The research was developed at the Las Tunas Fuel Marketing Company, belonging to the CUPET union, where we apply environmental strategies aimed at the application of Cleaner Production and Quality Assurance in the productive activity of the entity, based on the characteristics own of the technological processes of the company and what they generate. It is an effective and sustainable alternative that eliminates or reduces pollution and helps us find satisfaction in a product meeting all the expectations that a customer is looking for. By applying these measures, companies have been shown to improve their productivity, reduce costs and reduce polluting loads. For the preparation of this work, techniques of analysis and compilation of information were used, the observation of the production processes,the analysis of the harmful elements that have their influence on man and the environment, as well as the review of the bibliography. This research is of great importance as it has been possible to increase the company's profits and improve the environment with a decrease in the consumption of materials and energy, resources, water, management of toxic and dangerous products, reduction of the pollutant load, among others.; as well as the performance of the company in terms of the Environmental Management of all the indicators that have a negative impact on this matter and what had financial repercussions, carrying out an economic - social assessment with the application of cleaner productions, based on information and environmentally safe technological innovation.
Introduction
Only when man became aware of the risks faced by humanity due to centuries-long depredation of the environment did a series of significant international changes in environmental protection and control policies begin. At the beginning, in the productive activities, these policies were aimed at reducing contamination by treatment at the end of the process. In the last decade, the adoption of preventive approaches in production and service activities has been promoted, relegating the use of exit control technologies at the end of the processes to the background.
In 1989, the United Nations Environment Program launched its Clean Production Program. Other similar concepts have been "waste minimization", "pollution prevention" and "eco-efficiency", all of them referring to the strategy of doing more with less, in order to improve efficiency in the use of natural resources, raw materials and inputs and minimize the generation of waste, pollution and environmental risks derived from the production of goods and services.
Since then, important steps have been taken in the area of Clean Production (PL) policies and programs at the international level, which seek to respond to the commitments related to the issue that were established at the Rio de Janeiro Summit in 1992.
In 1994 the International Clean Production Program was created, created under a joint initiative of the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), with the aim of developing capacities nationals in LP and promote sustainable industrial development in developing or transition countries. In 1998 UNEP launched the International Declaration of Clean Production, currently signed by a significant number of countries, business organizations and institutions from all latitudes.
At present, the UNIDO LP Program is characterized by its logistical approach, oriented towards the application of this concept in priority economic sectors, in order to guarantee greater competitiveness to companies in the underdeveloped world and facilitate their access to international markets. The creation in 2001 of the National Clean Production Network of Cuba, signified the incorporation of our country to this Program, thereby giving an important boost to the introduction of this promising approach in the business of the country.
The conservation of the environment should be considered as a system of social, socioeconomic, and technical productive measures aimed at the rational use of natural resources, the conservation of typical, scarce and endangered natural complexes, the protection of man as the main element as well as the defense of the environment against contamination and degradation.
It is from here where the concept of "Sustainable Development" is established for the first time and where the industry is urged to develop effective environmental management systems that make industrial development compatible with the safeguarding of the planet we live on.
Starting from this, environmental tools began to emerge, such as ecological labels that identify the best products with respect to the environment within their category and that are fully accepted by the great consumers of the world. Hence, Clean Production constitutes a renovating step, whose requirements allow us to achieve better comprehensive results in today's company.
For these reasons, the Cuban oil and gas industry is in a stage of development and a significant increase in production levels, which necessarily requires an increase in technological operations and the implementation of Clean Production practices, measures and technologies. This production constitutes the continuous application of a comprehensive environmental protection strategy for processes, products and services, in such a way as to reduce risks to human beings and the environment. It also allows the application of less expensive, simpler and continuous solutions to help companies reduce the environmental impacts of their activities and the risks to the health and safety of workers.
The design and implementation of environmental strategies aimed at the application of this concept constitutes a development necessity. For the application of the Clean Production concept in the CUPET company, a study has been carried out that comprehensively covers the production process, compliance with regulations
operations, the quality and potential of the raw material, the mass and energy balance for the general identification of losses of products, energy and water.
With the development of the ISO 14000 standards, environmental management is incorporated into the General System of company management as a way of continuous improvement to achieve these environmental objectives.
Therefore, our work allowed us to identify the most significant problems, define the actions to take to improve it and reduce the effects on our ecosystem and in particular on man, evaluating the result of the application of said actions in order to achieve a safer and healthier product.
The work was divided into several parts to fulfill the following objectives:
Overall objective:
Achieve an increase in the Quality of the Fuel and Liquefied Gas Production Processes complying with the principles of sustainability for 2012 where man, economic resources and the environment coexist harmoniously.
Specific objectives:
- Possess a comprehensive approach to environmental problems and guarantee a balanced vision.
- Obtain continuous improvement of the environmental performance of the company with the establishment of objectives and goals.
- Apply Clean Production technologies to improve environmental management.
- Guarantee a better image before the community and customers, as well as greater competitiveness in the market.
- Achieve the assurance of the Quality of the Processes.
- Achieve the introduction of technological improvements to the production equipment with the aim of raising the Safety and Health of the workers and in turn the protection and conservation of nature through less polluting processes.
A ackground / Definitions
To apply environmental strategies in a company it is necessary to have knowledge about various definitions related to the research topic.
Environmental Aspect: Element of the activities, products or services of an organization that can interact with the environment.
Environmental Audits: Environmental audits identify all the environmental impacts of a company so that changes in processes and practices can be evaluated and implemented. One option to carry out the implementation is the use of the Clean Production methodology based on the results of the audit.
Quality Assurance: Quality assurance can be defined as the total effort to raise, organize, direct and control quality in a production system with the aim of providing the customer with products of adequate quality. It is simply ensuring that quality is what it should be.
From a value perspective: Quality means adding value to the customer, that is, offering conditions of use of the product or service higher than those that the customer expects to receive and at an affordable price. Also, quality refers to minimizing the losses that a product may cause to human society by showing a certain interest on the part of the company to maintain customer satisfaction.
A current vision of the concept of quality indicates that quality is to deliver to the customer not what they want, but what they never imagined they wanted and that once they get it, they realize that it was what they had always wanted.
Quality parameters:
- Design quality: the degree to which a product or service is reflected in its design.
- Quality of conformity: It is the degree of fidelity with which a product or service is reproduced with respect to its design.
- Quality of use: the product must be easy to use, safe, reliable, etc.
The customer is the new target: the new theories place the customer as an active part of the quality rating of a product, trying to create a standard based on the subjective point of a customer. The quality of a product is not going to be determined only by purely objective parameters, but by including the opinions of a customer who uses a certain product or service.
Environmental Quality: Set of environmental characteristics related to the quality of natural resources and the absence or presence of harmful agents of any kind.
Contamination: The presence in the environment of substances, elements, energy or a combination of them, in concentrations and permanence higher or lower, as appropriate, than those established in current legislation.
Control (environmental): The surveillance, inspection and application of measures for the conservation of the environment or to reduce and / or avoid its contamination.
Zero Emissions: ZERI (Zero Emissions Research Initiatives), Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives is an international network of academics, entrepreneurs, governments and educators seeking solutions to respond to the basic needs of humanity: water, food, health, housing, energy and work. To do that, ZERI designs and implements strategies and policies inspired by natural systems reinforced by human creativity.
Codes of Practice or Conduct: Codes of Practice contain instructions to industry on various environmental aspects, such as resource use, emissions, waste generation and disposal, occupational or health hazards, and regulatory standards. The goal of such codes is to facilitate industry improvement by providing relevant information and suggesting practices and processes that individual companies can adopt.
