Environmental Management Methods Research Articles

A Comprehensive Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment Model: Considering Temporally and Spatially Dependent Variations.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely-used international environmental evaluation and management method. However, the conventional LCA is in a static context without temporal and spatial variations considered, which fails to bring accurate evaluation values and hinders practical applications. Dynamic LCA research has developed vigorously in the past decade and become a hot topic. However, systematical analysis of spatiotemporal dynamic variations and comprehensive operable dynamic models are still lacking. This study follows LCA paradigm and incorporates time- and space-dependent variations to establish a spatiotemporal dynamic LCA model. The dynamic changes are classified into four types: dynamic foreground elementary flows, dynamic background system, dynamic characterization factors, and dynamic weighting factors. Their potential dynamics and possible quantification methods are analyzed. The dynamic LCA model is applied to a residential building, and significant differences can be observed between dynamic and static assessment results from both temporal and spatial perspectives. This study makes a theoretical contribution by establishing a comprehensive dynamic model with both temporal and spatial variations involved. It is expected to provide practical values for LCA practitioners and help with decision-making and environmental management.

Fostering Green Finance for Sustainable Development: A Focus on Textile and Leather Small Medium Enterprises in Pakistan

The green financing landscape in Pakistan is evolving, which signifies the need for a comprehensive gap analysis that examines the present status and constraints in supporting green finance in the country. Textile and leather industries are key sectors in Pakistan’s economy and rely heavily on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Excessive resource use and inadequate environmental management methods pose a significant danger to the sectors’ long-term viability and account for an extreme relevance to the embracement of the circular economy paradigm. Green finance aims to ensure that economic process, safeguarding the environment, and maintaining environmental integrity all grow together. This research used a literature review and interview-based methodology (in which we interviewed more than 20 people representing SME operators, government officials, and banking staff) to examine SME finance, green banking, and demand and supply side constraints to cleaner/sustainable manufacturing in Pakistan’s leather and textile sectors. The research findings show that policy uncertainty and financial short-termism are economic impediments and obstacles that constitute a path-dependent, lock-in, non-linear mechanism. This study found a lack of tailored business advisory and financing for SMEs to learn about and invest in sustainable consumption and production (SCP). Furthermore, many banks in Pakistan also show a strong commitment to the expansion of the State Bank of Pakistan’s Green Banking Guidelines (GBGs). The results also highlight the high value of government assistance for businesses participating in green initiatives and incentives for banking institutions and private limited companies to support and invest in green practices.

The use of cartographic methods in assessing the risks of the impact of thermal power plants on the environment

The article analyzes the nature and intensity of the impact of the Novosibirsk CHPP-3 on the environment. To assess environmental risks, two types of threats were identified and corresponding risk groups were identified: violation of the temperature regime of networks; violation of the hydraulic regime of networks; reduction in the quality of make-up water; breakthrough of heating networks; suction of polluted water from the near-tube space; nitrogen oxide pollution; sulfur dioxide pollution; soot pollution; ash pollution. By constructing risk maps for each risk with the subsequent addition of the obtained maps, the area of the least well-being is picked out. In it, the probability of threats being realized, and, accordingly, the risks, are the greatest. Based on the obtained maps, recommendations have been developed that may be important in the planning process of prospective development of territories affected by CHP-3. The recommendations take into account modern environmental safety strategies, in particular, environmental management methods.

Appraisal of the Legal and Institutional Framework for Sustainable Environmental Management in Nigeria

