An air and water pollution prevention primer for small businesses

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Environmental Solutions; (United States)

OSTI ID:6557582

Huang, C S ^[1]

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1. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)

Pollution prevention is one of the few areas in which environmental goals and economic interests clearly coincide. Benefits include reduced costs, liabilities and regulatory burdens, and an improved environment. Minimizing the quantity and toxicity of waste also reduces the need for waste treatment operations. Because economics is one of the factors weighed when adopting pollution prevent technologies, economic analysis based on equipment's payback period is important to determine whether a system should be adopted and, if so, what equipment should be selected. Many air pollution control methods, wastewater treatment systems and sludge dewatering processes can be used for materials recovery and water reuse. Factors to consider when selecting a waste treatment system include legal limitations or effluent criteria imposed for public protection, social limitations imposed by the community in which the pollution source is or will be located, and economic limitations. The latter two factors are critical for small businesses, which typically are located in or near metropolitan areas, and often have limited financial resources. Another factor to consider is whether a waste treatment system can be designed to accommodate future expansion or operational modifications. Although small businesses tend to prefer traditional, proven environmental technologies, some new technologies can be adopted easily to reduce waste generation and costs. In addition, several relatively simple and inexpensive practices have proven successful in eliminating or minimizing wastes. These include: improving housekeeping practices; segregating wastes; changing materials purchasing and inventory control procedures; substituting less toxic materials; recycling and reusing wastes; reducing wastewater flows; changing production methods or modifying production processes; and training employees in pollution prevention.

• OSTI ID: 6557582
• Journal Information: Environmental Solutions; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Solutions; (United States) Vol. 8:3; ISSN ESOLE7; ISSN 1077-2537
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320305 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Industrial Waste Management
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540320 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
BUSINESS
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
RECYCLING
SMALL BUSINESSES
WASTES
WATER POLLUTION ABATEMENT