Introduction
The problem faced by developing countries to achieve sustained industrial development is extremely complex, especially in light of the impact that the industrial sector has on the environment. This is because the industry in underdeveloped countries is, in general terms, obsolete (both for its equipment and for the processes it follows).In fact, given its financial instability, said sector cannot carry out adequate research and development that allows it to generate suitable processes for its own characteristics. The trend has been to acquire technologies that are on the market at relatively low prices and that are precisely the technologies already discarded in industrialized countries due to their excessive energy consumption and / or their strong impact on the environment.
The issue of environmental pollution in recent years has received greater attention from all sectors (social, industrial, governmental, etc.), since in order to achieve a correct economic development that is compatible with the term of sustainability, it is necessary to guarantee the integral functioning of the organization that involves managers and workers in general, in order to project towards the future but without compromising it, seeking alternatives to mitigate the negative impacts that they could cause to the environment. The discoveries and studies that have made it possible to assess the degree of damage to the planet have led to the development of different ways to remedy the damage caused. Thus, there are currently three main approaches to propose solution options to the pollution generated: Contain and / or recycle,deal with an economically and technologically viable system, and achieve a reduction in pollution at the source.
The last approach is currently the most widely used since, unlike the others, it allows solutions to be proposed before the problem becomes greater and sometimes even avoids the unnecessary generation of a particular waste or by-product.
For the Sugar Industry, which has been the flagship of Cuban agro-industrial production throughout centuries and the main region of the nation's economy and which must remedy the impact they are causing on the environment, there is the option of carrying out a detailed study of your situation to find means of solution. This option is known as an environmental audit and consists of carrying out a study of the company in all aspects in order to find solutions to the problem detected to avoid falling into the situation of “patching” isolated parts that would not solve the problem of root. These companies largely violate the environmental policy established by CITMA in the different territories, hence a series of regulations, provisions and mandatory laws are violated.
In our province Cienfuegos, several proposals for Environmental Management Systems have already been made in different companies belonging to the Agroindustrial Business Group, due to the importance of the subject and the achievements made in these institutions, it is necessary to publicize, deepen and expand even more the knowledge related to the environmental policy to be followed in all entities that, due to their own activity, are high pollutants of the environment.
1- World Overview of the Environment
As the population grew, technology improved and increased, the most significant and widespread problems appeared in the world. Before that, the impact on the environment was purely local. The vertiginous and violent technological advance produced after the Industrial Revolution brought with it the discovery, use and exploitation of fossil fuels, as well as the intensive exploitation of the earth's mineral resources.
The situation began to become particularly serious after the industrial and urban explosion of the 19th century, when there was a considerable increase in pollution and under conditions such that the relationship between man and the environment was totally altered. Currently the problem of pollution has worsened and has acquired dramatic proportions, both due to its intensification and its geographical extension, even putting the permanence of life on the planet at imminent risk. Before, the contaminated areas were very small in relation to the whole of the earth, now they tend to cover the entire planet. The same can be said of the state of the oceans.
At the base of this entire process of concentration, is the fact that during the last 20 years the current and potential effects of some of the global environmental problems that concern humanity the most, such as: depletion of the atmospheric ozone layer, warming resulting from the so-called greenhouse effect, acid precipitation, other forms of environmental deterioration produced by the consumerist and wasteful model of developed countries, the loss of biological diversity, the pollution caused by urban gigantism, the transboundary traffic of toxic wastes, the contamination of ground and surface waters, of coastal waters, the destruction of forests and the depletion of agricultural soils;This has caused the environment issue to move rapidly, from the periphery to the very center of the theoretical debate and the decision-making process in many parts of the world. Among all these very serious problems, an element that cannot be
If it is present in the front line of the ecological debate, it is the awareness that in particular, in the vast areas of the Third World where the vast majority of the population barely subsists in precarious conditions of poverty, the main biological species that is in danger is the human being himself.
1.1-Main environmental problems of global scope
Among the multiple environmental problems that cover each point of nature, the United Nations (UN) has indicated the main ones to be able to join their efforts in trying to mitigate its devastating damages, such as:
1. The indiscriminate use of fossil fuels has produced an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, what is significant about this change is that it can cause an increase in the Earth's temperature through the process known as greenhouse effect.
