The cleanest production tools are techniques that allow defining the environmental status of both a process and a product, in addition to supporting environmental strategies and systems, whose objectives are the design, verification, and implementation of an Environmental Management System. to facilitate decision-making both administrative and productive.
tools-for-a-clean-productionTOOLS
1. MED Matrix
2. Risk Analysis
3. Ecobalance
4. Life Cycle Analysis
5. Ecodesign
1. MED MATRIX
M Materials
E Energy
D Waste
The main function of this matrix is to determine the direct relationship with the different environmental impacts, seeking to avoid and reduce them as much as possible and, therefore, to achieve a cleaner production process. Within the PHVA cycle, the MED matrix is part of the doing stage. This tool allows analyzing the environmental profile of products, taking into account each of the stages of the life cycle. The matrix presents on the horizontal axis each of the stages of the product life cycle, such as the Material, Energy Use and Waste Cycle, while on the vertical axis the effects that are generated.
Characteristics
- Materials: Refers to environmental problems related to the input and output of process material.
- Energy: Ratio of energy consumption throughout the process stage.
- Waste: Seeks to establish emissions of waste to natural resources, during the life cycle of the product.
Realization Stages
1. Raw Material.
2. Production and Supply of Materials and Components, Product Production and Packaging.
3. Product Distribution.
4. Use, Use, Operation and Maintenance of the Product.
5. Final provision.
The MED matrix offers qualitative information that can be used to analyze the product and specifically, determine the environmental impact it produces, thus seeking to reduce said impact.
2. RISK ANALYSIS
The objective of this tool is to analyze the probability of effects on the environment. Its main characteristic is the probabilistic vision of the effects. Some of the relationships of these risks are:
3. ECOBALANCE
Functions
- Collect and organize data to evaluate pollution prevention strategies, reducing costs.
- It allows identifying the areas of the production process that require intervention to improve environmental performance.
- Finished Product: determine the main product of the transformation process.
It is important to have that the data must be correctly registered and sustained, in order for it to be valid at the moment of decision making. In short, the Ecobalance understand the relative importance of the company's production process, as part of the environmental impact of the production chain of certain products.
4. ANALYSIS OF THE LIFE CYCLE
It is an environmental tool that is used to determine and evaluate the environmental impacts that a product can generate during its different stages and transformation activities, including from the manufacturing and selection of raw materials, manufacturing of the product itself, use, maintenance and exposure of waste..
5. ECO-DESIGN
Eco-design is an implemented methodology for the design of industrial products in which the environment is taken into account when making decisions during the product development process as an additional factor to those that have traditionally been taken into account since obtaining raw materials for its production until its disposal once it is discarded.
By integrating this factor into the design of the product, its development process is not modified, but these processes are oriented to efficiently use natural resources and integrate environmental improvements with innovation and cost reduction.
6. ECO-INDICATOR
Definition
If we define an indicator as a measure to establish a condition being the starting point for decision-making at the business level, we can define an eco-indicator as a measure of the behavior of a problem from an environmental point of view.
The purpose of the eco-indicators is to provide information on the environmental performance of an industry to develop actions that increase the company's internal and external environmental awareness, measure improvement, lead innovations, achieve goals, respond to market pressures and implement strategies management.
At a global and national level there are entities that provide initiatives for the development of eco-indicators and their standardization:
- Global: ISO, GRI, WBCSD
- National: CECODES, Integral Responsibility, IDEAM, Environmental Policy Unit of the National Planning Department
7. ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS
The main function of environmental audits is to review all the processes involved in a company, seeking as a result the optimization of said processes, specifically at the environmental level and developed based on the parameters established by previous studies and analyzes. Through audits, it can be verified that a company complies with environmental regulations at the local, regional and national levels in addition to the company's own standards and policies.
Characteristics
- The audits must be independent
- The audit team must be competent, objective and well prepared o Of well-defined procedures
- Able to identify present and future problems
- Able to examine the critical aspects of the operations carried out in companies
- Able to identify areas for improvement o There must be written reports during the procedure o There must be a verification system operating
- There must be a commitment by the board to carry out the pertinent improvement actions.
Steps to follow for its implementation:
- Collection of information
- Evaluation of the information collected
- Conclusions of the environmental information collected that includes the identification of aspects that need to be improved in the company
Classification:
Currently, environmental audits are classified according to the conditions that frame it, the objectives that motivate it and the level of development of the company. The main environmental audits are: Verification
- Of an Environmental Management System
- Of Environmental Risks
- Of Residues Of Processes
- Energy
- External
- Internal
- Preliminary or Diagnostic
After the Audits:
Once the most significant problems have been resolved, the audit concentrates on verifying compliance with the environmental standards necessary for the development of the company's processes and carrying out the implementation of a satisfactory environmental management system. Once the process is completed, the environmental audit focuses on controlling that said system is developed in accordance with the objectives and plans formulated.
8. FLOW ANALYSIS
Flow analysis is an inventory tool used to identify all possible sources of waste generation or excessive consumption of materials in each production unit of a company. Since the flow analysis examines all the activities carried out in a company, it is sometimes used as a tool to identify opportunities for process improvement.
Example 1: Flow diagram for obtaining a container with oil refining as input. Note that all the processes carried out to obtain the product are described and the possible sources of waste generation are highlighted (larger tables).
For each operating unit, the inputs, outputs and transformations are identified (as seen in the previous example). Each operating unit is shown as a block and, connecting the different operating units, the process flow diagram is drawn up.
Example 3: Analysis of a complete flow diagram of an industrial process. The red squares represent the waste from each of the operating units of the process.