Accounting for Environmental Costs: Environmental Accounting aims to provide information required to understand the entire spectrum of environmental costs, integrating them into the decision-making process. They allow improving environmental performance and reducing costs, through the identification, evaluation and proper location of environmental costs. Some environmental costs are: purchase, disposal and treatment, inefficient use of resources, monitoring, training, insurance.
Performance-Based Contracting: A method that has been used mainly in the energy industry, but has great potential to be applied in many areas of economic activity. Under PBC, a third party contractor takes management responsibility for a specific part of a business. The contractor takes the risk to run this part of the business, but also earns the financial rewards for doing it more efficiently. The efficiency gains are shared between the contractor and the business owner. In English it is known as Performance Based Contracting (PCB).
Environmental Damage: Any significant loss, decrease, detriment or impairment to the environment or to one or more of its components.
Environmental Performance: Measurable results of the environmental management system, related to the control of an organization over its environmental aspects based on its environmental policy, objectives and goals.
Hazardous Waste: Those from any activity and in any physical state that, due to their magnitude or nature of their corrosive, toxic, poisonous, explosive, flammable, biologically pernicious, infectious, irritating or any other characteristics, represent a danger to human health. and the environment.
Sustainable development: The term sustainable development incorporates the necessary harmonious relationship between society, nature and the economy as a process of creating the material, cultural and spiritual conditions that promote the elevation of the quality of life of society, with a character of equity and social justice in a sustained way and based on a harmonious relationship between natural and social processes, having as an objective both current and future generations ”.
Sustainable Development: The process of sustained and equitable improvement of the quality of life of people, based on appropriate measures of conservation and protection of the environment, so as not to compromise the expectations of future generations.
Environmental Education: Continuous and permanent process, which constitutes a dimension of the integrated education of all citizens, aimed at harmonizing relationships in the acquisition of knowledge, development of habits, skills, abilities and attitudes and in the formation of values. with human beings and of them with the rest of society and nature to promote the development of economic, social and cultural processes towards sustainable development.
Environmental impact study: Detailed description of the characteristics of a work project or activity that is intended to be carried out, including its technology and that is presented for approval within the framework of the environmental impact assessment process. It must provide well-founded antecedents for the prediction, identification and interpretation of the environmental impact of the project and describe the actions that will be taken to prevent or minimize adverse effects, as well as the monitoring program that will be adopted.
Ecodesign: Ecodesign is a methodology for the design of industrial products. Examine the life cycle of a product and generate ways to design it while minimizing environmental impact. In this methodology, the environment is taken into account as an additional factor and equivalent to those that have traditionally been taken into account such as costs, quality, functionality, aesthetics, safety, etc. It is also known as life cycle design or Design for the Environment (DfE).
Eco-Efficiency: The concept of eco-efficiency is born from the global conception of environmental impacts, the different phases of the life cycle of a product and the desire to reduce the different negative environmental effects. It consists of Providing goods and services at a competitive price, which satisfies human needs and the quality of life, while progressively reducing the environmental impact and the intensity of the use of resources throughout the life cycle, to a compatible level with the estimated load capacity of the planet (World Business Council for Sustainable Development-WBCSD) ”.
Can also be understood eco - efficiency, as the ratio between the value of the product or service produced by a company and the sum of the environmental impacts throughout their life cycle: Eco - efficiency = value of the product or service / environmental impact Eco - efficiency It is closely linked to sustainable development since it is equivalent to optimizing three objectives: economic growth, social equity and ecological value.It is the main means through which companies contribute to sustainable development and at the same time increase their competitiveness. This concept means adding more and more value to products and services, consuming fewer raw materials, generating less and less pollution through ecologically and economically efficient procedures and preventing risks.
Industrial Ecology: Industrial Ecology refers to the location of symbiotic or complementary industries in the same geographic areas. In this way, through a reasonable use of land and the design of individual plants a Clean Production is incorporated at the beginning of the industrial activity, instead of being added later.
Industrial Ecology makes companies work and relate as living beings do in an ecosystem, where each organism (company in our case) performs a specific function within an intricate network of relationships. Based on a vision of the company-society-environment conglomerate as a single entity (systemic vision), it seeks to improve the environmental behavior of the whole instead of seeking improvements in each of the parts ”.
Ecological Labeling: Ecological labeling is the labeling of products that have environmental advantages, or at least that have a lower environmental impact than the other alternatives. Ecolabels provide information on the consequences of products for the environment and provide a standardized means of comparing products. In this way, labels assist consumers, both as organizations and as individuals, to create responsible product choices.
Life Cycle: Concept that incorporates in the design of the product, environmental considerations that will facilitate its subsequent reuse or recycling.
Life Cycle Assessment: The Life Cycle Assessment is a tool that analyzes the environmental load of products at all stages of their life cycle. It helps companies understand the environmental problems associated with finished products upon reaching the end customer, and takes these considerations into account from the product manufacturing process.
Environmental Impact Assessment: The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a legal-technical-administrative procedure that aims to identify, predict and interpret the environmental impacts that a project or activity would produce if it were executed; as well as the prevention, correction and assessment of them. All this in order to be accepted, modified or rejected by the different competent Public Administrations.
Another definition considers it as the set of studies and technical systems that allow estimating the effects that the execution of a certain project, work or activity causes on the environment.
Projects subject to EIA can be, for example, the construction of a hydroelectric dam, a bridge or a factory; the irrigation of a great valley; the development of a port area; the establishment of a protected area or the construction of a new housing complex. The EIA report or study identifies potential environmental problems and measures to reduce the adverse environmental effects of the project.
Environmental Management (GA): Set of activities, mechanisms, actions and instruments, aimed at guaranteeing the administration and rational use of natural resources through the conservation, improvement, rehabilitation and monitoring of the environment. Environmental management applies the environmental policy established through a multidisciplinary approach.
Environmental Management of the Supply Chain: The supply chain is the network of producers and distributors who buy materials, convert them into intermediate or final products and distribute them to customers. Environmental Management of the Supply Chain is the integration of environmental aspects to the supply chain. It proposes information exchange and cooperation throughout the chain. It is also known under the English name "Supply Chain Management".
Environmental Impact: Any change in the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, as a total or partial result of the environmental aspects of an organization.
Environment: System of biotic, abiotic and socioeconomic elements with which man interacts, while adapting to it, transforming it and using it to satisfy its needs, environment in which an organization operates, including air, water, the soil, natural resources, flora, fauna, human beings and their interrelation.
Environmental Goals: Detailed requirements for action, quantified when possible, applicable to the Entity or parts of it, which come from the environmental objectives and which must be established and fulfilled in order to achieve said objectives.
Industrial Metabolism: Industrial Metabolism consists of the analysis of physical resource flows (energy and materials) in industrial and social systems. The objective is to identify and examine, from a global perspective, critical factors for the development of a sustainable industrial society.
Clean Production: An industrial production concept that minimizes any type of environmental impact through a meticulous management of the use of resources, the design and use of the product. It avoids the systematic generation of waste and carries out a good management of it, in addition it puts into practice industrial safety and occupational health techniques at work.
Pollution Prevention: Use of processes, practices, raw materials or products that prevent, reduce or control pollution, which may include recycling, treatment, process changes, control mechanisms, efficient use of resources and substitution of raw Materials.
Reuse: Techniques to reuse a material or by-product, without changing its original shape or nature.
Corporate Environmental Report: The Corporate Environmental Report is a process and a document by which organizations, including governments, can examine their environmental performance in a certain period and make that information public. The results are published as a separate document or as part of other publications, such as an annual report. The credibility of the results can be established by independent verification. A good report includes: environmental policy, performance data as a key to environmental impact analysis, and goals to improve performance in the future.
