Environmental Management Part 1 doc

Chapter 1Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Preface IX Environmental Management System and SMEs:EU Experience, Barriers and Persp

Environmental Management

edited by

Santosh Kumar Sarkar

SCIYO

Environmental Management

Edited by Santosh Kumar Sarkar

Published by Sciyo

Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

Copyright © 2010 Sciyo

All chapters are Open Access articles distributed under the Creative Commons Non Commercial Share Alike Attribution 3.0 license, which permits to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work in any medium, so long as the original work is properly cited After this work has been published by Sciyo, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source

Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published articles The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods

or ideas contained in the book

Publishing Process Manager Iva Lipovic

Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic

Cover Designer Martina Sirotic

Image Copyright Arkady, 2010 Used under license from Shutterstock.com

First published September 2010

Printed in India

A free online edition of this book is available at www.sciyo.com

Additional hard copies can be obtained from publication@sciyo.com

Environmental Management, Edited by Santosh Kumar Sarkar

p cm

ISBN 978-953-307-133-6

WHERE KNOWLEDGE IS FREE

free online editions of Sciyo

Books, Journals and Videos can

be found at www.sciyo.com

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Preface IX

Environmental Management System

and SMEs:EU Experience, Barriers and Perspectives 1

Fabio Iraldo, Francesco Testa and Marco Frey

Environmental Waste Management in Construction Industry 35

Dr Davorin Kralj

Enhancing the Ecosystem Services in Viticulture Farms:

Approaches towards a Sustainable Management 69

Lucrezia Lamastra, Georgios Fragoulis, Marco Trevisan and Ettore Capri

Implementation of Strategic Environmental Assessment in Serbia with Special Referenceto the Regional Plan of Waste Management 95

Boško Josimović PhD and Tijana Crnčević PhD

Incentives of Environmental Design and Management

in Urban Neighborhoods 113

GAO Xiaolu

Leadership Development and Management

of Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations 127

Koushen Douglas Loh

Management of the Salt Cake Generated

at Secondary Aluminium Melting Plants 149

A Gil and S.A Korili

Water Quality Analysis of the Coastal Regions of Sundarban Mangrove Wetland, India Using Multivariate Statistical Techniques 159

Santosh Kumar Sarkar and Bhaskar Deb Bhattacharya

Interaction between Heavy Metals and Aerobic Granular Sludge 173

Shuguang Wang, Shaoxiang Teng and Maohong Fan

High Mountain Ecosystems: How Much Love Can They Sustain? 189

Catherine M.H Keske

Contents

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

‘Anthropogenic Intensity’ and ‘Coastality’:

Two new Spatial Indicators for Exploring & Monitoring the Coastal Areas, in the framework of Environmental Management 217

John Kiousopoulos

Geology, Microecological Environment and Conservation of Lonar Lake, Maharashtra, India 241

Dr Shaikh Md Babar

VI

Environmental management is a global issue and thus taking priority due to steady increase in industrialization, urbanization and enormous population growth In the wake of intensifi cation of the problem of global environment change, mankind faces severe challenges

to overcome the disastrous impact on the health of the ecosystem Hence an attempt has been made through this book to provide a gist of current, relevant and comprehensive information

on various aspects of sustainable management of the environment

The book is organized basically in 12 chapters, heterogeneous in nature, dealing with wide spectrum of delicate and emerging environmental issues of different parts of the world to broaden its international coverage The reader encounters lots of important and interesting information embedded in the book, covering diverse ecotypes in environment, from tropical

to temperate

In chapter 1 the authors have illustrated very precisely the role and impact of the small enterprise, i.e SMEs, in different economic sectors in EU in compliance with the environmental management system, which is dominated by the micro enterprises accounting for about 93% of the total number of SMEs, followed by small and medium-sized enterprises They have observed that the most important barrier is the inability to monitor the environmental performance of SMEs due to the lack of data They have also given due emphasis to how the ever-increasing number of SMEs faces the new challenge of environmental management and the nature of diffi culties, drawbacks, benefi ts and advantages they expect from the implementation of SMEs

