Nowadays every living and Non-Living thing is affected by pollution. Pollution has become a cause of disease in Human beings. We have experienced that the number of critical illness % has increased in each age group of humans. Because due to pollution – Air Quality, Water Quality, and Natural resources like Rice, Wheat, Pluses, Fruits, Vegetable, Meat, Milk etc are contaminated with pollution. When humans consumed as Food, which causes health issues and over a period of time it becomes a critical illness, and Life of humans is at Risk. Life has become uncertain due to pollution. Pollution may be Air Pollution, Water pollution, Environmental Pollution, Noise Pollution Land Pollution, Depletion of Natural Resources etc.
About Environmental Pollution
Pollution is something introduced into the environment that is dirty, unclean, or has a harmful effect. For a world continuing to face environmental challenges with issues such as natural disasters, deforestation, overpopulation, climate mitigation and adaptation, resource depletion, biodiversity, etc., a change in any component of the environment may cause discomfort and affect normal life – that is pollution.
In today’s industry scenario still, there is conventional technology used that may impose the pollution or become the source of it.
Source of pollution – here talking about the organization, any activity, process, product, or services causing pollution, is the source of pollution. Some examples of sources of pollution are Chimneys, Process dust/odor in the air, machine noise, paper / plastic use, scrap/waste disposal/dumping to the ground/water, etc.
Companies are continuing to recognize the need to manage their environmental challenges and contribute towards finding solutions to the issues facing us all.
Prevention of Pollution
Pollution prevention is an action taken to reduce, eliminate, or prevent pollution at its source. It is also is known as an approach to waste management. Reducing the amount of pollution produced means less waste to control, treat, or dispose of. Less pollution means less hazards posed to public health and the environment
Pollution prevention approaches can be applied to all potential and actual pollution-generating activities, including those found in the energy, agriculture, federal, consumer, and industrial sectors. Prevention practices are essential for preserving wetlands, groundwater sources, and other critical ecosystems – areas in which we especially want to stop pollution before it begins.
There are two ways of pollution prevention – one is waste reduction at source or may call as in-process re-cycling and second is Technology improvement that imposes changes in production process/design that reduce output waste.
Environmental Aspects and Impact
It is an element of an organization’s activities or products or services that can interact with the environment causing Impact on it or any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization’s environmental aspects.
Need for Environmental Management System to prevent pollution
ISO 14001 standard is an Environment Management System that provides organizations with a framework to protect the environment and respond to changing environmental conditions in balance with social and economic needs.
Compliance to the EMS standard requirements can help an organization for contributing sustainable development through preventing environmental impacts, assisting to fulfill the compliance obligations, minimizing or controlling the potential adverse effects of environmental conditions on the organization, controlling the product or services considering life cycle perspective to prevent environmental impact from being shifted to life cycle stage. It assures interested parties that an effective environmental management system is in place
Application of this Standard may differ from one organization to another due to the context of the organization. Two organizations can carry out similar activities but can have different compliance obligations, commitments in their environmental policy, environmental
Technologies and environmental performance goals, yet both can conform to the requirements of this EMS Standard
This standard can be applied to any kind of organization to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
It helps the organization to achieve the intended outcome for Societal expectations for sustainable development, transparency, and accountability with increasingly stringent legislation, growing pressures on the environment from pollution, inefficient use of resources, improper waste management, climate change, degradation of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity.
How to implement Environmental Management System in the organization to prevent pollution
For effective implementation of 14001, organizations need to identify the environmental aspects within the organization that may have a direct or indirect impact on the environment.
Below are some of the examples of Environmental aspects and its impact
To address the environmental issues organization should identify the issues / environmental aspects and its impact, its control, and application within its process to ensure the prevention of pollution.
There are two ways of pollution prevention – one is waste reduction at source or may call as in-process re-cycling and second is Technology improvement that imposes changes in production process/design that reduce output waste
Recycling is very profitable due to its ease of the process. By applying in recycling practices, industries may cut down the amount of material discarded as environmentally purchased -hazardous waste, but they also increase profitability by reducing the amount of raw material.
However, technology improvement implies changes to the production process that reduce the amount of output waste, such as an improved recycling process.
How to control the Aspects and its Impact to the Environment
Below are the examples as applicable to the industries, operations or processes (but not limited)
By applying effective controls on identified aspects, an organization can comply with the obligatory requirements. Below are the examples (but not limited) of obligatory requirements as applicable as per the processes defined by the organization such as
The organization has to identify the obligatory requirement that is applicable to the organizational activities/processes/products/services. Define the criteria for its assessment. Assess the organizational activities/processes/products/services as defined and apply controls and monitor the same to verify its (Control) effectiveness.
Compliance to the obligatory requirement as applicable (but not limited) such as
ISO 14001 certification will help the organizations to understand and implement the EMS standard that is required to be maintained along with the new technology
Key requirements of ISO 14001