Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Congressional Room (Capital Hilton)
88

Green Engineering and Zero Emission: New Strategies for ISO 14001 Environmental Management System

Omid Tavakoli, Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Recently, due to accelerating industrial developments and changes in human lifestyles and activities, increasing waste disposals from various local industries and households pose a grave threat to the environment. Since ISO 14001 is a main reference to evaluate environmental management system, which finally improve all environmental aspects especially in industrial level, any new policy, main legislation or requirement in this subject should be linked to ISO structure. Two important and main requirements which have been gaining more attention of late are green engineering and zero emissions. Both these new aspects influence the improving environmental design from the traditional approach to the new paradigm which is based on the dramatically reduce the environmental impact of hazards. Green engineering offers a powerful set of practical tools to minimize generation of pollution at the source and risk to human health and environment, and then can function well within the ISO 14001 structure. Moreover, zero emissions represent a shift from the traditional industrial model in which wastes are considered the norm, to integrated systems in which everything has its use. Zero emission not only has direct influence on the environment but also will lead to greater efficiency and greater growth in the economy. The application of these aspects is especially important when dealing with extremely hazardous materials. This focus on green engineering and zero emission which provide new design at the source and during processs, serves as a new adjunct to the traditional waste management, recycling, reuse and energy issues typically addressed in ISO 14001 programs.