Chapter 2 stresses the environmental waste management in construction industry, which has

an important effect on the socioeconomic development and also sets an indelible seal on the surroundings and the environment The author assumes that the companies must equally take care of the society and environment along with corporate profi ts and shareholder value Safeguarding, creation of jobs and commitment to environment and society are as important

as innovative, problem-solving expertise and open dialogue The author has rightly asserted that top management has a key role in building awareness and motivating employees by explaining the organization’s business and environmental issues

Viticulture (wine growing) represents one of the cultivations that has most impact on ecosystem due to its distribution and geographical concentration In Chapter 3 the authors advocate to modify the management techniques of viticulture farms by integrating economic, social and environmental spheres for a sustainable management Land and water salinization, diminished air quality, soil erosion, outbreak of pests are some of the very important and potential threats to natural resources related to viticulture Hence the authors rightly recommend the improvement of the eco-sustainability of organic and conventional viticulture through a conscious and appropriate agronomic management

Preface

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) presents one of the most important and potential instrument for implementation of the sustainable development strategy within planning process In chapter 4 the authors present a selected case study in Serbia narrating the experiences of the implementation of SEA with special reference to the regional plan of waste management

A good understanding of the benefi ts of environmental design and management as well as social effects of relevant policies is important to increase the quality of life in urban areas

In chapter 5 the author presents a case study with data from Beijing, China, and stresses that planning and design, incompatibility with surrounding neighborhoods and property management of neighborhoods are three potential factors infl uencing the quality of residential environments

In chapter 6 the author has provided in-depth information on the trends and increasing power

of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in sustainable development, structures, functions, planning and management processes of environmental NGOs He also provides help to cultivate technical skills and leadership qualities for possible professional careers with environmental NGOs

In chapter 7 the author emphasizes the most important perspective in recycling of aluminium called the ‘secondary aluminium’, which could be divided into two categories: pre-consumer by-products from the production of primary aluminium, and scrap, associated with post-consumer aluminium The article summarizes the recovery and management of salt cake, an important by-product of considerable economic value, generated when salt fl uxes are used to improve the aluminium recovery

Chapter 8 presents the water quality characteristics of the coastal regions of Sundarban mangrove wetland, West Bengal, India, a UNESCO World Heritage Site The authors have considered a substantial water quality data set to establish the present ecological status of this most vulnerable ecosystem They have effi ciently applied the multivariate statistical techniques like cluster analysis, canonical correspondence analysis and factor analysis for perfect interpretation and understanding of the water quality status The authors recommend some important remedial measures to mitigate the ongoing problems of water quality deterioration which is directly related to the rate of productivity of this fragile ecosystem

In chapter 9 the author attempts to illustrate the interaction between heavy metals and aerobic granules In addition, the effects of heavy metals on the aerobic granular sludge system have been discussed and wastewater treatment performance, including the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen and phosphorous in the presence of heavy metals have been summarized

Chapter 10 reviews the unique trade-offs between environmental protection and economic development in high alpine areas It covers a wide coverage of the high mountain systems such as its biology, environmental management, policy tools, etc

Chapter 11 explores the most comprehensive integrated coastal area management in the perspective of spatial planning and sustainable development The author has given due stress in applying two newly launched spatial indicators, ‘anthropogenic intensity’ and ‘coastality’, for exploring and monitoring the coastal areas in the framework of environmental management

The last chapter presents a broad spectrum of the geology, microecological environment and conservation of Lonar lake, Maharashtra, India The lake that evolved in the resulting basaltic rock formation is both saline and alkaline in nature and provides habitat for an array of wild lives The author has presented an extensive account of the physicochemical parameters of the lake and established the present status of the water quality characteristics In addition, he has also given due emphasis to the characteristic nature of the aquatic microbes and microalgae and their salient characteristics Unfortunately, there is deterioration of the lake ecosystem due to pollution, deforestation, excavation activities, etc., and hence the information provided

in this chapter would of great signifi cance from ecological and management point of view

To sum up, the book makes a meaningful and provocative contribution to the sustainable management of the environment in a true sense I wish to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to all eminent scientists / scholars who have contributed to this book I hope this publication will be a reference document to serve the needs of researchers of various disciplines, policy makers, planners and administrators to formulate strategies for environmental management

The SCIYO staff needs a special appreciation and acknowledgement for publishing this book with self-styled elegance I especially appreciate the support and encouragement from Ms Iva Lipovic to complete the whole process of publication in time I would be very proud to work with SCIYO again in the near future