2. Significant global warming of the atmosphere accelerates the melting of the polar ice caps, would raise sea levels, change regional and global climate, alter natural vegetation and affect crops. These changes, in turn, would have a huge impact on human civilization.
3. Acidification is due to the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from thermal power plants and from motor vehicle exhausts.
4. Acid rain, the acidity of some precipitations in the northern United States and Europe is equivalent to that of vinegar, it can retard the growth of forests, also corrodes metals, wears buildings and stone monuments, damages and it kills vegetation and acidifies soils, lakes, streams causing the death of fish populations and soils, especially in certain areas of the northeastern United States and northern Europe.
5. The thinning of the ozone layer exposes terrestrial life to an excess of ultraviolet radiation, which can cause skin cancer and cataracts, reduce the response of the immune system, interfere with the photosynthesis process of plants and affect growth of oceanic phytoplankton. If there were not that gaseous layer that is about 40 km above sea level, life would be impossible on our planet.
6. Radiation, because although atmospheric nuclear tests have been banned by most countries, which has meant the elimination of a major source of radioactive fallout, power plants always release small amounts of nuclear waste into water and the atmosphere. Although it should be noted that the main danger is the possibility of nuclear accidents, which release huge amounts of radiation into the environment.
7. The storage of nuclear waste, which remains toxic for 700 to 1 million years. The security of a storage during geological periods of time is, to say the least, problematic; Meanwhile, radioactive waste accumulates, threatening the integrity of the environment.
8. Soil erosion is accelerating on all continents and is degrading some 2 billion hectares of cropland and grazing land, posing a serious threat to the global supply of food. It also reduces the moisture conservation capacity of soils and adds sediment to streams, lakes and reservoirs.
9. Deforestation of tropical forests, due to the indiscriminate felling of trees, conversion of the forest to agriculture and cattle ranching, urbanization and the construction of infrastructure, mining and oil exploitation, together with rain Acidic acid and fires have caused these lands, which are generally fertile and rich in life, to become deserts, since they are badly used and lose the vegetal layer, giving rise to the desertification process.
10. Some of the world's largest cities are depleting their water supplies, and pumping from increasingly remote locations. In inland areas, porous rocks and sediments compact as they lose water, causing problems due to the progressive sinking of the surface; this phenomenon is already a serious problem in Texas, Florida and California. The world is also experiencing a progressive decline in the quality and availability of water. In 2000, 508 million people lived in 31 countries affected by water scarcity and according to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.1 billion people lacked access to clean water.
11. The destruction of virgin lands, both in temperate and tropical regions, can lead to a massive extinction of forms of plant and animal life.
These elements reduced to the maximum would be very beneficial for all the species of the planet. The impact of man on the environment has been compared to the great catastrophes of the earth's geological past. Within the efforts to control environmental deterioration, it seeks to make decisions to control compliance by the different countries of the Kyoto Protocol and other environmental treaties that have been signed for compliance, which has led to the development of strong environmental studies.
1.2-Different types of environmental research
According to the European Economic Community (EEC), an environmental investigation is called a work that comprises three basic aspects:
- Data acquisition.
- Data evaluation.
- Issuance of a final report.
Depending on the aspects treated, the magnitude, and the objective of the investigation, the structure and content of the report, as well as the data acquisition and evaluation methodology, there may be different types of investigations.
Audits, also called eco-audits, are the process of periodic and systematic review or evaluation of those actions carried out by companies that can produce impacts on the environment. It is a management instrument that has the following main objectives:
1. Knowledge of the company, its situation and the effects of its activity on the environment.
2. Identify technically and economically viable solutions that allow adaptation to current regulations.
3. Establish the pertinent corrective measures.
4. Avoid criminal penalties and increase economic-financial profitability.
The audit does not have to include sampling and analysis campaigns, but if they are contemplated they should have the objective of validating existing requirements, not obtaining them. These terms should be clarified so as not to confuse an audit with a mere diagnosis.
