I. PVC Industry
Environmental Impact of PVC
PVC is one of the most environmentally hazardous materials still used by the human
population. The PVC industry has contributed a significant portion of the world’s load
of persistent organic pollutants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are now present in the
environment and the bodies of the human population (Thornton, 2005). PVCs are
environmentally hazardous throughout their lifecycle: production, use, and disposal (Steingraber,
2004). By-products of PVC production are highly persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic. The
production of PVC products release harmful toxins in the atmosphere. Chlorine gas, used to
manufacture ethylene dichloride, is highly toxic and is harmful to wildlife and humans. In
addition, the production of chlorine gas has a much bigger impact than its emission to the
atmosphere. To produce chlorine gas, the industry uses chlor-alkali facilities. And many
manufacturers still use mercury as their catalyst. Chlor-alkali facilities that use mercury catalyst
produce around ten percent of the total chlorine production but contribute greatly to annual
atmospheric emissions of mercury. When elemental mercury from chlorine manufacturing plants
is released to the atmosphere as a vapor, it can be carried long distances before returning back to
earth. And when it does, methylating bacteria quickly convert the metal into an organic form,
methylmercury, which is a powerful brain poison as well as a bioaccumulating, persistent
pollutant. Methylmercury contaminates bodies of water and poisons neighboring communities as
well. It is also quickly absorbed into the food chain, reaching its highest levels in fish and
seafood (Mahaffey, 2004).
Ethylene dichloride, the product from the reaction of ethylene and chlorine gas poses a negative
impact too. It is a substance that is classified as a carcinogen and is notoriously capable of leaching into groundwater (Steingraber, 2004). Other by-products from PVC production with
major concern are dioxins. Dioxins are very potent carcinogen and are global pollutants. They
are now found in the tissues of whales in the deep oceans, polar bears in the high Arctic, and
virtually every human being on earth (Thornton, 2005).
Efforts to Minimize Environmental Impact of PVC
The PVC industry has been under pressure from environmentalist as early as 1970’s. Measures
have been used to reduce environmental impact since then. Across the world, governments,
companies, and scientific organizations have recognized the hazards of PVC. In almost all
European nations, certain uses of PVC have been eliminated for environmental reasons. The
European PVC industry has also created a 10-year pan with fixed targets and deadlines to
improve production process and products and to invest in technologies that are able to minimize
emissions and wastes. Efforts have also been made to recycle PVC materials during manufacture
to minimize waste. In Japan, 50% of end-of-life agricultural films are recycled into vinyl
flooring materials. In the Philippines, there are no modern PVC recycling plants in operation yet.
Several countries are now having big programs to reduce PVC use overall. Other communities
have PVC avoidance policies being implemented. Dozens of green buildings have already been
built with little or no PVC. Firms in a variety of industries have announced measures to reduce
PVC consumption and are using or producing alternative materials in a variety of product
sectors, including building materials (Thornton, 2005). Currently, there is now a large scale
movement away from PVC products.
In the field of research and development, a new PVC sustainability tool developed by a research
group led by Professor Azapagic at the University of Manchester has been launched. It aims to
help the producers of PVC products to reduce their environmental footprint. The sustainability
software assesses the environmental and economic sustainability of PVC products and processes,
enabling industry specialists to quickly estimate the costs, both to the environment and to their
business. Moreover, PVC alternatives studies found HDPE and PEX to be good alternatives for
some pipe and conduit applications. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is available for all pipe
applications. Being non-chlorinated, requiring fewer additives, and having a much higher recycling rate, it is considered a more benign plastic. Cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) can also
be an alternative because it has many characteristics similar to HDPE. Its molecules are crosslinked
to improve its ability to handle higher temperatures (Calkins, 2006).