The legal and institutional framework for sustainable environmental management (SEM) in Nigeria consists of the laws and statutory institutions (agencies) regulating the environment. There are several laws and institutions which seek to protect and sustainably manage the Nigerian environment from degradation, especially, through the activities of the oil and gas companies operating in the country. Oil and gas exploration, extraction, and production in Nigeria, especially, in the Niger Delta region of the country, have caused severe environmental degradation in the region, owing to the legacy of decades of oil spills and gas flaring. Despite the laws and institutions intended to protect and sustainably manage the Nigerian environment, the nation’s environment keeps deteriorating at an alarming rate. The aim of this paper is to appraise the laws and institutions expected to sustainably protect and manage the environment of Nigeria. The paper adopted the doctrinal research methodology and generated its data through local statutes, case laws, policy documents, textbooks, journal articles, seminar papers, manuscripts, newspaper reports, monographs, some unpublished works, and internet websites. The paper carefully examined the principal laws in Nigeria dealing with environmental protection and management with a view to reviewing their provisions and the method of environmental protection and management through these laws. Also, the paper examined the principal statutory institutions or agencies regulating the Nigerian environment with a view to achieving national environmental sustainability. The paper found that the laws enacted to protect the Nigerian environment are generally weak on the account of some flaws contained therein. The paper also found that the statutory institutions established to enforced environmental laws are ineffective in their enforcement mandate.

Methodological recommendations for assessing the socio-economic effectiveness of the use of artificially improved soils based on waste from the pulp and paper industry in the conditions of the North

Improving the efficiency of using the natural resource potential in the extreme conditions of the North is an important condition for the balanced development of socio-economic systems. The key aspects of rational nature management are the maximum extraction of useful substances and their inclusion in the production process, as well as the reduction of anthropogenic pressure on natural ecosystems. This study is devoted to the study of the impact of the use of artificially improved soils based on pulp and paper industry waste on the socio-economic development of the regions of the North as one of the methods of rational environmental management. The relevance of the study is also due to the need to increase the role of the agricultural sector in the economy of the northern territories and improve the supply of the population with fresh, biologically valuable food. Based on the analysis of a significant amount of scientific literature and legal documents of strategic planning and project management, the authors reveal the types of social, economic and environmental results of the use of artificially improved soils based on pulp and paper industry waste and systematize them in terms of national, territorial, sectoral, corporate and personal influence. The developed methodological recommendations include the principles on which the methodology for assessing the socio-economic effectiveness of the introduction of artificially improved soils should be based, an algorithm and a system of evaluation indicators that reflect the social, economic and environmental effectiveness of the use of this category of soils for both the agricultural sector and the pulp and paper industry are proposed industry. The developed recommendations can be used to develop regional plans and programs in the field of environmental conservation and agricultural development and regulation of agricultural and food markets.

Spatial statistical and environmental correlation analyses on vector density, vector infection index and Japanese encephalitis cases at the village and pigsty levels in Liyi County, Shanxi Province, China

BackgroundIn the eco-epidemiological context of Japanese encephalitis (JE), geo-environmental features influence the spatial spread of the vector (Culex tritaeniorhynchus, Giles 1901) density, vector infection, and JE cases.MethodsIn Liyi County, Shanxi Province, China, the spatial autocorrelation of mosquito vector density, vector infection indices, and JE cases were investigated at the pigsty and village scales. The map and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) remote sensing databases on township JE cases and geo-environmental features were combined in a Geographic Information System (GIS), and the connections among these variables were analyzed with regression and spatial analyses.ResultsAt the pigsty level, the vector density but not the infection index of the vector was spatially autocorrelated. For the pigsty vector density, the cotton field area was positively related, whereas the road length and the distance between pigsties and gullies were negatively related. In addition, the vector infection index was correlated with the pigsty vector density (PVD) and the number of pigs. At the village level, the vector density, vector infection index, and number of JE cases were not spatially autocorrelated. In the study area, the geo-environmental features, vector density, vector infection index, and JE case number comprised the Geo-Environment-Vector-JE (GEVJ) intercorrelation net system. In this system, pig abundance and cotton area were positive factors influencing the vector density first. Second, the infection index was primarily influenced by the vector density. Lastly, the JE case number was determined by the vector infection index and the wheat area.ConclusionsThis study provided quantitative associations among geo-environmental features, vectors, and the incidence of JE in study sties, one typical northern Chinese JE epidemiological area without rice cultivation. The results highlighted the importance of using a diverse range of environmental management methods to control mosquito disease vectors and provided useful information for improving the control of vector mosquitoes and reducing the incidence of JE in the northern Chinese agricultural context.Graphical