September, 2010

Editor

S K Sarkar,

Department of Marine Science Calcutta University, Calcutta,

India

1

Environmental Management System and SMEs:

EU Experience, Barriers and Perspectives

Fabio Iraldo1,2, Francesco Testa1 and Marco Frey1,2

1Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa,

2IEFE – Institute for Environmental and Energy Policy and Economics,

Via Roentgen 1, 20136, Milano

Italy

1 Introduction

SMEs are defined as enterprises which employ less than 250 employees and which have an annual turnover not exceeding €50 million, and/or an overall balance sheet not exceeding

€43 millions (European Commission 2003) There are some 23 million SMEs in the EU providing approximately 75 million jobs (66% of private employment and up to 80% in some industrial sectors such as textile, construction or furniture) (European Commission 2005) Moreover, micro enterprises1 account for almost 93% of the total number of SMEs, 6% are small enterprises2 and less than 1% are medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises represent a large part of EU economy, being some 99% of all enterprises and 57% of economy value added (European Commission 2005), as such they also have a primary role to play in shifting the EU economy to more sustainable production and consumption patterns

SMEs are active in a range of sectors across the EU: 22.2% in the service sector (i.e business to business services); 20.4% in personal services (i.e business to consumer services); 20% in retail distribution; 11.9% in manufacturing; 11.6% in construction; 8.1% in wholesale trade; 5.5% in transport and communication; and 0.2% in extraction and energy The presence of SMEs in different economic sectors varies between Member States SMEs are far from being a homogenous group However they have a number of features in common, and do certainly encounter similar problems in relation to environmental compliance and performance

Since they represent such a large percentage of economic activities, SMEs have a significant impact on the environment The environmental problem does not fully emerge if one considers individual firms, although in some cases there can be significant impacts on local environments and communities exerted by a single SME, but pertains their combined and cumulative impact

1 Within the SME categories, a microenterprise is defined as an enterprise that employs fewer than 10 persons, and whose annual overall turnover and/or annual balance sheet does not exceed EUR 2 million (European Commission 2003)

2 Within the SME categories, a small enterprise is defined as an enterprise that employs fewer than 50 persons and whose annual overall turnover and/or annual balance sheet does not exceed EUR 10 million (European Commission 2003).

Environmental Management

2

Experience in applying and enforcing environmental legislation in the Member States has

shown that it is too complex and burdensome for companies and public authorities to

determine the detailed contribution made by SMEs to pollution (e.g air pollution), in terms

of the “environmental burden” from different types of pollutants (e.g CO2, SOx, NOx, etc.)

The first and most relevant barrier is the inability to monitor the environmental performance

of SMEs, owed to the lack of data (that in many cases does not even exist) There are many

studies in literature attempting to provide ‘insights’ into environmental problems emerging

from SMEs These studies focus on specific environmental aspects For instance, a recent

report (Marshall 1998) estimated that SMEs account for 60% of total carbon dioxide

emissions from businesses in the UK and concluded that there is substantial room for

improvement in energy efficiency and emissions reductions to be carried out by these

companies Another survey carried out in France showed that SMEs are to be held

responsible for 40-45% of all industrial air emissions, water consumption and energy

consumption, as well as for 60-70% of industrial waste production (Daddi et al 2010)

Fig 1 Distribution of Employment by Firm Size Class, 1999 (Source: J.Labonne, 2006)

Although some smaller companies have taken the lead in managing their own

environmental impacts in a well structured and effective way, the largest part of SMEs are

still characterised by a lack of awareness on their environmental impacts and, especially,

concerning the ways in which such issues can be effectively managed A recent UK study

(Netregs 2002) shows that only 7% of businesses in the UK believed they undertook

activities that could harm the environment, but when prompted with a list of activities, this

figure rose to 41% This is a clear symptom of a low degree of knowledge by SMEs on what

their environmental impacts can be In many cases, SMEs are persuaded they do not have

any impact at all on the environment This emerges, for example, from a survey among

Polish SMEs (Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation, 2007) emphasizing that 86% of

the interviewees declare that their companies do not have a negative impact on the

environment or that the impact was not significant at all