II. Oil Refining Industry
Environmental Impact of Oil Refinery Industry
The oil industry holds major potential hazards for the environment. It has impact at different
levels: air, water and soil. The most widespread impact of the oil industry is pollution. Pollution
is associated with all activities throughout the stages of oil manufacturing from drilling to
refining. Wastewaters, gas emissions, solid waste and particulate emissions generated during oil
processing are mainly responsible for pollution. Other environmental impacts aside from
pollution include intensification of the greenhouse effect, acid rain, poorer water quality,
groundwater contamination, biodiversity loss and destruction of ecosystems.
Throughout oil processing, oil refiners are the major polluters consuming large amounts of water
and consequently generating large volumes of wastewater. Hazardous gases are also generated
and released into the atmosphere. Solid wastes that are difficult to treat and dispose are produced
from oil refining processes. Thermal pollution is also generated due to the effluents with
temperatures usually higher than recipient water bodies. Noise pollution is also possible from
equipment doing plant operations (Mariano & Rovere, 2007).
Petroleum refinery effluents that mainly come from refining crude oil and manufacturing fuels,
lubricants and petrochemical intermediates are major source of water pollution. These effluents
are composed of oil and grease along with many other toxic organic compounds. These
pollutants pose serious hazards to humans and aquatic life (Saien & Nejati, 2007).
Efforts to Minimize Environmental Impact Oil Refinery Industry
In the Philippines, DAO 35 of 1990 regulates industrial and other effluents discharged into
bodies of water so that they do not contain toxic substances in levels greater than standards indicated. Furthermore, the implementation of the national Water Code of the Philippines (P.D.
1067) prohibits the discharge of effluents to bodies of water that have low assimilative capacity.
It revokes or suspends the permit of a company who violates effluent or water quality standards
as determined by the National Pollution Control Commission. These regulations together with
the measures provided by the Philippine Clean Air Act require oil refineries to have treatment
systems for their wastewater and gaseous effluents.
In the field of research, there have been developments in technologies used in treating emissions
from the refinery process. Heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation is a well researched and
established advanced oxidation process (AOP) used for wastewater treatment. Radiated
processes, specifically, Fenton and photo-Fenton advanced oxidation process have already been
tested and have been showed to be most effective to remove the organic matter found in the sour
water produced from the refinery processes (Coelho, et.al.,2006).
The difficulty in treating contaminants present in the wastewater is addressed by inculcating and
introducing genetically modified organisms into biological treatment systems. A novel
investigation of an activated sludge system was conducted by Shokrollahzadeh et al. (2008) with
the aim of addressing the system’s inability to degrade a wide range of recalcitrant contaminants.
An important result of the research was the successful isolation of aerobic bacterial species
having excellent diverse catabolic activity that could be used in most types of bioremediation.
On the other hand, a study made by Elcock, et.al., (2000) offers alternative environmental
regulatory approaches for existing petroleum refineries to be used in the future. These alternative
approaches provide for new technology development and use, and allow flexibility in the means
for meeting environmental goals. The goal-based approach requires less change to the current
system and relies less on the findings of forthcoming scientific and technological research. The
risk-based approach requires the development, testing, and acceptance of modeling systems and
data on parameters such as pollutant toxicities, exposure routes, dose–response relationships, and
cumulative effects. Under a grant from the Environmental Technology Initiative (ETI), these two
alternative environmental regulatory approaches are developed for today’s petroleum refineries
to use in the future. These approaches are designed to expand the use of innovative technologies, encourage pollution prevention, demonstrate environmental responsibility, and maintain refinery
economic performance.
III. Coating Industry: Paint
Environmental Impact of Paint
The environmental impact from the paint industry is associated with wastewater generation, air
emission and solid waste contaminated with toxic metals. Wastewater from paint industry can be
highly toxic to the environment. There are a number of waste streams, including acid and metal
sulfates from the manufacturing process, each of which carries an environmental impact. The
paint industry is one of the major contributors for polluting the soil and water resources with
poisonous substances such as lead, chromium and cadmium. It harms fish, wildlife, and
contaminates the food chain if wastewater is poured down a storm drain. It can disrupt microbes
and causes sewage treatment to be less effective. It can also pollute groundwater if dumped onto
the ground. Many studies have also shown the health risks due to toxic metal-containing paint at
homes, work place and other industrial units using paint. For example lead poisoning may be one
of the most prevalent diseases of environmental and occupational origin due to the use of lead in
paints in buildings (Gondal & B, 2006).