ANALISIS PENERAPAN TOTAL QUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PADA PROSES PENGELOLAAN LIMBAH CAIR PRODUKSI

Waste management in the batik making industry is very important. Apart from complying with the regulations made by the government, waste management is also one way to improve the environmental ecosystem around the industry. Based on the results of interviews conducted at Dewi Rengganis Batik Industry House, there are problems regarding industrial waste management. It is known that Dewi Rengganis Batik Industry House does not carry out waste management properly, due to the absence of WWTP and not knowing how to properly manage waste. The research objective was to determine the quality standards of waste owned by Dewi Rengganis Batik Industry using the Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM) method. This type of research is descriptive. The results of this study indicate that the waste quality standards in Dewi Rengganis Batik Industry House have not reached the optimal standard in waste quality standards. This is caused by 6 parameters. The six parameters are pH, BOD5, COD, TSS, Sulfide, and Oil and Fat. The factors causing the failure of waste management at Dewi Rengganis Batik Industry House include material, human, tools, and method factors. The recommendation for improvement at Dewi Rengganis Batik Industry House is to carry out waste management using methods, biology, physics and chemistry. It is hoped that the batik industry will not use chemical dyes so as not to produce waste that is harmful to the environment.

Environmental Life Cycle Assessments of Chicken Manure Compost Using Tobacco Residue, Mushroom Bran, and Biochar as Additives

As an environmental management method, the (life cycle assessment) LCA method can be used to compare the differences between various waste treatment processes in order to provide an environmentally friendly and economically feasible method for waste management. This study focused on the reutilization of typical organic waste to produce organic fertilizer in southwest China and used the life cycle assessment method to evaluate three aerobic chicken manure composting scenarios modified with three additives (biochar, mushroom bran, and tobacco residue) from an environmental and economic perspective. The results show that the total environmental loads of the optimized treatments using mushroom bran and biochar mixed with mushroom bran as additives were reduced by 30.0% and 35.1%, respectively, compared to the control treatment (viz. chicken manure composted with tobacco residue). Compared to the control treatment, the optimized composting treatment modified by mushroom bran with and without biochar improved the profit by 23.9% and 35.4%, respectively. This work reflected that the combined composting mode of chicken manure, tobacco residue, mushroom bran, and biochar is an environmentally friendly and economically feasible composting process, which is more suitable for the resource utilization of the typical organic waste in southwest China.

Analysis of the methods of external and internal environmental management of organizations, ways to minimize greenwashing

Analysis of the methods of external and internal environmental management of organizations, ways to minimize greenwashing Scientific journal NRU ITMO Series Economics and Environmental Management

Restorative and productive methods of environmental management in the implementation of environmental policy

The objective of this work is to define and base the principles of environmental management through the introduction of regenerative (restorative) and productive methods of environmental policy. The problems were solved with the help of such general and special research methods, such as generalization, systematization, analysis, synthesis, and the empirical method. It is argued that the operation of industrial enterprises without a balanced set of appropriate environmental measures always has negative consequences. The formation of environmental awareness of entrepreneurs, assigning to environmental management the status of a mandatory component of the policy to achieve regional environmental objectives, requires greater attention and effective methodological developments. The strategic directions of ecological development of one of the regions of Ukraine are indicated. The essence of the concept of "environmental management" is defined. The definition of "regenerative method of ecological management" and "productive method of ecological management" is offered. In conclusion, scientific ideas on the feasibility of implementing environmental management in companies are presented. The need for ecological measures for the implementation of ecological policy is based.

Механізми державного регулювання сфери екосистемних послуг у контексті забезпечення переходу на засади сталого розвитку

Розглянуто теоретико-методологічні основи формування та розвитку сфери екосистемних послуг у контексті принципів сталого розвитку. Окреслено особливості нормативно-правового та фінансово-економічного механізмів державного регулювання у сфері екосистемних послуг. Викладено погляди на світову практику збирання платежів за екопослуги, зокрема ті, що стосуються лісового та сільського господарства, де основний принцип полягає не в тому, що “забруднювач платить”, а в тому, що “користувач платить”. Запропоновано систему заходів, спрямованих на створення та подальший розвиток екосистемних послуг в Україні.

