(1) ABATEMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL GUARDIANSHIP CAVEATS

Take each of the EG Caveats and envision how your business could be structured, your processes implemented, and your products developed to minimize or eliminate the effects declared by each Caveat.

While doing this monitor the following to see what can be reduced overall:

• Consumption of materials, of energy and of other resources such as fresh water
• Emissions to air, water or soil: e.g., greenhouse gases, acidifying agents, volatile organic compounds, ozone depleting substances, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, fine particulate and suspended particulate matter
• Pollution through physical effects such as noise, vibration, heat, radiation, electromagnetic fields
• Generation of waste material
• Possibilities for reuse, recycling and recovery of materials and/or of energy

The EG dictums will impact virtually every enterprise function from Financing, Planning, Design, Marketing, Production, IT, Purchasing, Supply Chain Management to Public Relations.

Waste:

In the U.S. the average cost to dump a ton of garbage in a U.S. landfill jumped from $8 in 1985 to $34 in 1995, according to the National Solid Wastes Management Association.

In the European Union manufacturers placing product on the market are required to assess consumption of materials and energy, environmental pollution, expected waste, ways of recycling, reclamation and re-use at each of product development phase (see below). Because of this, it's essential to get an early indication of collection and recycling costs so producers can:

• Establish appropriate pricing policies with customers;
• Select optimum logistics and recycling arrangements;
• Select an appropriate B2B or B2C compliance scheme to manage recycling contracts, data collection and reporting; and
• Consider Eco-design opportunities to reduce end-of-life recycling costs and gain market advantage.