A Study is a detailed and complete evaluation of a scientific nature that implies a strong infrastructure of means and personnel, as well as prolonged visits and includes in most cases intense sampling and analysis campaigns, in addition, recommendations on compliance with the legislation but it does not evaluate the company's management practices.
The most difficult way to define is the Evaluation since it encompasses all the works that cannot be defined in any other way and although this requires a visit to the plant, it is normally not necessary to resort to field work and analysis. In other words, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), is a formal process used to predict the environmental consequences of a legislative proposal or decision, the implementation of policies and programs or the implementation of development projects, said assessment was introduced for the first time in the United States in 1969.
It may be the case that an EIA assesses the social and economic impacts as part of the process or deals with them separately. An Environmental Impact Assessment usually comprises a series of steps:
1. An examination provided, to decide if a project requires an impact study and to what level of detail.
2. A preliminary study, which serves to identify the key impacts, their magnitude, significance and importance.
3. A determination of its scope, to ensure that the EIA focuses on specific issues and determines where more detailed information is needed.
4. The study itself, consisting of meticulous investigations to predict and / or evaluate the impact, and the proposal of preventive, protective and corrective measures necessary to eliminate or reduce the effects of the activity in question. The process usually involves contrasting options, proposing preventive measures, preparing a report, and subsequent monitoring and evaluation.
The Diagnosis and Inspection are in the order in the last places. Both are simple investigations that imply a scarce endowment of equipment and human resources, although the first one usually requires a more extensive field work than the inspection.
The diagnosis provides data of interest to the company that begins to tackle the environmental problem and allows it to have an idea of its potential risks.
The inspection, although in a similar order, is related to compliance with the legislation to the letter and concerns more directly the public administration, it can also be used by the industry as a routine control mechanism.
To understand the development of this research we must then define what an Environmental Management System is: That part of the general management system of an organization, which includes: the organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and necessary resources to develop, implement, review and maintain the previously established environmental policy. For its development, work is done through environmental audits.
2- General notions of Environmental Management
The ISO 14000 series of Standards give the technical guidelines to create an Environmental Management System for this process, among which are number 10, general principles of environmental auditing, number 11 that refers to procedures and number 12 that raises quantification criteria for environmental auditors and according to the classification standards of each country there are similar standards within them.
The main benefits of an environmental audit can be summarized:
- Optimal management
- Risk reduction
- Information
- Competitiveness
- Expansion of markets
- Obtaining loans.
Environmental Management System Audit: systematic and documented verification process to obtain and evaluate, objectively, evidence that determines whether an organization's Environmental Management System is in accordance with the Environmental Management System audit criteria and to communicate to top management the results of this process.
The concept of Environmental Management and the practice of Environmental Auditing that are associated with it, are cited as tools so that every organization, whatever its class, can demonstrate what concerns them in environmental matters. Helping to establish and seek its policies, objectives, standards and other prescriptions related to the Environment.
The environmental audit process is a system that allows the voluntary participation of companies and organizations, for the preparation and improvement of the results of activities in relation to the environment. The essential objective of this is:
- The establishment and application, by companies and organizations of environmental policies, programs and management systems in relation to their production centers.
- The systematic, objective and periodic evaluation of the performance of said elements.
- Information to the public about environmental behavior.
2.1.- General Concepts
Environmental audits originated in the United States in the 1970s. Being a recent concept, there are several similar definitions of greater or lesser acceptance. We will expose the most significant:
- Objective, periodic, documented and systematic review, carried out by approved entities on facilities and practices related to environmental standards.
- Program structured and designed to establish and verify in which way the regulated legal requirements and the company policy on environmental matters are met.
- Systematic evaluation of the practice and procedures of a certain industry related to the internal protection of the environment and the actual fulfillment of external requirements and self-imposed environmental matters.
- Management instrument that includes a systematic, documented, periodic, objective evaluation of the organization, and management of environmental facilities in order to help protect the environment for, on the one hand, to evaluate compliance with company policies in taking care of regulatory requirements.
- Tool for the management of companies that is constituted in a systematic, documented, periodic evaluation of industrial activity from the environmental optimum carried out by external or independent firms.