Treatment: Treatment is defined as the modification of the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of any waste, in such a way that its toxic properties are eliminated, its volume is reduced or it is simply made susceptible to recovery.
Environmental Management System (EMS): The part of the general management system that includes the organizational structure, planning of activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources to develop, implement, carry out, review and update the environmental policy.
Quality: It is the relative conformity with the specifications, to which the degree to which a product meets the design specifications, among other things, the higher its quality or also how it is commonly found satisfaction in a product fulfilling all the expectations that it seeks. Some client, thus being controlled by rules which must go on the market to be inspected and have the requirements stipulated by the organizations that certify a product.
Clean Production requires changes in attitudes, the exercise of responsible environmental management and the promotion of technology change. This strategy is accompanied by the evaluation of various measures to ensure its environmental effectiveness and economic feasibility.
Clean Production constitutes an integrated preventive strategy that is applied to the entire production cycle in order to:
• Increase productivity by ensuring more efficient use of raw materials, energy, and water.
• Promote better environmental performance by reducing the source of waste and emissions.
• Reduce the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle by designing products that are friendly to the environment while remaining economically efficient.
• All of this constitutes a policy of our state and in turn a requirement at the international level to achieve competitiveness of our products, in an environmentally safe way that allows us to maintain an image before the community and customers and insert ourselves in the market, since the end From the eighties, the idea of making environmental protection compatible with market requirements began to take more force, and of considering the scarce environmental resources that the company consumes and that must be internalized, as well as other resources that are needed for production, avoiding unfair competition from companies that do not value them compared to those that do.
Section 1: Clean Production.
The following section addresses the theoretical issues related to Clean Production, a preventive business management strategy applied to products, processes and work organization, whose main objective is to minimize emissions and / or discharges at the source:
• Reducing risks to human health and the environment.
• Simultaneously raising the competitiveness of the company.
The Clean Production options, in addition to being efficient from the environmental point of view, are usually lower in cost and / or have reduced investment repayment periods. In short, they are cost-efficient.
1.1- Knowing Clean Production.
Clean Production is a preventive strategy in companies, applied to products, processes and work organization, whose main objective is: to minimize emissions and / or discharges at the source, reducing risks to human health and the environment, simultaneously increasing their competitiveness and improving its environmental performance; thus obtaining economic benefits.
Traditionally, countries were competitive if their companies had access to low resource costs - capital, labor, energy, and raw materials - and, since technology changed slowly, a comparative advantage in resources was sufficient for success.
Today, this notion of comparative advantage is obsolete. Increasingly, the countries and companies that are most competitive are not those that have the lowest cost of resources, but those that employ the most advanced technologies and methods to use those resources.
And as technology is constantly changing, the new paradigm of global competitiveness demands the ability of companies to innovate quickly.
This new paradigm has profound implications for the debate around the environmental issue, since it already brings together traditionally opposed interests: environmental improvement and competitiveness.
Waste and forms of energy discharged into the environment in the form of pollution are a sign that resources have been used incompletely or inefficiently. When this happens, companies are obliged to carry out activities that increase costs but do not add value to the product, such as: treatment and final disposal of waste.
Environmental improvement requires companies to innovate to increase the productivity of resources, which is precisely the great challenge of global competitiveness. However, environmental regulations do not lead, inevitably, to increase the productivity and competitiveness of all companies; since only those that innovate successfully will achieve success.
In the past 30 years, industrialized nations responded to pollution and environmental degradation in four characteristic ways:
- First, ignoring the problem
- Then, diluting or dispersing the contamination, so that the apparent effects were less Harmful
- Then, trying to control contamination and waste, what has been called the “end-of-pipe” approach, and
- Recently, through clean production, preventing pollution and the generation of waste at its source.
1.2- Evolution of clean production.
It is a preventive business management strategy applied to products, processes and work organization.
What is the goal of Cleaner Production?
Its objective is to minimize emissions and / or discharges at the source, reducing risks to human health and the environment, while simultaneously increasing competitiveness.
This sequence of "ignore-dilute-control-prevent" responds to the new times, since it protects the environment, consumers and workers, while improving the efficiency, profitability and competitiveness of the productive sector.
This is the fundamental objective of Clean Production, also called cleaner production, eco-efficiency or pollution prevention, which is defined as “the permanent application of a preventive and integrated environmental strategy for processes, products and services, in order to increase efficiency and reduce risks to the human population and the environment ”2.
Clean Production can be applied to various productive sectors: in the extraction of raw materials, the manufacturing industry, the fishing activity, agriculture, tourism, hospitals, the energy sector, information systems, offices, etc.
For production processes, Clean Production results from one or a combination of the following measures: conservation of raw materials, water or energy; disposal of toxic or dangerous raw materials; reducing the quantity and toxicity of all emissions and wastes at their source. For products, Clean Production implies reducing the impacts on the environment, health and safety of the product throughout its life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials, during manufacture and use, to its final disposal.
This preventive approach includes options to:
- Improve product design
- Improve management and operating practices
- Improve maintenance and cleaning
- Substitute toxic and dangerous materials
- Modify processes
- Reuse waste internally, Which improves the planning and selection of:
- New Technological Processes, That increase efficiency and decrease the needs of:
- Control technologies at the end of the line or "end of pipe"
This does not mean that end-of-line control technologies are not required, but yes, under this Clean Production concept, they are kept to a minimum and, in some cases, can be eliminated entirely.
This is extremely relevant, since the treatment and disposal systems are increasingly expensive, they do not generate any type of savings or benefit for the process and, many times, it is only possible to transfer the problem from one environment to another, without actually solving it (for example, what results as a product after treating liquid industrial waste in treatment plants is a solid waste composed of the entire pollutant load of the liquid waste).
The Clean Production options, in addition to being efficient from the environmental point of view, are usually lower in cost and / or have reduced investment repayment periods. For this reason they are called cost-efficient options.
In a hierarchy of environmental management options that start from the most economical and technically simple, to the most expensive and complex, the Clean Production options are those that are located precisely in the upper section, as shown in the table below.
Environmental pollution prevention options
- Improvement in processes and products and increase in efficiency.
- Decrease in production costs due to better use of resources and energy.
- Increases in competitiveness, due to the use of new and better technologies and as an element of differentiation in the markets.
- Access to new markets with environmental restrictions or prohibitions.
- Reduction of the risks of the treatment, storage and disposal of toxic waste.
- Cost reduction of increasingly expensive waste treatment and disposal systems.
- Improvement of occupational health and safety conditions.
- Greater credibility with financial institutions and
- Better relations with the community and authorities.
Why is cleaner production different? Much of what is thought about environmental impacts today revolves around what should be done with waste and fumes after they have occurred. The goal of clean production is, to begin with, avoid the production of waste and reduce the use of raw materials, water and energy.
In the long term, clean production is the most profitable way to exploit services and processes and to develop and manufacture products. The cost of waste and fumes, as well as negative impacts on health and the environment, can be avoided from the start by applying the clean production concept.
1.4- Cleaner Production Actions.
- Minimization of the use of inputs, water and energy.
- Minimization of the use of toxic inputs.
- Minimization of the volume and toxicity of the emissions generated by the production process.
- Recycling of waste at the plant and if not, outside it.
- Reduction of the environmental impact of products in their life cycle.
1.5- Policy to promote clean production.
Clean Production (PL) is a preventive business management strategy applied to products, processes and work organization.
Its objective is to minimize emissions and / or discharges at the source, reducing risks to human health and the environment, while simultaneously increasing competitiveness. Clean Production results from five actions, whether they are combined or not:
- The minimization and efficient consumption of inputs, water and energy
- Minimizing the use of toxic inputs
- Minimization of the volume and toxicity of all emissions generated by the production process
- Recycling the maximum proportion of waste in the plant and if not, outside of it
- And the reduction of the environmental impact of products in their life cycle.
