Table of Contents
|
S/No |
Title |
Synopsis |
|
|
I. Subject Area : Environmental Management |
|||
|
1 |
Ecological profits - Japan Inc. is making "Green" investments |
Asiaweek reported that many Japanese companies are setting up "environmental accounts", a balance sheet that records the costs and benefits of ecological investments. |
|
|
2 |
Sewage sludge co-incinerated with household waste |
German firm claims co-incineration of de-watered sewage sludge with household waste has cost advantages over a dedicated sludge incinerator and does not lead to higher emissions. |
|
|
II. Subject Area : Waste Management & Recycling |
|||
|
3 |
MITI aims to amend law to require labelling of materials to promote recycling |
Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry plans to amend the Recycling Law to require paper and plastic container manufacturers to label |
|
|
III. Subject Area : Environmental Technology |
|||
|
4 |
Fuel additive from CDT registered by the USEPA |
Clean Diesel Technologies (CDT), a company specialising in diesel fuel additives and NOx reduction systems, announced that its EPA- registered Platinum Plus® bimetallic diesel fuel additive can reduce particulate emissions by up to 25% while improving fuel economy by 6%. |
|
|
IV. Subject Area : General Environmental News |
|||
|
5 |
New US Air Pollution Research Centre created |
Some large US companies and the US government have created a new, cutting-edge air pollution research programme called the National Environmental Respiratory Center (NERC) to study the synergistic effects of air pollutants on public health. |
|
|
6 |
Dioxin from backyard burning of trash |
Research by USEPA showed that burning a barrel of trash in one's backyard could release the as much dioxins and furans into the atmosphere as a well-controlled municipal incinerator serving thousands of residents. |
|
|
7 |
The Dutch assault on greenhouse gases |
The Dutch government has recently devised three packages of domestic measures to achieve the reduction target for greenhouse gases laid down in the Kyoto Protocol. |
|
SUMMARY REPORT
Period Covered: 10 Jan 2000 to 16 Jan 2000
|
Item 1 |
Ecological profits - Japan Inc. is making "Green" investments |
|
Summary |
Japanese executives are taking green investment seriously - part of Japan's new business culture. A strong indicator of this shift in their attitude is the growing number of companies setting up "environmental accounts", a balance sheet that records the costs and benefits of ecological investments. Fujitsu, in 1998, generated $30 million in net benefits from ecological investments. It spent a total of $107 million on energy saving, product recycling and other measures, but realised $137 million in benefits. The steel industry is also putting money into green technology. Nippon Steel is spending $78 million on plastic recycling facilities at two of its plants where used plastics are converted into fuel. NKK has already perfected the technology of using a blast furnace to turn plastics into reusable chemical by-products. |
|
Reference |
Asiaweek, 14 Jan 2000, Page 52 |
|
Item 2 |
Sewage sludge co-incinerated with household waste |
|
Summary |
According to Putzmeister, a German company that offers turnkey solutions for solid waste management, the disposal of sewage sludge together with household waste can be integrated into newly designed plants or even retro-equipped old plants. Its studies indicate that co-incineration does not lead to higher emissions, and has the benefit of lower costs of investment. Co-incineration would enable the sludge residues from small sewage works to be disposed of in an environmentally friendly and economical manner. Putzmeister's studies suggest that, whereas the traditional sewage sludge incineration process takes place in fluid bed furnaces and requires extensive flue gas cleaning, no additional flue gas cleaning is required for the co-incineration of sewage sludge with household waste. |
|
Reference |
Worldwide Waste Management, Nov 1999, Page 8 |
|
Item 3 |
MITI aims to amend law to require labelling of materials to promote recycling |
|
Summary |
The Japan Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) plans to amend the Recycling Law to require paper and plastic container manufacturers to provide labels stating the materials used. This is to help promote the recycling of paper and plastics. For containers made of both paper and plastics, such as instant noodle cups, the manufacturer will have to label the material used in each part. MITI intends to further tighten its labelling requirements, for example by requiring the manufacturers to distinguish between polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). |
|
Reference |
International Environment Reporter, 5 Jan 2000, Page 14 |
|
Item 4 |
Fuel additive from CDT registered by the EPA |
|
Summary |
Clean Diesel Technologies (CDT) announced that it had received Tier 1 registration from the USEPA for its Platinum Plus® bimetallic diesel fuel additive. This fuel additive, containing two active catalytic components- platinum (Pt) and cerium (Ce), can be used either as a combustion catalyst to improve fuel economy and lower emissions, or as a fuel-borne catalyst to facilitate regeneration of diesel particulate filters. When used as a fuel combustion catalyst, Platinum Plus® can reduce particulate emissions by up to 25%, while improving fuel economy by an average of 6%. CDT is a development-stage company specialising in diesel fuel additives and NOX reduction systems. |
|
Reference |
http://www.dieselnet.com/news/0001cleandiesel.html |
|
Item 5 |
New US Air Pollution Research Centre created |
|
Summary |
Some of America's largest companies, including Ford and Exxon, have collaborated with the government to create an air pollution research program called the National Environmental Respiratory Center (NERC) which will focus on how different particles, gases and vapours in the air can collectively affect public health. Despite the fact that air pollution is an ever-changing mixture of many contaminants from a large variety of natural and manmade sources, air pollution research, debates and regulations have largely focused on the effects of one pollutant or source at a time. The synergistic effects between pollutants have not been as well understood as the effects of individual pollutants.The first group of complex pollutant atmospheres to be studied by the NERC includes engine and power plant emissions, wood and tobacco smoke, cooking fumes and road dust. If the strategy is successful, the program will be expanded to include other pollutants, such as pollens and other natural materials, and chemicals that are not emitted by any source but formed through reactions in the |
|
Reference |
http://unisci.com/stories/20001/0110003.htm |
|
Item 6 |
Dioxin from backyard burning of trash |
|
Summary |
A recent study by USEPA researchers concluded that the burning of a barrel of trash in one's backyard can release as much dioxins and furans into the atmosphere as a well-controlled municipal waste incinerator serving thousands of residents.Emissions of dioxins and furans from backyard burning of trash may help to explain the discrepancy between estimates of dioxin emissions and actual deposition measurements. Burning of trash in barrels in the backyard is illegal in most parts of the USA but some rural municipalities still allow the practice. The USEPA estimates that about three million people in the US still dispose of their trash by burning. |
|
Reference |
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/01/01102000/burnbarrel_8885.asp |
|
Item 7 |
The Dutch assault on greenhouse gases |
|
Summary |
The Dutch government has devised a package of domestic measures as part of its effort to achieve the reduction target for greenhouse gases laid down in the Kyoto Protocol. The package has been derived based upon the basic assumption that the Netherlands will achieve 50% of its emission reductions through domestic measures and 50% through the use of "Clean Development Mechanisms" stated in the Protocol. The domestic measures to be taken are divided into three categories: the basic package, the reserve package and the innovative package. The basic package comprises cost-effective measures that the different sectors of Dutch society can take to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. This includes energy taxes, tax incentives to encourage consumers to buy more economical cars or electrical appliances, better home insulation, energy covenants with industry, and combined heat and power systems. The reserve package comprises further increases in energy taxes and the underground storage of CO2 from certain major industrial sources. It also includes a measure to reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the chemical industry, although the necessary technology to achieve the reduction is still at a developmental stage.The innovative package uses technological innovations as well as innovations in government instruments to achieve emission reductions. |
|
Reference |
Environmental News from the Netherlands, No.4 1999, Page 3 |