Environmental crisis effect on environmental costs

Environmental management accounting is a mechanism for determining and evaluating, and incorporating these cost and benefit in the day-to-day business decision making, the full spectrum of environmental costs of current production processes and the economic benefits of contamination prevention, or cleaner processes. In practice, the past 10 years have acquired significance from corporate accounting, which is the most prominent part of cost accounting. Limits were widely acknowledged of conventional financial and cost accounting techniques reflecting companies’ sustainability efforts and providing management with necessary information for sustainable business choices. Information on companies’ environmental performance may be somewhat accessible, but both domestic decision makers and those at the level of public authorities are seldom able to connect environmental information with economic variables and are essentially deprived of environmental cost information. Decision makers do thus not recognize the economic worth of natural resources as asset and the commercial and financial benefit of excellent environmental performance. Beyond ‘goodwill’ efforts, there are a number of market-based incentives for integration with decision making of environmental issues. This article provides an outline of environmental management methods and we evaluate environmental costs in terms of current economic crisis.

Construction of cleaner production management system in China: mode innovation of cleaner production.

This study is based on the practice of cleaner production (CP) audits in more than 300 enterprises. After reviewing 1484 CP options, it is found that 82.5% of the options are directly and indirectly related to management. Moreover, there are common problems such as the poor sustainability of CP audit results. This shows that enterprise management plays a significant role in implementing CP options. Based on these, this study proposes a new concept of cleaner production management (CPM) system, and draws lessons from the modern environmental management theory and method to establish the framework of CPM system. This system combines the theory and method of CP with the management system of enterprises and presents the CPM requirements in the current enterprise management system, which mainly includes CPM responsibilities, CP objectives, CPM indexes, CP energy resources management, CP process control, CP product management, CPM inspections, and CP performance evaluation. The characteristic of the proposed system is to construct a modern information-based CPM system. With highly systematic, concise structure, and easy operability, this system not only simplifies and improves the CP work in enterprises and reduces several tedious tasks such as document preparation, but also enhance the enterprise management efficiency and motivate the willingness of employees to participate in CP. Innovated and developed for CP implementation, the system has been implemented and applied in Chinese enterprises, and the implementation and application have obvious effects on improving production level as well as environmental and economic benefits.

THE “ONE HEALTH” APPROACH AS A POSSIBLE MODE OF ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT (EXAMPLE OF CYANOTOXINS)

Cyanobacteria are a big group of photosynthetic prokaryotic organisms inhabiting fresh and sea waters and damp soils. Cyanobacteria produce secondary metabolites – cyanotoxins, which are potentially dangerous for humans and animals if present in drinking water, and pose real danger for waterfowl, fish, and zooplankton. Therefore, cyanobacteria are often considered as pathogenic organisms albeit they are unable to develop in animals’ organisms. As reported by the UNESCO international hydrological program CYANONET, cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins were found in surface waters in 65 countries. To study the occurrence of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in European lakes, two international cooperation programs were implemented, namely CYANOCOST in 2012–2016 and EMLS (European Multi Lake Survey) in 2015. Cyanotoxins are divided into groups according to their action on human organisms (hepatotoxins, neurotoxins, dermatoxins, and cytotoxins). Lately, the health impacts of harmful cyanobacteria have been more frequently detected and reported. However, reports of human and animal illnesses or death associated with harmful cyanobacteria tend to be investigated separately. One Health is an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment. This review illustrates how the investigation of cyanotoxin-associated animal illnesses and death can be used to reduce the risks of human exposure to harmful cyanobacteria. The One Health approach is an environmental risk management method that requires the integration of efforts of different specialists.

Systematic review: Yellow fever control through environmental management mechanisms.