The Clean Production policy represents a link that articulates the environmental policy with the productive development policy, thus expressing an important dimension of the sustainable development strategy.
The foundation of this policy is not only the verification of serious environmental pollution problems, but also the presence of important obstacles that hinder a rapid assimilation by the productive system of efficient environmental and competitive practices, both socially and privately. The causes lie in the existence of market failures, institutional failures and significant lags in the provision of factors, such as human resources specialized in this type of technology. However, Chile is a fast learner. There is already a nucleus of companies that have successful experiences in applying Clean Production technologies. For its part, the public sector has already developed important initiatives to promote Clean Production. Additionally, there are important international spaces,legitimized by Agenda 21 and the WTO5 which underpin the role of the public sector, as a catalyst and facilitator.
This policy translates into an action program that has four guidelines:
Integrate, adapt and develop instruments to promote clean production, based on actions such as mass technology transfer actions, create markets for technological services in PL, favor research and development aimed at the development of Clean Production technologies.
1. Promote cooperation for the promotion of Clean Production that includes actions such as Voluntary Clean Production Programs undertaken by groups of companies, favor the emergence of a «critical mass» of companies with advanced experiences (eg ISO 140006), form a Public-Private Committee that analyzes policy alternatives, undertakes joint actions and defines priorities.
2. Strengthen the technological and information infrastructure that includes actions such as the promotion of a network of Clean Production technology centers, the dissemination of standardized Clean Production methodologies, the development of awareness campaigns with private participation, the promotion of clean production programs. training, as well as the use of (Internet) for business use.
3. Strengthen public management and coordination in the promotion of CLEAN PRODUCTION, which is expressed in actions such as: the integration of CLEAN PRODUCTION objectives and goals in all programs of productive development and infrastructure; the strengthening of the information role of the regulatory and oversight entities; promoting the promotion of Clean Production at the regional level; the adaptation of the policies to promote Small and Medium Enterprises and Micro and Small Enterprises for the purposes of Clean Production; and the promotion of training programs for public organizations.
This policy has five distinctive features:
1. Integrate and articulate the initiatives and programs that are already underway.
2. It does not rule out the promotion of efficient abatement technologies, especially when preventive environmental management alternatives are not sufficient by themselves to ensure compliance with norms and standards.
3. It is mainly focused on medium, small and micro-enterprises, and their productive chains with large companies.
4. It has a flexible approach, based on a permanent public-private dialogue, open to incorporating new initiatives, to discard those that prove to be inefficient, and to deepen aspects that could be relevant such as lines of financing for productive investment towards environmental purposes, based on WTO criteria.
5. It is aimed at generating a change in social sensitivity regarding issues of environment and productivity, as well as a cultural change in the actors regarding the introduction of preventive environmental management into their daily practices.
Section 2: Good Management Practices.
The current section addresses the theoretical issues regarding Good Management Practices, the actions that the company needs to implement these practices
The objective of the section “Good Management Practices” is to prepare small and medium-sized companies, SMEs, to identify the options of “common sense”, simple and practices called “Good Management Practices” that can be applied to reduce the costs of production and increase the total productivity of the company and also reduce the environmental impact.
The "Good Management Practices" refer to a certain type of measures related to the prevention of the loss of raw materials, the minimization of waste, the saving of water and energy and the improvement of the management of the company.
The implementation of these practices is relatively easy and inexpensive, therefore they are especially appropriate for small and medium-sized companies, SMEs.
Why and for what has this section been developed?
- specifically for SMEs.
- for employers, managers and / or technical personnel.
- to identify specific areas of application of these measures.
- to determine the prioritization of the application of these measures.
- To be used by companies as an adequate management tool that allows monitoring of the results obtained and enables the implementation of environmental management with greater ease without large requirements of time and money.
- can be implemented with a modest budget and consulting support.
2.2- What are “Good Management Practices”?
- The “Good Management Practices” are voluntary actions, based on common sense and that can be applied with the aim of:
- Rationalization of the use of raw materials, water and energy.
- Reduction of the volume and / or toxicity of solid and liquid waste and atmospheric emissions
- issued during the process.
- Reuse and / or recycling of materials.
- Improvement of working conditions and occupational health and safety in the company.
In addition, minimizing waste can enable the company.
- Reduce material losses and therefore operational costs.
- Reduce pollution levels.
- Improve the image of the company before customers, suppliers, the community and the authorities.
It is interesting to consider that in most of the cases studied, around 50% of the generation of waste can be reduced by implementing “Good Management Practices” and only making small operational changes.
2.3- What does the company need to implement these “Good Management Practices”?
Organizational Culture: The reduction of waste is related to the change of behavior and the creation of a culture of productivity and minimization of waste within the company.
Awareness of the problem: It is important to awaken the sensitivity of employees to the problem and involve them in identifying opportunities and applying them.
Information Dissemination: The process can be improved by ensuring a good internal dissemination of the results of the implementation of the "Good Management Practices" within the company.
Simple actions: The adoption of “Good Management Practices” does not require large investments in cleaner technologies, which could be relatively expensive for SMEs. The objective is the continuous improvement of the production process through the most rational use of resources and the optimization of production processes.
2.4- How to implement the “Good Management Practices”?
Good Management Practices can be implemented through:
1. List of possible actions to identify opportunities for "Good Management Practices" in the company.
2. Determination of responsibilities for the actions identified.
3. Establishment of objectives and goals.
4. Identification of priority areas for action.
5. Establishment of training for workers.
6. Development and implementation of the required procedures.
7. Monitoring and evaluation of results, setting new goals.
2.5- What can be achieved with “Good Management Practices” and how?
With the application of "Good Management Practices" it is possible to achieve:
Loss reduction / use of raw materials and other inputs, through:
- reduction of unnecessary waste
- preventive maintenance
- establishment of emergency plans and procedures
Responsible management and control of Waste, through:
- waste separation
- reuse / recycling of waste as raw materials, in other processes
- waste disposal in an environmentally efficient and economical way
Rational Management and Transportation of Materials and Products, through:
- ensuring proper handling and storage
- establishment of effective inventory control
- production planning and optimization
- adequate record keeping
Energy Saving, through:
- implementation of adequate isolation
- energy usage monitoring
- energy recovery and reuse
Water Saving, through:
- prevention of water leaks and spills
- water reuse
- water use monitoring
2.6- Application of Good Management Practices.
For the efficient use of raw materials and secondary materials
Objective: Reduction of losses and better use of raw materials, supplies and supplies.
Repair of leaks in pipes and equipment.
- Make a visual assessment within each department to identify problem areas.
- Order repairs using appropriate materials.
- Monitor and ensure the elimination of leaks
Prevention of accidental material spills.
- Take extreme precautions when removing materials from storage containers for use in production.
Establishment of a preventive maintenance program for the equipment.
- Prevention of unexpected interruptions in production.
- Determination of the periodicity and responsibilities for regular inspections.
Keeping the maintenance manuals in an accessible place known to those in charge.
- Follow the recommendations given in the maintenance manuals.
- Take charge of the necessary training of the personnel.
Updated maintenance of equipment records.
- Update of the location of the equipment, its characteristics, and maintenance program.
- Regular verification of compliance with maintenance programs.
Production planning optimization.
- Dedicate the team to a specific product.
- Maximize the number of products manufactured, eg. I work for a day or a week in a process, in a production line.
Evaluation of the volumes of waste and products that do not meet the specifications.
Identify quality problems.
- Take corrective measures.
For the responsible management of waste
Objective: Reduction, Reuse, Recycling and Disposal of waste in an appropriate way for the environment.
Examination of the main sources of waste.