9. ECO-LABELS
Ecolabels or ecolabels are logos granted by an official body that indicate that the product that carries it has a low environmental impact and that, therefore, it is more respectful of the environment than other products that perform the same function. They are voluntary and generally have the support of the LCAs (Life Cycle Analysis) of the product.
For each product category there are ecological criteria that allow the evaluation and granting of the ecolabel, which is valid for a maximum period of three years. The product is always under the control of the organism that grants the ecolabel.
The main regulated Eco-labels are:
Distintiu de Garantia de Qualitat Ambiental
It is a brand created by the Department of the Environment of the Generalitat de Catalunya to guarantee respect for the environment of certain products.
Ecolabel of the European Union «European Union Eco-label»
The Ecolabel of the European Union is a system to identify the most environmentally friendly products, unique and valid for all member states of the European Community. The scheme of the European eco-labeling system is based on Regulation (EEC) No. 880/92 of March 23, 1992.
Umweltzeichen "Blauer Engel" (Blue Angel)
«Angel Azul» is the German brand conceived to distinguish products with low incidence on the environment during their life cycle.
It exists for many years and supplies many products. Each product, depending on its category, is labeled with the »Blue Angel» logo with the text around it specifying its category: «Umweltzeichen weil (category)«.
NF - ENVIRONNEMENT
The NF mark is a voluntary certification mark granted by
AFNOR (Association Française de Normalisation). The NF certifies that an industrial or consumer product meets the quality characteristics
defined by French, European and international standards.
ANAB (Associazione Nazionale per l'Architettura Bioecologica)
Nordic Ecolabelling - CIGNE BLANC
It is a common certification in the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark) and is coordinated by the Nordic
Ecolabelling, which decides the product groups and the criteria for granting the certification.
Other labels
It is advisable not to confuse regulated labels, recognized and certified by official or prestigious organizations, with a whole series of labels and logos that manufacturers place on their products. These labels could be grouped into:
- Those that indicate that the product is made from recycled material
- Those that tell us that the product can be recycled at the end of its useful life, provided it is taken to a controlled landfill or to a special container, counting on goodwill
10. ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING
The growing environmental concerns of various organizations and institutions, public and private, regional, national and international, giving moreover a preponderance to the combination of economic, social, cultural and political interests, has involved accounting, along with other disciplines. the search for answers to the multiple problems that the environmental debate poses at present times.
The environmental problem implies important challenges for the accounting profession, such as the need to propose informative solutions, such as measurement, recognition and valuation, which implies transformations that solve specific problems, with special treatment that allows this social discipline to involve in the conjugation of the common good with the natural balance.
For this, it is necessary to seriously address the environmental problem and on the body of theoretical bases where the elements that have to do with the research itself are conceptualized:
1) Financial Statements, classes, objectives and methodologies;
2) Environmental Accounting;
3) Environmental Financial Information;
4) Institutions and organizations, and
5) the Legal Bases on which the research is based.
A next step is to approach a methodological framework, the nature of the research and the presentation of information analysis techniques where the research is oriented in order to know about the requirements that accounting presents to resolve situations that alternative development is claiming. The documents that will allow analyzing the specific objectives are then analyzed, such as the description of the current accounting system on which work has been carried out, the analysis of the single chart of accounts and the methodology to guarantee that the use of environmental resources is reasonably accounted for. In the end, the desired environmental financial statement model will be obtained.
11. INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
As concern for maintaining and improving the quality of the environment and protecting human health grows, organizations of all kinds are increasingly turning their attention to the potential impacts of their activities, products and services. The environmental performance of an organization is of increasing importance to internal and external stakeholders. Achieving reasonable environmental performance requires a commitment from the organization, for a systematic approach and continuous improvement of its Environmental Management System (EMS).
An organization's current position on the environment can be established through an initial Environmental Review. That initial review may include the following points:
• the characterization of the environment
• the identification of legal and regulatory requirements;
• the identification of environmental aspects of its activities, products or services to determine those that have or may cause significant environmental impacts and responsibilities;
• performance evaluation against relevant internal criteria, external standards, regulations, codes of practice and sets of principles and guidelines:
• consideration of existing environmental management procedures and practices;
• identification of existing policies and procedures related to procurement and contractual activities;
• feedback from the investigation of previous incidents of non-compliance;
• opportunities for competitive advantage;
• the views of stakeholders;
• the functions or activities of other organizational systems that may facilitate or hinder environmental performance.
The REMA is a valuable tool of Environmental Management (GA) that allows to objectively know the current position of an organization with respect to the environment, which makes it a primary element or starting point for the establishment of a System of Environmental management.
REMA Phases
Previous or pre-revision phase: in this phase, a general tour of the different areas of the facility is carried out and the environmental problems generated by the production or service processes in the different media (water, soil, air) are identified first., sound, etc.) that affect local, community, territorial or national levels as appropriate. The team selects the people who will participate in the evaluation, designating the field of action of each of them, the Team Leader, who must be previously appointed and approved by the CTA and the Board of Directors of the consulting entity., distributes the corresponding tasks according to the specialty and organizes the scheduling (schedule) of visits.
Cabinet phase: it analyzes the situation in theoretical terms, in it all the existing documents in the installation are collected, reviewed and analyzed, with the aim of knowing the background of said installation such as: opening and commissioning license, inspections carried out by the administration, analyzes carried out by the branch institution, the Provincial Delegation of the Branch Ministry, waste records book, control and monitoring documents, installation plans, flow charts, etc.
Field Phase
12. ECOMAPPING
13. SELECTION OF OTHER TOOLS
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