Going Green Is also the Law........................................................................
No one goes into business these days jumping for joy at the idea of complying
with the laws in highly regulated industries. But facts, as they say, are facts.
Environmental compliance regulations are not merely here to stay: They are
growing exponentially. The current list includes such gems as ISO 14001, EPA
Clean Air Act Title V, EPA Clean Water Act, EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS),
US SARA 313 and Canadian NPRI Reporting, Health & Safety Management
(OHSA 18001, COSHH), Social Accountability (SA 8000), Risk Management
(AS/NZS 4360), and Information Security (BS/ ISO 17799). And these are the
“minor” ones! For a clearer view of the whole regulatory picture, read on.
Compliance .........................................................................................
Are you a manufacturer of lingerie? Do you produce house paint? Are golf
balls the bread and butter in your company’s refrigerator? How often does
your motherboard factory send waste material off to the county landfill site?
Each and every one of today’s businesses, no matter whether you are the
man on the corner selling hot dogs or the leading builder of jet fighter tur-
bines, absolutely, positively, without a solitary doubt mustcomply with
today’s environmental regulations, standards, directives, and laws, of which
there are many. They don’t call it “the long arm of the law” for nothing.
For better or worse, your operations affect consumer health, employee
safety, and, just as importantly, the environment, which is why our current
environmental compliance requirements in all their massive scope and com-
plexity make the Sarbanes-Oxley Act look like a legislative midget. The
American Chemistry Council, for example, estimates in its “Guide to the
Business of Chemistry, 2005” that 3.4 percent of the industry’s total revenue
is spent on environmental health and safety. The bulk is directed toward capi-
tal equipment and remediation, but substantial expenditures are also handed
to the consultants needed to help you comply. This is to say nothing of the
technology you must implement if you want to stay on top of the game.
To the uninitiated, the notion of compliance can seem as abstract as the
theory of relativity. Fear not, however. It can be complicated, just not that
complicated. Although the requirements themselves may be, their subjects
are not. Simply put, they are the three Ps we mentioned earlier: your com-
pany’s people, processes, and products. When your business is compliant,
it is managing its plants and manufacturing processes in such a way that
your equipment, personnel, storage and distribution facilities, and products
are not creating any damage as defined by the environmental and exposure
specifications associated with current law. Simple, huh?
Chapter 9: Making Your Company Environmentally Friendly 169