- Identify the places in the production process where waste is generated
Study of the substitution of materials and toxic substances for other materials.
Classification of waste according to its nature and toxicity, for reuse, recycling, etc.
- Separation of hazardous waste from others, to avoid contamination.
- Separation of liquid waste from solid waste, etc.
Assigning a place to the different types of waste in different containers.
- Assignment of containers to each group of waste.
- Instruct employees to use the different containers to collect and store waste.
- Regular verification of implementation.
Reuse / recycling of different wastes.
- Identification of the possibilities to use and recycle the different wastes.
- Disposal of non-reusable and non-recyclable waste using methods in accordance with existing regulations.
Reuse / recycling of materials and substances
- Identification of the possibilities of reuse of materials in the different stages of the production process.
- Identification of the possibilities of selling materials to reuse in other companies or production processes.
- Disposal of non-reusable and non-recyclable waste using appropriate methods.
Separation of the different liquid waste streams.
- Avoid mixing the different wastewater streams.
Reuse / recycling of waste water.
- Study the possibilities of reusing / recycling wastewater
- Verify that the reuse of waste water does not damage the quality of the product
Separation of solvents used in the production process.
- Regenerate solvents to reuse them in the production process
Reuse of packaging material.
- Identify the possibilities to reduce the packaging material.
- Identify the possibilities to reuse the packaging material.
- Verification of the possibilities to introduce a deposit system that facilitates the recovery of packaging material.
For the handling and transport of materials and products
Objective: Effective Handling, Storage and Transfer of Materials and Products.
Inspection of raw material received from Suppliers.
- Verify that the packaging is in good condition.
- Make sure that the contents are protected.
- Accept only good quality raw materials.
Respect the storage conditions recommended by the raw material suppliers.
- Establish storage systems according to instructions given by suppliers or as indicated on the packaging, especially for toxic products.
- Keep safety records in storage and work area.
Storage of dangerous products in a designated and safe area.
- Reduce the risk of accidents.
- Reduce the need for supplemental payment for insurance costs.
- Train staff to avoid accidents.
Storage of raw materials in compatible groups.
- Inspect the area periodically for contamination.
- Use storage methodologies and devices that avoid damage during storage.
Verification of expiration dates of raw materials.
- Regularly review and keep inventory records.
- Apply the principle «first entry first.
Exit »(FIFO) the first thing that enters the warehouse is the first thing that leaves] for the control of the stock of raw materials.
Maintaining stocks at levels based on current needs.
- Avoid excessive purchase of raw materials.
- Reduce the loss of supplies (eg leave containers open.
Take appropriate safety measures during the movement, transport and use of dangerous products.
- Wear suitable protective clothing
- Use appropriate equipment
- Give staff the necessary training
Replacement of dangerous products by alternatives
For energy saving
Objective: Conservation, reuse and reduction of energy consumption.
Maintaining good insulation of pipes with high temperature water.
- Periodically check the condition of the insulation to avoid heat losses and repair when necessary.
Maintaining good insulation of cold water pipes.
- Make sure the cooling and air conditioning systems do not overheat unnecessarily.
Maintenance of compressed air pressure pipes.
- Avoid pressure loss.
- Periodically check for leaks and repair them when necessary.
Maintenance of energy-using equipment (eg boilers, boilers)
- Optimize efficient combustion through regular movement
- Avoid hot / cold exhaust losses due to open doors, leaks, etc.
Use of air conditioning systems in an efficient way.
- Check the temperature of the environment, to avoid excessive use of the air conditioning.
- Make sure that there is good insulation of the air conditioning in the facilities.
- Disconnect the air conditioning systems when they are not necessary (eg at night).
Regularly adjust the air conditioning to a suitable temperature.
Recovery / reuse of energy in the production process.
• Install a heat exchanger when the temperature differences are greater than 50 ° C.
• Regularly clean the heat exchange surfaces to ensure the best possible transfer.
Regulation of energy consumption according to the level of energy required.
v For example, if a system needs a consumption of 50 ° C, do not provide a consumption of 70 ° C
Use of a thermostat in processes that handle water (eg for washing rinsing baths).
- Make sure that the temperature is the required one, so that you do not have to use more energy later to adapt it.
Control of the dimensioning of the electricity compensatory equipment at the source.
- Install a condenser coil at the transfer level.
Verification of where the consumption of non-renewable energy resources can be substituted for other renewable energy alternatives.
To save water
Objective: Preservation, Reuse and reduction of water flows.
Elimination of water leaks.
- Replace the seals of the pipes in bad condition.
- Examine the condition of the water pipes and make the necessary repairs.
- Monitor water tanks in production processes and prevent spills.
- Close the water taps.
- Install meters in areas where large amounts of water are used.
- Install low-cost devices to save water.
- Take precautions not to waste water, both in the process and in cleaning.
- Save water where it best suits.
Stopping the use of water where it is not needed at all.
- Remove water taps from where they are not used.
- Seal some faucets to avoid unnecessary use.
Regulation of pumps and water pipes.
- Regulate according to specific production needs
Eliminate unnecessary flows of industrial water outside of the hours in which the company operates.
Reuse of wash water.
- Determine the quantity, quality and location of the sources of reusable water.
- Verify that the reuse of said water does not damage the quality of the final product.
Avoid excess rinsing with water.
- Install valves in the equipment to reduce the water leakage.
See the possibility of using rinse tubs.
Equip departments with high water consumption and / or savings potential with water metering instruments.
- Verify the efficient use of water, especially in processes and departments with high water consumption.
Section 3: Internal Management and Quality Assurance.
The following section addresses the theoretical issues related to Internal Management and Quality Assurance, actions that make a product or service meet certain quality requirements. If these quality requirements fully reflect the needs of customers, it can be said that quality assurance is met.
3.1- Quality Assurance.
Quality assurance can be defined as the total effort to raise, organize, direct and control quality in a production system with the aim of providing the customer with products with the appropriate quality. It is simply ensuring that quality is what it should be.
Modern quality assurance methods were developed and refined in manufacturing industries. The introduction and adoption of quality assurance programs in services has lagged manufacturing, perhaps as much as a decade.
Administrators of service organizations have out of habit assumed that their service is acceptable when customers do not complain frequently. Only recently have they realized that service quality can be managed as a competitive weapon.
Quality assurance in manufacturing. Ensuring manufacturing quality is at the heart of the quality management process. It is at this point, where a good or service is produced, where quality is "inter-constructed" or incorporated.
General management, comprising the finance and sales groups, has overall responsibility for planning and executing the quality assurance program.
3.2- Internal assurance system or internal quality management.
The standards that include the guidelines for implementing internal quality assurance systems are:
- UNE * EN * ISO 9000 “Quality systems. Standards for Quality Management and Quality Assurance ”.
- UNE * EN * ISO 9004 "Quality Management and element of a Quality System".
LAQI 1000 "Latin American Quality Institute - The most important Quality Standards and Standards Development Institute in Latin America" The Latin American Quality Institute certifies the Quality Managers of the main Latin American organizations with the "Quality Assurance Manager" certificate.
3.3- External assurance system.
Reasons for external quality assurance:
- Internal improvement.
- “Marketing” business reasons.
- Control and development of suppliers.
- Legal requirements or those of our clients.
- As a first step towards Excellent Management.
Quality in design and product:
To obtain quality products and services, we must ensure their quality from the moment they are designed. A quality product or service is one that satisfies the customer's needs, therefore, to develop and launch a quality product it is necessary:
- Know the client's needs.
- Design a product or service that meets those needs.
- Make the product or service according to the design.
- To achieve the product or service in the shortest time and at the lowest possible cost.
