Manufacturing

This multi-layered environmental question keeps on being asked, seemingly with few answers that translate into action. With the Center for Biological Diversity estimating that 40 per cent of the world’s ocean surface is now littered with plastic waste, this issue must be addressed and urgently. We need to focus on the issue in a new way, and in doing so create new opportunities. Plastic waste creates large, expensive and unnecessary impact on society because of its ecological impact. Ecosystems give us everything we need to live – air, water, energy and food.

Using disposable polystyrene tableware is now okay in China after the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) overturned a 14-year ban earlier this week, much to the dismay of environmentalists and community groups. The ban was imposed by the now defunct State Economic and Trade Commission in 1999 due to environmental damage from its production and use. The NDRC now says disposable polystyrene tableware not only conforms to national food wrapping standards, but also can be recycled to make construction materials, paints and stationery.

According to a new report from Navigant Research, worldwide unit shipments of LED lamps will grow from 68 million in 2013 to 1.28 billion annually by 2021.  The markets for every other lighting technology will contract over that period.

An investigation by Greenpeace International has revealed the dumping of industrial wastewater containing a cocktail of toxic chemicals and caustic water, directly into the Citarum River, West Java. International fashion brands, including Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy are linked to this pollution through their direct business relations with PT Gistex Group; the company behind the polluting facility. In its report, Toxic Threads: Polluting Paradise, the NGO details how the PT Gistex facility has taken advantage of a system that requires little transparency about its activities and where inadequate laws are failing to prevent the release of hazardous chemicals.

An estimated USD7.3 trillion a year in damage is being inflicted on the environment, health and other vital benefits for humankind by primary production and processing in such sectors as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining, oil and gas exploration and utilities according to a new report. Natural Capital at Risk – The Top 100 Externalities of Business was launched at the Business for the Environment summit in New Delhi yesterday by the TEEB for Business Coalition (TEEB4B), a global, multi-stakeholder open source platform for supporting the development of methods for natural and social capital valuation in business.

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has announced that 45 of its facilities, including six in the Asia region, have achieved zero manufacturing waste to landfill.

China’s water resources are increasingly being pitted against economic development, and losing. Water is vital to all aspects of the economy, especially for agricultural and power production, making it a strategic resource. However, China’s position as the world’s factory, and its ‘develop-first clean-up later’ mindset, has resulted in much of its water resources being compromised. This is problematic as the country suffers from a lack of potable water. It has to support 20 percent of the world’s population on only 5 percent of the worlds renewable freshwater and the UN has classified China as one of 13 countries suffering from extreme water shortages.

The chickens from China’s decades-long custom of turning a blind eye to the damage inflicted on its environment in return for developing an economic powerhouse are finally coming home to roost as an increasingly-agitated populace demands action from its leaders. With suffocating smog in Beijing and other major cities still making headlines around the world, renewed focus is now being turned on China’s deplorable fresh water conditions as the government scrambles to show it is in control by issuing reams of new standards on industrial pollution and promising to punish violators.

As we prepare for the Year of the Snake, some lunar New Year charms and accessories, found in the Philippine capital, Manila, might not exactly bring good fortune. The Ecowaste Coalition, a consumer safety watchdog, has discovered dangerous chemicals in 28 lucky charms and accessories, including a fertility amulet with a high level of lead that ironically could induce miscarriage and premature childbirth.