- A methodical, complex and proven examination of the performance and management practices, process systems, operation and emergencies that lead to the verification of the internal level of demand of industrial practice with respect to the environment and compliance with legal procedures in environmental matter in order to determine the current and past situation, and apply corresponding corrective medications.
Almost all definitions characterize an environmental audit as a systematic, periodic, documented and objective tool.
The main objective of Environmental Audits is to assess, at a given moment in time, the environmental impact that all or part of the production or the existence of a company can cause direct and indirect damage to the Environment.
Through it, the company can find a way to:
- That the businessmen have an exact knowledge of the environmental legislation that affects their company.
- The degree of compliance in which it is with respect to said regulation and the risks derived from its current situation in relation to its legal activity provides an identification of the most technically and economically viable solutions that allow to make compliance with the improvement of the environment compatible, with a better position in the market.
- Provides the necessary information for the design of an internal and external communication plan that responds to institutional requests, social concerns and consumers.
- Determines the suitability and effectiveness of the company's environmental management system to achieve continuous improvement of its environmental behavior.
- Initially evaluates a company when it is desired to establish its environmental commitment.
Environmental audits are usually voluntary, open, gradual and verifiable.
Voluntary: Because companies can normally voluntarily submit to an audit, among the most outstanding factors we have:
- Reduce industrial accidents
- Pressure from public opinion
- Regulated State intervention
- Existing legal actions
- Search for competitiveness
- The generation of jobs
- The growth of companies dedicated to environmental activity
Open: The companies are the ones that define the degree of commitment and the environmental policy that they will assume from the audit.
Although there are rules and regulations to carry out these audits, the company is left free to establish the depth of analysis of the audit based on its needs and available means.
Gradual: Allows companies to establish the most appropriate calendar for the execution of activities.
Verifiable: Audit validation by an external environmental verifier is required.
Audits are often not enough on their own to ensure a sound company environmental policy. Experience has shown that for this, environmental audits have to be part of an environmental management plan within the entity in question.
2.2.- Classification of Audits
Environmental Audits can be classified according to the object to be treated and according to the objective to be analyzed.
Audit based on the object (It can be product or process)
Goals:
- An aspect of the activities of the company, one of the plants or the total
- The impact generated by a product, a raw material, a production, a residual
- Introduction of a new product to the market
- Decision of a major investment
Audit based on the objective
- Legal compliance audit
- Risk audit
- Waste, water and energy minimization audit
- Policy compliance audit
- Audit of Environmental Management Systems
- Post accident audit
- Transaction audit; merger, adsorption, acquisition
The main factors that guarantee the success of an audit are:
- Full support of the company directors
- Rigorous definition of the program extension
- The independence and objectivity of the audit team
- The quality and management of the audit
- Sufficient media support
- The audit follow-up through predefined systems
- The information obtained is sufficient and convenient
The direction of the company is the one that determines the period to be audited, it depends on:
- Nature, magnitude and complexity of the activities
- Nature and degree of production of emissions and waste, consumption of raw materials and energy, as well as general interaction with the environment
- Importance and urgency of the environmental problems detected taking into account the initial environmental study of the previous audit
- History of environmental problems
2.3.- Definition and responsibilities of the client and the auditee
The definition and functions of the client and auditee should be defined based on ISO 14000 standards.
Client is defined as the person or organization requesting the audit. This can be a company, partnership, firm, company, institution or association or parts of them, with limited liability or with another statute of public or private law. The client may have the following position in relation to the audited company:
- The auditee who is interested in having an environmental audit carried out in his company
- An interested party from the company management
- An independent organization authorized to audit the company
- A body in charge of ensuring compliance with the company's environmental legislation
The responsibilities and activities of the applicant are:
- Determine the needs of the audit
- Contact the auditee to obtain their full and complete collaboration to initiate the process
- Define the audit objectives
- Determine the choice of the person in charge of the audit or an audit body and, if necessary, check the composition of the audit team
- Have the responsibilities and the necessary means to carry out the audit
- Consult the person responsible for the audit to determine the field of the audit
- Approve the audit criteria
- Approve the audit plan
- Receive the audit report and determine its distribution
- Defines the audit body
The auditee's responsibilities are:
- Inform if necessary to staff the objectives and scope of the audit
- Make available to the audit team all the necessary means to ensure a good development of the audit
- Appoint the members of its responsible and competent staff to accompany the members of the audit team in order to guide them on the sites and ensure that the requirements related to health and safety, among others, are taken into account.