Design
- The design of a new product can be summarized in these stages:
- Preparation of the project: its quality will depend on the feasibility of manufacturing and producing the product according to the planned specifications.
- Technical definition of the product: this definition is carried out through the AMFE technique.
- Control of the design process: the design process must be controlled, to ensure that the results are as expected.
Product
To evaluate the quality of a product you can count on these indicators:
- The quality of conformity: is the extent to which a product corresponds to the designed specifications, and agrees with the requirements of the project.
- Performance quality: indicates the results obtained when using the manufactured products.
3.4- Quality in purchases.
It is necessary to ensure quality in purchases to ensure that the products or services purchased meet the necessary requirements. The best way to guarantee the quality of products and services is to rely on the responsibility of the supplier, to manufacture a good product and provide the corresponding quality tests.
3.5- Supplier evaluation.
The quality of the products or services of an organization depends to an important extent on its suppliers. To develop new products and services with a high degree of reliability, it is essential that the supplier collaborates from the initial development phase.
It is important to bear in mind that a supplier that is well stimulated and supported by the organization can make an irreplaceable contribution of creativity and technological innovation in new products and services and can also work actively to continuously reduce costs.
3.6- Verification of the products purchased.
The reception control consists of verifying that the products or services acquired have the desired quality, and meet the specifications. Verification is a very simple way to detect defective products, but nevertheless it tends to disappear due to the associated inconveniences:
- Large costs that do not improve the quality of the product (it does not add value to the product produced by poor verification when there is no model or standard of comparison as standards).
- In some cases the company does not have the necessary systems to inspect certain characteristics of the products.
- The inspection of 100% of the products received does not ensure that all the approved products are free of defects, it is for this reason that for large batches representative samples must be carried out, sometimes suggested, sometimes imposed.
- There are cases in which the control itself when it is part of the production process can cause defects, it is important to maintain distance and independence for verification.
3.7- Agreed quality.
It is the agreement established between the buyer and the supplier, according to which the supplier is attributed a certain responsibility for the quality of the batches supplied, which must meet previously agreed quality levels. This agreement should be signed in the form of a contract.
3.8- Quality in production.
It is to carry out the necessary activities to ensure that the required quality is obtained and maintained, from the moment the product design is taken to the factory, until the product is delivered to the customer for use.
The main objectives of quality assurance in production are:
- Minimize costs.
- Maximize customer satisfaction.
3.9- Planning of quality control in production.
The planning of quality control in production is one of the most important activities since it is where it is defined:
- The processes and work that must be controlled to obtain products without failures.
- The requirements and form of acceptance of the product that guarantee their quality.
- The necessary measuring equipment to guarantee the correct checking of the products.
- The way of collecting data to maintain control and take corrective actions when necessary.
- The education and training needs of personnel with inspection tasks.
- The tests and supervisions that guarantee that these activities are carried out correctly and that the product is free from failure.
3.10- Verification of the products.
The verification of the product, service or process must be considered as an integral part of the production control, being able to find three types:
- Inspection and input testing of materials.
- Inspection during the process.
- In finished products.
Control of inspection, measurement and testing equipment
Some of the activities necessary to ensure good control of measurement and testing equipment are:
- Prepare an inventory.
- Prepare an annual calibration plan.
- Control calibrations and establish traceability.
- Carry out preventive and predictive maintenance of the equipment.
- Manage teams.
- Identify the measurements that will be carried out and the accuracy that will be required for it.
3.11- Quality management in services.
One of the first actions in the quality of service is to find out who the customers are, what they want and expect from the organization. Only in this way can products and services, as well as processes, be oriented towards their best satisfaction.
- «Latin American Quality Institute» «LAQI» In Latin America it is the Institute that is in charge of the official Total Quality certifications as well as those in charge of holding the World Quality Day in Latin America. Daniel Maximilian Da Costa, CEO of this Organization, carries out numerous projects to support the development of total quality in companies as well as developing Social Responsibility and Environmental Preservation projects in the countries where LAQI maintains a presence.
3.12- Quality customer service.
It is the set of benefits that the client expects, in addition to the product or the basic service. To give the best service, the set of benefits that the client wants must be considered:
- The value added to the product.
- The service itself.
- The business experience.
- The service granted to the client.
Basic customer needs
The main basic needs of a client are:
- Be understood.
- Feel welcome.
- Feeling important.
- Feel comfort.
- Feel confident.
- Feeling heard.
- Feel safe
- Feeling valuable.
3.13- The importance of service quality management.
The importance of quality in service can be understood for the following reasons:
- Growth of the service industry.
- Growth of competition.
- Better knowledge of customers.
Quality of service towards the client, being satisfied according to their perspective.
Customer service
In order to provide adequate customer service, you must:
- Identify who the customers are.
- Group them into different types.
- Identifying the needs of customers, as well as knowing where and how customers want it, in addition to increasing productivity, is essential for any company.
Data quality as a critical success factor for information systems
The quality of the data, the lack of quality of the data is one of the main problems faced by those responsible for information systems and companies in general, as it constitutes one of the most serious and persistent "hidden" problems in any organization.
3.14- Fundamental guidelines for Quality and Excellence:
Orientation to Quality and Excellence.
Make Quality and Excellence priority one, the fundamental strategic and operational source for moving the company forward and improving its performance and reputation. Managers, employees, customers, suppliers, intermediaries must know that everything that is done to improve quality will be really supported by the company's management.
Orientation to Customer Satisfaction.
In full correspondence with Marketing, the top priority and starting point is given to the customer. This means creating an atmosphere of true fanaticism towards customer satisfaction, anticipating their needs and exceeding their expectations: the organization rather than selling products or providing services, it literally buys customers.
Orientation to Transformative Leadership.
Managers of any level are considered the trigger for quality and their authority is recognized, not by the position held, but by the attitude, knowledge, skill, transparency, clear communication, fairness and balance of their decisions, in a way that inspires confidence and stimulate and motivate quality work above all, based on proximity to the client and the daily work operation. The distinction of these managers is their strategic vision, their vocation for change and permanent support for work, with attention, solutions and resources to strengthen quality. The creation of a corporate culture by the governing body of the company is an important element to obtain quality results.
Orientation to People.
The employee is also considered an internal client, the main capital, and respect for him and his recognition is the most precious thing. The real possibility of being part of a true business team, of contributing to plans, improvement, decisions and being carried out for it, is supported not only by on-the-job training and dignity of working conditions, but also with expansion of the number of faculties, creation of Ishikawa-type Quality Circles and other groups, in order to encourage careers or promotions within the company, etc. The
The way in which the internal customer is treated is projected towards the external customer, the convinced employee produces a convinced and loyal customer, all internal customers become active sellers of the company.
Orientation to the Process.
The quality of the product and / or service is the result of the quality of the labor process that generates it, conditioned by the quality of the inputs it has and the correct transformation process to obtain the appropriate outputs in products and services, being able to be perfected by the own employees the interactions between the different components of each process, that nothing is over or missing or that they are not at the right time, achieving by simple methods a good conversion of customer expectations into criteria and quality standards and providing feedback on the user satisfaction as the only way to know what quality we provide and how we can improve it day by day.
Orientation to the Environment.
Knowledge of the place where operations take place is vital and is subject to constant changes, both in policies, trends, demands, competitors, etc. Quality is always relative, interactive, it depends on the clients and what they offer and what others think as well. The collection of information is done by the employees themselves and in a simple way. The visions, strategies and missions are not only well designed but perfectly communicated and clear, alive for everyone, on the basis of knowing how to take advantage of market opportunities and overcome threats, according to the strengths and weaknesses of the company. The treatment of suppliers changes, as they are considered as partners and the win-win rule is applied, which is extended to intermediate distributors,All of which are vitally important so that the product or service can have the desired quality.
