Due to the similarities in structure ISO 14001 is often “sold” to companies on the back of the IS... more Due to the similarities in structure ISO 14001 is often “sold” to companies on the back of the ISO 9000 quality systems standard. However, there is no ISO 9000 equivalent to the identification and assessment of environmental aspects and impacts. Based on practical experiences within a UK automotive supplier, this paper compares and contrasts two approaches for identifying and assessing environmental aspects and impacts, namely a mass balance and audit. The type of approach was found to affect both the structure and operation of the overall system and highlights important issues that need to be addressed in initial design. The popularity of ISO 14001 suggests these findings are relevant for other organisations implementing environmental management systems.
Aero engine designs can have a life time of over 45 years, which is long enough for the understan... more Aero engine designs can have a life time of over 45 years, which is long enough for the understanding of environmental problems to change significantly. This places the aero engine designer in a position of uncertainty, as unforeseen environmental problems could affect the viability of a design. ‘Risk’ is used to describe future uncertainties that can lead to undesirable consequences. This paper presents a framework for environmental risk management that allows the designer to answer the question: what is the risk to a design from its environmental impacts over the life cycle? The framework provides a process for turning complex environmental business hazards into a form that can be used to develop mitigating actions within the design process. The paper demonstrates the framework through two examples and discusses findings, leading to conclusions on what is required to implement the framework into a business.
Global Business Organizations (GBOs)-initially defined as those with less than 50% of their reven... more Global Business Organizations (GBOs)-initially defined as those with less than 50% of their revenue in any one continent, and more than 20% in each of at least three continents-are unlike national, regional or multinational (MNC) business organizations in a number of critical ways. They have: Multiple, and potentially conflicting stakeholder interests that can and do change rapidly and unpredictably Trans-cultural employee & management populations, often arranged in complex matrix structures Diverse regulatory compliance requirements, coupled with a need to comply with both internal and external ethical standards A need to globally manage their brand and their reputation, and to be responsive to public opinion Large organizational and geographical distance between their headquarters and their operational sites Organizational and business models that are significantly more complex than those found in MNCs and regional or local companies Existing environmental and sustainability management system models, and policy tools, are not adequate for the needs of GBOs for four reasons: first, existing systems protocols and standards are usually limited in their scope to one aspect (e.g. environment, social, etc.) of the business management process; second, contemporary sustainability codes and standards are normally intended to guide policy development rather than to facilitate management system Sustainable Development Management Systems in Global Business Organizations 3 implementation (CERES, Global Compact, Sullivan); third, work on sustainability standards has generally been limited to three aspects (economic, environmental, and social) of business behaviour, which is not adequate for current or future GBO business models or requirements; and fourth, these standards do not accommodate the requirement for environmental or sustainability management systems to operate across a diverse and sometimes contradictory range of regulatory regimes. Given these limitations, a new sustainability management system model is proposed for use in GBOs. First, it expands the established triple-bottom-line approach to embrace wider range of business activities, specifically: ethics; ecology; reputation; social; quality; and economic. Secondly it incorporates a 'cylinder of influence' concept that links stakeholders to the entire business process chain, from supplier, through to customer. This paper describes the development of a definition for a GBO, briefly reviews established standards and identifies their limitations, and presents a suitable model for the management system.
PurposeThis paper aims to review how current policy instruments drive (or not) environmental inno... more PurposeThis paper aims to review how current policy instruments drive (or not) environmental innovation and, by doing so, to reinvestigate the relationship between innovation and regulation.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive literature review on innovation and environmental regulation created a theoretical foundation of the paper. Using the grounded theory, a model was developed and evaluated using interviews. This is a timely topic as the new shape of recent environmental regulation appears to be fairly strict. A new model is presented to encapsulate highly dynamic interaction of environmental innovation and regulation to provide results that reflect on the present innovation behaviour and its implications.FindingsThe model highlights various diffusion pathways that are triggered by the main three drivers of innovation namely government (regulation), market (competition and cost) and technology which has the possibility of an autonomous diffusion.Research limitations/implic...
This research investigates the carbon footprint of the lifecycle of console games, using the exam... more This research investigates the carbon footprint of the lifecycle of console games, using the example of PlayStation®3 distribution in the UK. We estimate total carbon equivalent emissions for an average 8.8‐gigabyte (GB) game based on data for 2010. The bulk of emissions are accounted for by game play, followed by production and distribution. Two delivery scenarios are compared: The first examines Blu‐ray discs (BDs) delivered by retail stores, and the second, games files downloaded over broadband Internet. Contrary to findings in previous research on music distribution, distribution of games by physical BDs results in lower greenhouse gas emissions than by Internet download. The estimated carbon emissions from downloading only fall definitively below that of BDs for games smaller than 1.3 GB. Sensitivity analysis indicates that as average game file sizes increase, and the energy intensity of the Internet falls, the file size at which BDs would result in lower emissions than downloads could shift either up‐ or downward over the next few years. Overall, the results appear to be broadly applicable to title games within the European Union (EU), and for larger‐than‐average sized games in the United States. Further research would be needed to confirm whether similar findings would apply in future years with changes in game size and Internet efficiency. The study findings serve to illustrate why it is not always true that digital distribution of media will have lower carbon emissions than distribution by physical means when file sizes are large.