Recent research on mosquito vector-borne diseases points to the possibility for a re-emergence of yellow fever. This study investigated attempts at utilising environmental methods and their efficacy for the control of yellow fever and its main vector, Aedes aegypti. Potentially eligible studies were searched in Cochrane Library (Reviews and Trials), the Global Index Medicus (encompassing thus the African Index Medicus, the Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the Index Medicus for the South-East Asia Region, the Latin America and the Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences and the Western Pacific Region Index Medicus), Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct. Of a total number of 172 eligible studies, 20 met the pre-defined inclusion criteria. Two of them provided quantitative assessment on the efficacy of the described water management and house screening methods with a reduction of cases of 98%, and of a reduction of larvae of 100%, respectively. The remaining 18 studies described or recommended the elimination of breeding sites (through water or waste management, unspecified, or house destruction), the use of screens for houses and the improvement of air circulation without providing any data to evidence control effectiveness. This systematic review provides evidence on the historical use and the perceived effectiveness of environmental management methods for combatting yellow fever. However, these methods would benefit from further investigation via controlled trials to provide data for efficacy, costs, acceptability and feasibility.

The Potential of Strategic Environmental Assessment to Improve Urban Planning in Sierra Leone.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a proactive and collaborative method for environmental management designed to integrate environmental considerations into decision-making; and it is good for Sierra Leone. To understand whether SEA would be useful in the context of Sierra Leone, the authors interviewed 64 out of 78 experts face to face from March to July 2019. In addition, government policies and regulatory documents on environmental management and sustainable development, published articles served as secondary sources of data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. These Sierra Leonean experts agreed that SEA would be useful for integration and achievement of improved sustainable urban planning strategies. However, the barriers identified to integrating SEA include: not addressing environmental issues during the preparation of policies and programs, insufficient political will, the absence of clear objectives, targets, principles and approaches, overlapping mandates among environmental institutions, and inadequate institutional coordination and non-integrated development framework as barriers to integrating SEA into their work. The study shows that SEA has the potential to have a positive impact on environmental concerns in decision-making, but it would need to be supported by stronger political will, legal frameworks, and improved technical guidance from the policy perspective. Moreover, we propose a conceptual framework for the inclusion of SEA into the urban planning process in Sierra Leone.

Dynamics And Impact Of Flowering Insects On Sesamum indicum L. (Pedaliaceae) Production In Maroua (Far-North, Cameroon)

The study of the variability of the flower visiting entomofauna between Palar and Djarengol-Kodek (Maroua, Cameroon) and the influence of the pollination type were carried out in 2020 for assessing their impact on sesame production. Three treatments of 50 plants each were used according to whether the flowers were open-pollinated (TA) or protected using mosquito net cages (TB) and plastic cages (TC) for analysis. The diversity and composition of the entomofauna were compared between localities from TA as well as the resulting pod and seed yields of the crop. 21 and 12 insect species were found foraging on sesame flowers in Palar and Djarengol-Kodek respectively. Hymenoptera had a high relative abundance ˃ 92% at both sites and played a key role in pollinating the flowers of the host plant species. The diversity index was higher in Palar (H’ = 3.10) than in Djarengol-Kodek (H’ = 2.64). The Jaccard similarity index between both sites was J = 0.43. During their floral activity, these bees promoted autogamy, geitonogamy and xenogamy on S. indicum flowers. The impact of the floral activity of bees on sesame pod and seed yields was in the range of 17.92% - 29.27% and 12.97% - 18.39% in Djarengol-Kodek and Palar respectively with a significant difference between these values (X2 = 156.20; df = 1; P ˂ 0.001 and X2 = 69.74; df = 1; P ˂ 0.001). These differences showed the important role of the variability of the composition and the relative abundance of pollinators on sesame production between sites. Moreover, bee pollination (TA) highly increased anemophily (TB) and cleistogamy (TC) in sesame. Encourage producers to adopt more environmental friendly management methods to help preserve the habitat of sesame pollinator species for better productivity is an important practice.

Formation of environmental safety of the environment as a result of the activities of the oil refining enterprise

The socio-political aspect of considering the environmental problems of the operation of oil refineries is associated with solving environmental problems on a scale of all mankind in the presence of various social systems. Oil refining processes pose a danger to the habitat of the living world, as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere are polluted. To prevent and reduce the environmental load on the environment, it is necessary to introduce environmental management methods in oil refining, to conduct economic activities within the capacity of ecosystems on the basis of the massive introduction of energy and resource-saving technologies.

