the Salmon Fishery Act of 1861 in UK national primary legislation. After this, it was used in 1992 for installing industries and factories in North-East Atlantic to ensure the protection of marine environment. Today, United States use BAT in the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. It is applied to prevent and control environmental hazards in the most effective and cost efficient behaviour. In other words, BAT is playing a major role in regulating and limiting industrial activities on discharging pollutants in air and water, controlling noise pollution thereby protecting human health and reducing environmental risks. 'Permitted processes have to show that they have applied the best available technique (BAT) approach when applying for an IPPC permit'. Considering this statement, a critical evaluation will be done in this paper on the ways pollution is regulated in England and Wales and whether or not BAT should be applied. Benefits of Applying BAT BAT is seen to be the most effective way of controlling and reducing the emission of hazardous pollutants into the atmosphere. Following points will throw light on the purpose of BAT (Scottish Executive, 2006) & (EC, 2003). It is the most effective approach, both economically and technically, in building, designing, maintaining and operating an industry. It advanced version, named 'BATRRT', provides the recovery, recycling and treatment of waste. It encourages the consumption of raw materials (including water) in the production process thereby maintaining their energy level. It promotes awareness in industrialists to use less hazardous chemicals and to implement the low- waste concept. It controls the emission of highly toxic pollutants into air and water thus reducing environmental risks. Examples of BAT Application A relevant example is of petrochemical company in South England .The requirement was to use butadiene from pure butenes for its down-stream processes knowing the fact that butadiene is a pollutant. Since it was a major requirement, they extracted butadiene from butenes using cuprous ammonium acetate. In doing so, 200 tones of ammonia and 140 tones of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were emitted in air. 300 tones of ammonia and 6 tones of copper ran into the systems purifying water (Slater, D.). Since these amounts were disturbing, the company decided to replace the butene extraction process with a new process named 'Catalytic Hydrogenation Process' which had zero emissions to air during the reduction of butadiene to butene. The results after changing the procedures showed that annually, only 7 tones of VOCs were released in air from valves of the system and less than 1 kilogram of hydrocarbons were released to water (Slater, D.). Another company owned by an American manufacturer of fluorescent tubes had to shift to a cleaner process in order to minimize emissions of VOCs in air. The tubes, coated with phosphor, lost 500 tones of xylene in air. It took 30 years for the company to design and implement a cleaner process that would reduce the environmental risks. A water-based carrier system was installed in the UK factory. As s result, only 1.25 tones of ammonia were lost in air annually (Slater, D.). Pollution Regulation in England and Wales In 2008, a consultation plan on 'The Pollution Inventory 2009-2011' for pollution regulation in England and Wales was passed by the Environmental Agency aiming to improve environmental conditions in UK (EA, 2008). The aim of Pollution Inventory (PI) is to reduce all the sources of pollution caused by the industrial activities by (EA, 2008): Warning the industrialists about the pollution caused from industrial activities so that they realise the responsibility of being a good citizen and encouraging them to apply and use environmental- friendly procedures in installing and operating industries. Supporting common people to gain information about pollution caused by the usage of harmful substances both in their local areas and nationally. They will be encouraged to register complaints against such environmental violations. In this way, pollutant discharge will be minimized to a great extent. Helping the government to achieve its national and international obligations on controlling and preventing pollution. Encouraging the government to take protective measures for both the environmental and human health by following the regulation of industries done every 3 to 4 years. One of the main benefits of PI will be to compare the emission of pollutants from various sites and knowing which site in England and Wales needs regulation the most. PI will be used by the industrialists to report the government individually about the chemicals, compound and radioactive substances used and emitted in production (EA, June 2008). All the additions or removal of substances in production process will be reported to the government every three years. This will ensure that a particular change in information will have to continue for three years and any other change will be restricted. For instance, it is estimated that by 2010, 30 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like Chloroprene, Bromoethene, and Nitropropane etc will be removed from the Pollution Inventory list (EA, 2008). 