- Provide access at the request of the auditors to the facilities, personnel, information and relevant records
- Cooperate with the auditors in order to achieve the audit objective
- Receive a copy of the audit unless the applicant formally
Auditors have the following responsibilities:
- Establish the audit requirements in order to guarantee its objectives
- Act in accordance with the requirements established for the audit and stay within the scope of the same
- Prepare and carry out the assigned tasks objectively and effectively
- Follow defined procedures
- Gather and analyze the facts that are relevant and sufficient to allow conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the environmental management system to be audited to be obtained and be alert to any indication of events that may influence the results of the audit and possibly necessitate a modification of the its scope
- Document and report on the results of the audit
- Verify the effectiveness of the corrective actions taken as a result of the audit (if the client requests it)
- Preserve and safeguard the documents pertaining to the audit to ensure their reliability, present them when required by a person and / or entity authorized to do so
- Cooperate with the chief auditor and assist him in fulfilling his mission
2.4.- Types of Environmental Audits
Environmental Audits are divided into two types: internal and external. Internal audits may be carried out by the auditors of the company or organization, as well as by external persons or bodies acting on behalf of the company or audited body; The external audits are carried out by personnel external to the entity with legal recognition to carry out environmental audits and both have several phases that facilitate the work methodology.
To facilitate the development of the audit, it is divided into three fundamental phases: desk phase, field phase and reporting phase. The first will compile, review and analyze all the existing documentation in the company to be audited in order to know the background of said facilities (such as opening and start-up license, permits, standards, files, specific control parameters, productions, etc.).
While in the field phase, a verification and verification of the degree of compliance of the situation is carried out in the cabinet phase, visiting the different areas of the entity.
And finally, a reporting phase that consists of forming a final synthesis containing the suggestions and opportunities for improvement of each of the partial audits carried out. In it, the partial reports are collected, which serve as the basis for the preparation of the final document to be presented in the company.
The incidents collected may refer to the elements of the system and its capacity in relation to environmental performance. It is a good idea to take notes on signs of nonconformity and if they seem necessary to investigate, even if they are not included in the checklist.
It is important to contrast the information obtained in the course of interviews with similar information, acquired by other independent sources, such as: physical observation, measurements and records.
The environmental audit ends when all activities related to the audited client and lead auditor are completed.
Many companies are known to undertake environmental audits to evaluate their performance. However, these audits by themselves may not be sufficient to provide a company with the assurance that its performance not only meets but will continue to meet the requirements of the legislation and its policy in relation to the environment. To be effective, these must be included within a structured and integrated Environmental Management System with all the company's management activities, whose main objective is to promote continuous improvement of the results of the company's activities in relation to to the environment.
The management concept implies the objective of efficiency, so environmental management implies making use of resources in a rational and profitable way, applying criteria of matter and energy. It must tend towards a philosophy of saving and sustainable use. As has been said, environmental management involves almost all human activities, since they take place or affect the environment to a greater or lesser degree, and is subject to a prior planning of the territory and its uses. This ordinance marks for which uses the land can be used based on its potential aptitude as agricultural land, as a holder of usable minerals, as industrial land based on its scarce aptitude for a more direct use, as residential based on the existence of water available and of adequate weather,or as reserved based on its intrinsic natural value, among others.
Once the arrangement has been established, a strategy is devised to manage each part and use. In an industry, for example, environmental management involves both those actions aimed at making the work environment healthier and safer for workers, by preventing, for example, occupational hazards, and those aimed at reducing energy consumption and raw materials making it optimal in relation to production. Thus, the energy savings that can be obtained by using more efficient machinery, or the water savings that would be achieved by recycling it in production processes, must be considered as objectives of the entity's environmental management. In short, the precepts established by the ISO 9000 standard are followed.