Orientation to Measure of Quality.
The ability to direct work towards quality, favorably solve problems, constantly improve what is done, involve everyone in this task, requires measuring the best results obtained and making them known in order to stimulate and reinforce quality work. Each person must be able to measure themselves in order to carry out their work well. The sensitivity acquired on the significance of quality for success, moves those involved to work for it. Depending on the maturity and level of results of the company, joining this movement to achieve excellent quality may mean introducing complete quality implementation programs (general reorganization, new designs, adjustments) or partial programs only where the failures are concentrated fundamental in consequences with them,but perhaps for all of them it is necessary to do the most difficult: continuous improvement programs based on the prevention of errors (obtaining zero failures or doing it right the first time), correction of inevitable errors (hunting for errors and not for men, or search for opportunities) and systematic improvement of what is done without constituting errors (with an open mind to change, the entrepreneurial creation of new products, services and activities, access to other customer needs, new customers, reorganization of areas, redesigns systems, etc.).or search for opportunities) and systematic improvement of what is done without constituting errors (with an open mind to change, the entrepreneurial creation of new products, services and activities, access to other customer needs, new customers, reorganization of areas, redesigns systems, etc.).or search for opportunities) and systematic improvement of what is done without constituting errors (with an open mind to change, the entrepreneurial creation of new products, services and activities, access to other customer needs, new customers, reorganization of areas, redesigns systems, etc.).
Section 4: Application of Clean Production and Quality Assurance in the Las Tunas Fuel Trading Company.
This section was developed so that the company supports the introduction of Clean Production and Quality Assurance in its production process, which will allow, in a systematic and functional way, to apply the preliminary concepts in order to incorporate environmental management as a factor. more competitiveness within the company.
Using a methodology oriented to:
• Seek technical measures and procedures to minimize emissions and waste, which lead to the implementation of profitable solutions for the company.
It will also lead to a continuous evaluation process that allows the definitive incorporation of environmental management into the company's strategy.
4.1- Description of the technology.
Based on the need to apply clean production and Quality Assurance to increase the benefits of the company and improve the environment. Achieving better productive results and better environmental performance in our entity and encouraging all those involved to adopt a more active role in protecting the environment based on the fact that environmental behavior together with technological innovation and quality enable competition and insertion in a market with a respect and certified image.
Based on these principles and based on the current information and perspective of crude oil production, the implementation of a Business Environmental Management System is decided, so we draw up an Environmental Policy and an Environmental Strategy based on the results of the initial diagnosis and with the application of Clean Production that in this matter would allow the elaboration of an Action Plan to solve the detected problems that affected both man and the environment and thus comply with the objectives outlined in this work. Starting from the identification of opportunities and the application of these novel concepts to achieve better results in environmental performance and in the benefits of the company.
A Clean Production program will save you money and gain recognition as it covers a number of aspects such as:
- Cost reduction.
- Increase productivity.
- Improve the image of the company.
- Keeps your customers satisfied and motivated.
- Reduce risks.
- Protect the environment.
For this, opportunities were identified such as:
- Possible reduction in energy, material and water consumption.
- Reducing the generation of waste.
- Improving the safety and health of workers.
- Understanding the life cycle of products.
- Integrating ourselves better to the local environment.
This is why we carry out three fundamental tasks:
- We analyze the situation and identify opportunities by carefully studying each process and the conditions in which they were generated.
- We determine the priority opportunities.
- We drew up an Action Plan and put it into operation.
With the initial diagnosis we were able to determine the main polluting effluents that had their influence on both man and the environment, which are listed below.
4.2- Main polluting effluents.
1. Industrial irradiations in the form of smoke and dust, which are released into the atmosphere and pollute the air and intervene in the Ozone layer.
2. Wastewater of industrial origin that constitutes the main source of water pollution.
3. Sewage waters from human activity.
4. Chemical products from industrial activity.
5. Solid waste from industry and domestic activities.
6. Gaseous irradiations produced by automotive transport.
7. Dispersion of hydrocarbons in rainways.
8. High Noise Levels.
With the identification of these polluting effluents, we were able to determine a series of aspects that involved a great impact on environmental issues, relating the following as the main ones:
4.3- Main environmental aspects.
- Deposits of aggregates and construction materials in the surroundings of the plants.
- Emanations of dust and fumes from the railway system.
- Emanations of hydrochloric acid and caustic soda gases into the atmosphere from the storage tanks and during their handling.
- Energy inefficiency.
- There is no proper water management and waste disposal.
- An environmental monitoring system has not been established.
- There is no program for the management of chemical-toxic products and hazardous waste.
- High noise level and high temperatures in Automotive and LPG workshops.
- Lack of trees in the perimeter areas of the industry.
- Poor information, training, dissemination and environmental education of workers.
Through the meticulous study of the existing regulations on environmental matters and direct observation of the processes, we determined the main environmental impacts of the company Comercializadora de Combustibles de Las Tunas, which we list below:
1. Air pollution.
2. Pollution of surface and groundwater.
3. Soil contamination.
4. Deforestation in the areas surrounding the industry.
5. Depletion of the ozone layer.
6. Influence on the greenhouse effect.
7. Climate changes.
8. Deterioration of the Landscape.
9. Effects on the health of workers with various occupational diseases.
4.4- Action plan.
Water resource management
- Preventive and corrective maintenance to the conduction systems and storage tanks.
- Solution to water leaks in chemical plants and auxiliary facilities
- Fire water system repair
- Check the drip systems of the pumps.
Energy resource management
- Carry out the daily evaluation of the efficiency of the facilities and equipment and analyze and control the daily cost.
- Keep a strict control, establish an energy efficiency program based on the results of these evaluations and maintain control of key positions that are well identified.
- Establish a set of measures and actions to improve the efficiency of fuel and lubricant consumption in transport with control of route sheets, union of trips between directions, supervision of loads.
- Design and construction of a system for the supply of chemical products from the cistern in the water plant.
- Use dispensers of chemical products that allow better control of these.
- Replace chemical pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides with biological products.
- Carry out the daily evaluation of the efficiency of the facilities and equipment, analyze and control the daily cost.
- Minimization, recycling and reuse of waste.
- Maintain monitoring of the waters of the sanitary landfill, verifying their environmental quality.
- Recirculate and reuse water used within industrial facilities, as well as replace pumps with more efficient ones.
- Rationally use raw materials and products (inventory, storage and proper handling of materials used), with a control of the cost sheet.
- Technological improvements in processes.
- Carry out technological improvements in the operation of the secondary circuit of the water plant, eliminating harmful substances such as sulfuric acid, improving the operation and efficiency.
Good practices
- Design a rigorous control of preventive and corrective maintenance of facilities and equipment with an automated control system with daily verification of the incidence in the production and services of the company.
- Carry out an adequate and correct purchasing policy with environmentally friendly substances.
- Comply with the procedures for use and handling of each product, raw material or input, with control and supervision.
- Maintain the control of dangerous products in the entity, the supervision of the danger cards and the adequate treatment of these to avoid breakdowns or accidents, in addition to monitoring them through the governing bodies.
- Provide talks, conferences, newsletters and folders on environmental issues.
Forest resources
- Maintain the rehabilitation of the entity's landscape and gardening as a process of continuous improvement.
- Reanimate the green areas of the entire entity while maintaining cultural attention to these issues.
- Reuse the trees that were damaged by the aftermath of the hurricane as chocks and live stakes.
- Efficiency in productive activity and cost reduction.
- Use a more efficient technology in water treatment that allows the total elimination of sulfuric acid, managing to maintain the required water indicators.
- Elimination of the use of sulfuric acid that was used in the neutralization of the PH of the water.