7 Substances like Chromium, Iron and Chlorine etc will be added which are major water pollutants (EA, 2008). This data will have relevance for the next 3 years. Uncertainty Issue Though PI seems to be an attractive approach, uncertainty still exists in its implementation. According to the 'Incineration Activities Guidance Notes (EA, 2000)' by the Environmental Agency, uncertainty will arise in reporting the actual amounts of emissions. For example, if the level of reported emissions increases from one year to the next year and the reporting has to be done after every three years without changes, uncertain results will be submitted showing that the level of emissions every year was 10% whereas the actual level of emission will be 20% (EA, 2000). This uncertainty needs to be resolved. To enforce maximum prevention and control of pollution in environment, BAT should be applied England and Wales as well. Applications of BAT to Industrial Activities in England and Wales BAT should be applied to processes followed by the industries in England and Wales for pollution regulation and preventing human health. Following points, with examples, will illustrate BAT application. Coal is the major feed material in production process and its carbon fumes are extremely hazardous. Other sources of carbon in an industry are coke breeze and carbon-bearing steel mills waste from blast furnaces, basic oxygen furnaces and sinter dust. For instance, when going through a process, all the iron oxides are converted into direct iron thereby releasing several poisonous gases in air and waste in water. So to avoid this, an air-based direct smelting technology can be used to produce iron. It is very beneficial for the iron makers because it hot iron without using coal or coke as feed materials (SC). Alternative processes such as direct smelting - extracting iron from iron ore, Pelletization - melting and moulding a material in a sphere etc. should be planned and operated with less environmental impacts (SC). Water should be used to an extent that it does not get wasted or polluted. Feed materials used for production should be reviewed and used carefully so as to reduce emissions and environmental risks. Any material causing more emissions should be replaced by the other with fewer effects. For example, in most mills, coke breeze is replaced by anthracite. Contaminated materials should be refined by removing the contaminant. For example, removing oils from mill scales (SC). Conclusion According to the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) regime in UK, which has replaced the Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) regime, operators must apply the BAT concept to the sites so as to control and minimize pollution in air, water and land to the lowest level resulting from industrial activities. Moreover, it is a cost-effective procedure in a way that it will reduce the production cost by lowering the raw material and energy costs (Hitchens et al., 2001). References EA. (2000). Guidance for Incineration Activities on Pollution Inventory reporting. Available: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Business/incineration_07_2_1632941.pdf. Last accessed 15 May 2009. EA. (2008). Consultation on England and Wales Pollution Inventory 2009 to 2011. Available: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Pollution_Inventory_Consultation_v9.pdf. Last accessed 12 May 2009. EA. (June 2008). Radioactive Substances Regulation Environmental Principles, Assessment Guide No 1, Assessment of Best Available Techniques (BAT), Consultation Draft. Available: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/batconsultation_2068887.pdf. Last accessed 12 May 2009. EC. (February 2003). Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), Reference Document on Best Available Techniques in the Large Volume Organic Chemical Industry. Available: http://ftp.jrc.es/eippcb/doc/lvo_bref_0203.pdf. Last accessed 12 May 2009. Entec. Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control (IPPC). Available: http://www.entecuk.com/downloads/ippcguide_s.pdf. Last accessed 12 May 2009 EPA. Best Available Techniques Guidance Notes. Available: http://www.epa.ie/whatwedo/advice/bat/. Last accessed 12 May 2009. Hitchens et al. (November 2001). The Impact of Best Available Techniques (BAT) on the Competitiveness of European Industry. Available: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/environment/reports_studies/studies/bat.pdf. Last accessed 12 May 2009. SC. (n.d.). Thermal processes in the metallurgical industry. Available: http://chm.pops.int/Portals/0/Repository/batbep_guideline08/UNEP-POPS-BATBEP-GUIDE-08-5.English.DOC. Last accessed May 16 2009. Scottish Executive. (November 2006). Guidance on Best Available Treatment Recovery and Recycling Techniques (BATRRT) and treatment of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Available: http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/waste/topics/electrical/pdf/weee-batrrt-guidance.pdf. Last accessed 12 May 2009. Slater, D. (n.d.). Integrated Pollution Control and Waste. Available: http://www.rsc.org/ebooks/archive/free/BK9780854042104/BK9780854042104-00001.pdf. Last accessed 15 May 2009. Read More