Environmental management can also reach the home by saving energy, controlling the generation of waste by avoiding, for example, the excessive use of packaging, using low-polluting detergent products, and recycling, in any case, the waste generated after sorting. the same (paper, glass, containers and organic). Other aspects of daily life can also be favorably affected by the application of these management criteria, for example when choosing a vehicle for purchase: manufacturers themselves are increasingly concerned that the components of the Cars are recyclable and consume less fuel, on the other hand, it is a non-renewable natural resource.This way of doing environmental management on a family scale can also bring important savings to the domestic economy and improve the general quality of life.
To apply an Environmental Management System in a particular company, all its personnel at different levels must have specific tasks for the company's management, middle management and workers.
3- Environmental Management in Cuba
On January 1, 1959, with the coming to power of the people, the necessary social transformations that laid the foundations for a more intelligent and protective position of the environment did not wait: the literacy of the population, which eliminated the great percent of illiterates, the application of agrarian reform, the nationalization of industry and banking, among other measures, were responsible for breaking through indifference and ignorance, although it should be noted that in the early years of the Revolution the The country's situation was not very different from that of the rest of the world, the governmental mentality was not designed to prevent mistreatment of the environment, mistreatment that was already increasing in size and strength by that date.
Currently, the State not only helps to preserve nature, but also leads the actions aimed at promoting sustainable development, an intention that is embodied in article 27 of the 1975 Constitution of the Republic and that states:
“The State protects the Environment and the natural resources of the country. It recognizes its close link with sustainable economic and social development to make human life more rational and ensures the survival, well-being, and security of current and future generations. It is the responsibility of the competent bodies to apply this policy. It is the duty of citizens to contribute to the protection of water, the atmosphere, the conservation of the soil, the flora, the fauna and all the rich potential of nature ”.
A really positive experience is the work of the provincial and municipal environmental commissions that have been working since the early 1980s. As of the elaboration of the economy plan for 1986, work began with indicators for the water resource and the solution of liquid waste from the existing sources, for this purpose 0.5% of the total investments of the country were assigned.
The ambitious project is carried out at the territorial level, so that the provincial commissions are created, in charge of approving the proposed micro-location for the investment and controlling that the conditions that are established are met.
Regarding environmental legislation, the country has a General Law for the Protection of the Environment and the rational use of natural resources, approved in 1981 and still in force. This law establishes the conceptual framework and there is complementary legislation aimed at the specific control of each area in practice. There is also, together with this legal basis, a specific program of technical standards for the protection of the environment in which water, flora, fauna, soil and other resources are addressed according to the priorities established by the country.
Law No. 81 on the Environment, promulgated by the National Assembly of People's Power, in correspondence with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, focuses its objective on establishing principles that direct state policy and the actions of citizens and society in general, in order to protect the environment and contribute to achieving a category of sustainable development in the country.
In the third title, article 18 of said law, the instruments of Environmental Policy and Management in Cuba are defined, they are:
a) The National Environmental Strategy, the National Environment and Development Program, and other programs, plans, and projects for economic and social development.
b) This law, its complementary legislation and other legal regulations aimed at protecting the environment, including technical standards on environmental protection.
c) The environmental regulation.
d) The environmental license.
e) The environmental impact assessment.
f) The environmental information system.
g) The state environmental inspection system.
h) Environmental education.
i) Scientific research and technological innovation.
j) Economic regulation.
k) The national environmental fund.
l) Administrative, civil and criminal liability regimes.
It is in the National Environmental Strategy where the projections and guidelines of the Cuban environmental policy are reflected, as well as the identification of the main environmental problems of the country, the significant impact that they produce on the health and quality of life of man, the Prioritized economic activities, considerable extensions of the national territory, and highly fragile ecosystems with economic and social importance.
3.1- Main Environmental problems that exist in Cuba
- Soil degradation
- Impacts on forest cover
- Contamination
- Lack of water
- Loss of biological diversity
These problems have been influenced by a lack of environmental awareness and education in a high percentage of the population, which has resulted in their aggravation on many occasions.