The paint industry uses about 300 different types of raw materials for production of different
kinds and qualities of paints. About 15% of raw materials of this industry are petroleum-based.
The major raw materials of paint industry are pigments, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, lithopone,
mineral, turpentine, resins, vegetable resins and gums. The main environmental impacts
associated with paint come from the production process of the components, rather than
manufacturing of the final paint products ready for packaging and selling. Another reason behind
that is because raw materials for production of components are derived from scarce resources.
By far the greatest environmental impact in the manufacturing of paint is the manufacture of
Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) a pigment so fundamental to the performance of any paint, that it is
difficult to avoid - even amongst 'eco' paints. The manufacturing produces emissions including CO2, N2O, SO2, NOx CH4 and VOCs. VOCs from the process react with nitrogen oxides and
carbon monoxide to produce ozone which is a pollutant in the troposphere and a constituent of
smog (Greenspec, 2013).
Efforts to Minimize Environmental Impact of Paint
As early as the 19th century, industrial users of paint already faced strict environmental
regulation on their operations because of the large volumes of solvents released in the surface
coating process. Paint manufacturers had already started then providing innovative solutions to
meet the demands of the regulations. In the U.S., users of industrial coatings began to be
regulated with the passage of several state regulations in the 1960s and 1970s as well as the
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977. In accordance to it, the EPA provided Control Technique
Guidelines (CTG) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) as aids for the state
regulators and permit writers. Typically, these documents offered practical limits on the VOC
content of coatings. If manufacturers chose not to change coatings, then they could comply by
adding control equipment to their operations. The U.S. led the implementation of regulations for
coating application. But then in the late 1980s, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.K. began
adopting similar regulations (Bonifant, 1994). The Volatile Organic Compounds in Paints,
Varnishes and Vehicle Refinishing Products Regulations (VOC 2010 legislation) came into
effect in 2010. The aim of the legislation has been to enforce cuts in VOC emissions on top of
existing standards established in 2007.
In response to stricter environmental standards, there are now safer alternatives to conventional
paints. There are more sustainable products available, such as low-voc acrylics or natural paints
which apart from being better for the environment, produce little or no fumes when painting.
Natural paints are made using naturally occurring ingredients, and therefore do not require high
levels of processing. Many of the ingredients are now made from renewable resources, such as
linseed oil, and citrus oil. Natural paints use plant-derived solvents and binders instead of
synthetic ones so that VOC levels of between 0-1 percent are now possible. Natural paints are
generally well-tolerated by humans and the environment (Greenpainters, 2007). Moreover, use of
water-based or latex paint which is more environment-friendly and easier to apply and clean up is also available in the market. Research is still being done for water-based paint to achieve the
superior quality that solvent-based paint gives while still meeting environmental regulations.
Advances in paint research also produce important tools in evaluating environmental impact of
paints and help in identifying the causes of negative environmental impact. For example, the GM
Research and Development Center in the US pushed through the development of environmental
impact life cycle analysis (LCA) of the manufacturing of different kinds of paint. Life cycle
assessment tools contribute quantitative results to the decision process, and are very useful for
the evaluation of the environmental emissions associated with the manufacturing, use and end of
life of materials and processes. This kind of analysis can identify the sources that contribute the
most to adverse environmental impact and can provide necessary information that allows the
design and manufacturing of alternatives. Papasavva, et al., used LCA to evaluate the
environmental impact of different automotive paints. Their study showed that the overall
environmental performance for production of the polyester primer (solvent borne and powder) is
superior compare to the acrylic powder.
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