Resource slack, environmental management maturity and enterprise environmental protection investment: An enterprise life cycle adjustment perspective

Enterprise environmental protection investment has recently become increasingly essential to address environmental problems. Based on the data from China's A-share heavy pollution industry listed companies from 2007 to 2018, this paper empirically examines the impact of the degree of resource slack on enterprise environmental protection investment and the moderating effect of environmental management maturity on both. The results show that the degree of resource slack has a significant negative impact on the scale of enterprise environmental protection investment. As the maturity of environmental management increase, the negative impact of the degree of resource slack on the scale of enterprise protection environmental investment is significantly weakened. This paper further finds that there are significant differences in the moderating effect of environmental management maturity in enterprises of different life cycles on the relationship between the degree of resource slack and the scale of enterprise environmental protection investment. Compared with the enterprises in the recession period, the environmental management maturity in the growth and mature period can more alleviate the negative relationship between the degree of resource slack and the scale of enterprise environmental protection investment. The results are conducive to clarifying the important impact of implementing voluntary environmental management and strengthening internal control capabilities on enterprises' active environmental investment. It provides ideas for enterprises to dynamically adjust their environmental management methods, promote the improvement of internal governance and sustainable development. At the same time, it also provides a theoretical basis for the government to issue differentiated environmental regulations and improve the efficiency of government environmental governance.

Systematization and Formalization of Passive Monitoring Data in Accordance with the Component-Functional State of Heat Supply Systems

The article examines the assessment of the state of water and hot heat supply systems of heat and power facilities for innovative and constructive use of thermal energy, with effective use in all areas of these systems: generation, for heating water or for generating steam, transporting it to the consumer, as well as when it is consumer so rich industries. Including the housing and communal complex and the construction industry – for example, a scientific and methodological concept has been created for the implementation of passive monitoring to assess the state of heat supply systems, under the conditions of the initial action, on material flows in them of electromagnetic fields. It has been established that an effective form of reagent-free water preparation in electromagnetic fields is technogenic – the nature of material flows due to the electromagnetic dissociation of their micro particles and the formation of active complexes (due to the interaction between them) is determined. It has been established that as a result of passive monitoring, the systematization and formalization of its data should be carried out taking into account three aspects: engineering - technological, engineering – microbiological and organizational – managerial decisions. It is shown that the passive monitoring system is an obligatory subordinate component of environmental management in the industrial sphere – heat and power facilities of water and steam heat supply systems of an innovative direction. The analysis of the content of the point of view of Ukrainian and foreign scientists, monographs is carried out and joint conclusions are made in the conditions of the illuminated literary material under the following headings: the main economic, environmental and regulatory aspects of nature management; the formation of the biosphere in the conditions of transformation of its individual components; methods of environmental management and environmental policy and the like. In these conditions, the formation of an effective economic mechanism for environmental management is of priority; on the central issue of integral management, it requires clarification – formalization of parameters should be considered effective, which make it possible to clarify a compromise between economic development and environmental safety. It is the economic and environmental analysis of the components of technological processes that makes it possible to establish the limiting factors of development in the system (action – state – improvement) and to determine individual patterns (tendencies) in order to overcome them. The theoretical principles of magnetized water are presented in the works, and the priority level is confirmed by the receipt of three patents of Ukraine for useful action and one copyright certificate for intellectual property, and received support at domestic and foreign conferences. The proposed levers improve integral control in the process of modernizing the technology of non-reagent water treatment (use of electromagnetic fields) at heat and power facilities of rich operating industries and make it impossible to process environmental pollution and save energy costs with effective continuous planning of new facilities. Therefore, through the analysis of the general environmental situation, the technical state of the initial data systems, it is possible to confirm the developed classification and formalization of passive monitoring data, on the use of theoretical foundations in practice – the regulations for industrial implementation, is the basis of the concept of sustainable development.