Waste Management. Minimization, recycling and reuse of waste.
- Separate independently the various wastes that are generated in the entity, placing them correctly in the deposit designated for these purposes.
- Reuse water used within industrial facilities.
- Rationally use raw materials and products (inventory, storage and proper handling of materials used).
- Deliver damaged tires to raw material and recapture those that can be used.
- Management of Chemical-Toxic Products and Hazardous Waste of equipment that use substances that deplete the ozone layer.
- Use chemical product dispensers.
- Replace chemical pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides with biological products.
- Repair retaining walls of fuel tanks.
- Waterproof the area of the fuel track to prevent these harmful products from entering the water table.
- Repair and condition the retaining walls of the fuel stations to avoid spills and contamination to the water table and soils.
- Identify the risk areas.
Refrigerant Gas Management.
- Replace air conditioners and cooling equipment with other less energy consumers.
Human resources management.
- Acquire protective equipment for workers.
- Introduce technological improvements to minimize the exposure of workers to risk factors.
- Prepare and implement a training, information and environmental dissemination program.
- Link environmental management work to educational centers as well as the surrounding community.
4.5- Technical economic analysis. Social and environmental impact of environmental management and the application of clean productions
- Recycling of metal waste from maintenance workshops has been achieved.
- Based on the fact that one liter of oil or grease contaminates 1 million liters of water, it was avoided that in these three years they were contaminated by saving 1 208 liters of lubricants that were stopped being released into the environment and have been recovered, with approximately a saving of 7,264.00 CUC and its environmental impact.
- A total of 1 122 600 m3 of water has been reused with the actions carried out, which represent a saving of 9 855.50 pesos, using ecological and biodegradable products.
- The dumping of dust and slag was eliminated for a total of 31,668 t. of slag and 10,556 t. of powders in these three years, placing them correctly in the sanitary landfill, the entrance was rehabilitated with an identification fence.
- The extraction of waste was achieved towards the area destined to the storage of fuels, avoiding contamination of the soil, water, and the atmosphere.
- The discharge of fuel oil to the water table was eliminated with the assembly of the new supply conduit to the fuel oil station of the Steelworks to the ground and to the water table and connection systems in fuel stations. (Quick-closing joints, waterproofing, collecting trays)
- A management plan has been established for paper, cardboard, tires, batteries, copper, various scrap, pieces of equipment, among others, in coordination with raw materials, which has enabled recovery from an economic and environmental point of view.
- The collection of the pebble and the lubricant of the hydro-sweeping system and its reuse as fuel in the daily tank of the 200T has been achieved, recovering around one ton per week.
- The recycling of 2761.21 t./year of internal scrap has been achieved in 2009, which represented a saving of 179,478.00 CUC, of 3 576.7 t./year in 2010, which represented a saving due to not having to buy scrap of 268 252.50 CUC and in 2011 a total of approximately 4105.35 t./year representing around 307 901.3 CUC, with the impact on the soil, landscape and environmental health in general.
- Solid waste from direct production is properly deposited in the sanitary landfill approved with its environmental license, as well as communal waste, providing adequate treatment in final disposal areas.
- It has been possible to reduce the pollutant load to water, to the ground with a total of 38853.80 t. of solid waste, having a direct impact on the quality of the air and the landscape by stopping depositing on the ground and contaminating the water table, with wide environmental repercussions.
- It has been possible to receive for concepts of waste management in 2007 55.56 CUC, in 2009 11.40MN and 159,420 CUC, and in 2010 15.30 in MN and 455,200 CUC, avoiding lead contamination of batteries, acid electrolyte from lead batteries or dielectric oil with polychlorinated biphenyls from transformers and capacitors, as well as dioxins and furans to the environment.
- By recycling 1.2 t. of paper and cardboard, a ton of virgin pulp is obtained, saving 15 to 14 trees of 10 years of life, 65% of the energy (electricity and oil), 82% of the water, and 92% of the contamination.
- The 212 gaskets of one of the exchangers of the water treatment plant were replaced, thus avoiding water spills and interconnections were established to recycle the overflowing water.
- 98 577 m3 of water has been filtered and 1 122 600.0 m3 has been recycled in chemical plants so far this year.
- By replacing 1751 40w lamps with efficient 32w ones, which represents a direct saving of 14008w.
- The residuals generated from the rice CAI (rice straw ash) are used to replace the covering dust, which represents a saving of 31 299.96 USD / year.
- Gas emissions that affect the ozone layer are reduced by 100%, and freon 12 was reduced by 100% in the state, as well as ecological gases were replaced.
- The substitution of 16 t is achieved. / year of Potassium Dichromate (PQT) for a range of biodegradable products in water treatment, representing a saving of 840 USD / t. of product.
- It is possible to reduce 75% of the inorganic pollutant load in solid waste, equivalent to t. of chemical compounds with a consequent impact on the quality of soils, waters and the landscape.
Conclusions
1. The polluting effluents generated by the company have a great impact on all aspects of the environment.
2. With the application of Clean production, as the smartest option in current Cuban industry, the Empresa Comercializadora de Combustibles de Las Tunas has raised its environmental awareness to achieve development on sustainable bases.
3. We can achieve by introducing Clean Production we can save energy, fuel, water and decrease waste.
4. With the implementation of Clean Production, despite the investments that are carried out, they are invested in substantial economic savings.
5. It was possible to raise, organize, direct and control the quality in the production systems with the aim of providing the customer with products with the appropriate quality.
recommendations
1. Maintain a constant update of the identification, evaluation and control of occupational hazards.
2. Maintain strict control and follow up on all actions taken.
3. Comply with the Action Plan of the company's environmental strategy to reduce or eliminate the impact of polluting effluents.
4. Manage the necessary financing for the environment category and investments by the Administration of the company, at the corresponding levels, for a better environmental performance.
5. Generalize this type of research in the different companies of the Las Tunas province.
6. Continue the improvement and awareness of the staff with the new trends in clean production and Quality Assurance.
7. Create initiatives within the company for workers to excel in saving and handling raw materials and energy carriers.
Bibliographic references
1. ARBOLEDA GONZÁLEZ, Jorge Alonso. Methodology for the identification and evaluation of environmental impacts. Medellín: Public Companies of Medellín, 2003. 224 p.
2. Clean Production Technical Guide:
3. Colombia's Environmental Impact Assessment Manual. First edition. Santafé de Bogotá, 1997. 150 p.
4. CONESA, Vicente. Methodological Guide for Environmental Impact Assessment. Madrid Spain: MundiPrensa Editions, 1977. 152 p.
5. Quality Management Manual, Quality Management System, Raw water capture process. Colombian technical standard NTC ISO 9001: 2000. Version 02. Medellín, 2003. 320 p.
6. Presentation of thesis, degree works, monographs and other research works. Fifth update. Santafé de Bogotá: ICONTEC, 2004. 34p. NTC 1486.
7. SOCIEDAD COLOMBIANA DE ENGENIEROS. Environmental Management Manual. FONADE. Santafé de Bogotá, 1994. 135 p.
8. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Cuban Organizations:
9. Strategy for the introduction of the concept of Clean Production in Business Environmental management. CIGEA. CITMA. December 2003.
10. UNEP Conferences on Cleaner Production. 2002.
11. Waste Minimization Training Manual (Edited by Room Michalek, George Lombardo) New York Nov. 1996.
12. Ihobe, White Book for the minimization of waste SA de CV, Spain, 1997.
13. Clean Production Guide Electroplating. National Polytechnic Institute Mexico 1997.
14. David Hayle and John Thompson (2002): Quality management: a process-based approach. ISO 9001: 2000, preface, chapters 1 and 2, AENOR, Madrid.