3.2.- Main Environmental problems in Cienfuegos within the sugar industry
Based on the National Environmental Strategy and in coordination with the Environment Unit of the Provincial Delegation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of Cienfuegos, the organs and agencies of the territory, as well as the Popular Power of the province, the Provincial Environmental Strategy of Cienfuegos in 1998.
In this strategy, the main environmental problems of the province are identified, in addition the main routes, actions, mechanisms and links necessary for solving these are indicated, with the active participation of all actors in society to achieve sustainable environmental economic development in the province.
Environmental problems in the province of Cienfuegos behave in a similar way to those referred to in the national strategy, also adding the management of hazardous waste. Lines of action were established in each of the aspects identified and evaluated to minimize them, provide a solution in the short, medium and long term. Within the sugar industry these actions are linked to:
1. Proper operation and maintenance of waste treatment systems, mainly sugar.
2. Reduction of the risks of hydrocarbon and grease spills in the different parts of the industry.
3. Use of cachaça as fertilizer.
4. Decrease in the consumption of caustic soda and hydrochloric acid in the industry, reactivating Garanver's productions. As well as the proper handling and storage of these products, and the segregation of waste cleaning streams.
5. Use of fertigation systems.
6. Control of critical points in the process that will generate contamination.
7. Include pollution control indicators in the investment process.
8. Characterization of the residuals of the emission sources.
9. Promotion of the Science and Technology Forum in all sectors of production.
10. Application of clean productions.
11. Cultivation of sugarcane intensively and rationally.
12. Preventive maintenance of the boilers.
13. Study of noise in the facilities and implement technological measures to reduce them.
14. Inventory and control the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases.
The instruments established to carry out the objectives of the Provincial Environmental Strategy were those established by Law No. 81.
The development of this strategy corresponds to the Provincial Delegation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, as organisms of the Central Administration of the State and rector of environmental policy and management in the province. This body, in close coordination with the Popular Power body and with a strong interrelation with the communities under its care, guarantee and control its application, as well as, establish adjustments and priorities corresponding to the characteristics and main needs of the territory.
3.3- The application of Environmental Management Systems in the sugar entities of the territory
Motivated by the impact that industries have on the environment, a series of proposals for Environmental Management Systems have been made in different companies in the territory of Cienfuegos based on studies carried out by students from the "Carlos Rafael Rodríguez" University of Cienfuegos.
Several environmental problems were detected in these entities, such as:
1. Absence of conductive tubes in the waste system
2. Large amount of water leaks in industrial areas
3. Lack of roofing in areas of the industry such as: bagasse house, jogger, etc.
4. Shortage of means of protection mainly: ear muffs, ear muffs, layers of water for herbicide sprayers, gloves, etc.
5. Overconsumption of electrical energy
6. Circulation of bagasse through areas where people travel
7. Burning of cane fields and blocks due to being infested with vines and pica pica
8. The environmental strategy has not been developed
9. Non-existence of an Environment Committee
10. High degree of ignorance of workers and managers on the environmental issue
11. Within the investment plan, there is generally no investment in the field of the Environment.
Based on the recommendations presented in the diploma works carried out to date, it is shown that these entities have largely overcome some of these problems, although the deficit of financial resources significantly affects their eradication, since most do not generate enough cash to pay your debts.
Conclusions
1-Environmental Management and the practice of Environmental Auditing that are associated with it are used as tools so that every body, whatever its class, can demonstrate what concerns them in environmental matters, helping to establish and seek their policies, objectives, standards and other requirements related to the Environment.
2-Environmental Audits in Cuba are divided into two types: internal and external. Internal audits may be carried out by the auditors of the company or organization, as well as by external persons or bodies acting on behalf of the company or audited body.
3-In Cienfuegos, based on the National Environmental Strategy and in coordination with the Environment Unit of the Provincial Delegation of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the organs and agencies of the territory, as well as the Popular Power of the province, The Provincial Environmental Strategy of Cienfuegos was formed in 1998 to identify the main environmental problems of the province.
4-Considering the impact that the sugar industries have on the environment, a series of proposals for Environmental Management Systems have been made in different companies, which have allowed not only to identify the main problems but also to draw up actions that can solve them in the short, medium long term.
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