This paper reports on a comparative study undertaken for different types of optical fiber sensor ... more This paper reports on a comparative study undertaken for different types of optical fiber sensor developed to monitor the cure of an epoxy resin system. The optical fiber sensors used to monitor the cure process were based on transmission spectroscopy, evanescent wave spectroscopy and refractive index monitoring. The transmission sensor was prepared by aligning two optical fibers within a specially prepared sleeve with a gap between the optical fiber end-faces. During cure, resin from the specimen flowed into the gap between the optical fibers allowing transmission spectra of the resin to be obtained. The evanescent wave sensor was prepared by stripping the cladding from a high refractive index core optical fiber. The prepared sensor was embedded in the sample and attenuated total reflectance spectra recorded from the resin/core boundary. Refractive index monitoring was undertaken using a high refractive index core optical fiber which had a small portion of its cladding removed. The prepared sensor was embedded in the resin specimen and light from a single wavelength source was launched into the fiber. Changes in the guiding characteristics of the sensor due to refractive index changes at the resin/core boundary were used to monitor the progress of the cure reaction. The transmission and evanescent wave spectroscopy sensors were used to follow changes in characteristic near-infrared absorption bands of the resin over the range 1450 - 1700 nm during the cure reaction. Consequently these techniques required tunable wavelength sources covering specific wavelength ranges. However, the refractive index based sensor used a single wavelength source. Therefore the equipment costs for this type of sensor were considerably less. Additionally, the refractive index sensor did not require a single wavelength source at any particular wavelength and could be applied to any spectral region in which the optical fiber would transmit light. The advantages and disadvantages of these three methods are discussed.
Although new paint products and technologies have been developed, the sector of paint application... more Although new paint products and technologies have been developed, the sector of paint application still contributes substantially to total volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. Recent environmental legislation, especially the EU Solvent Emission Directive 1999/13/EC and its transposition into national law, coming into force in 2007, will have an important influence on the sector structure and the associated supply chain, especially
Proceedings of the ICE - Waste and Resource Management, 2012
This paper provides recommendations for assessing the criticality of materials (metals and non-fu... more This paper provides recommendations for assessing the criticality of materials (metals and non-fuel minerals), including the need for context-dependent assessment methods, providing a framework for conducting criticality assessments. Materials criticality captures concerns over the accessibility of materials, as the product of assessing a material's 'supply risk' and the impact of a supply restriction. Through a review of selected studies, problems with criticality assessments are discussed, highlighting how these become particularly important when the results of assessments are used in decision making. Considering how the results of criticality assessments are used in decision making highlights how criticality exhibits some of the characteristics of a 'complex context'. Building on predefined attributes of effective decision support in complex contexts, recommendations are made on how these problems can be addressed to better assess criticality in the future. These also include building on metric-based assessment methods by developing scenarios of future material supply and demand.
Business‐to‐business (B2B) electronics account for a significant volume of the electrical and ele... more Business‐to‐business (B2B) electronics account for a significant volume of the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market. Very little B2B waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is reported as collected in the European Union (EU) in compliance with the WEEE Directive, which uses the policy principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) to ensure that WEEE is managed correctly. This presents a barrier to parties looking for access to the waste. Company practice dictates the channels into which B2B WEEE flows following primary use. This article presents a study that engaged with company actors directly to get a better understanding of business information technology (IT) EEE asset management. Data were collected to determine the barriers current practice could present to the collection of B2B IT EEE at end of life and the implications of these for the development of policies and strategies for EPR. A questionnaire was developed and data were gathered from organizations in three EU countries - the United Kingdom, Germany, and France - stratified by size. Some notable findings were that there are several routes by which end‐of‐life B2B WEEE can flow. The recycling and refurbishment of B2B IT units at end of use was shown to be commonplace, but it is likely that these units enter streams where they are not reported. The actors disposing of their units did not have information on the management or disposition of these streams. It is concluded that to achieve the goals of EPR for B2B IT WEEE, the networks and the operational practices of these streams need to be better understood when developing strategies and policies.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 1998
UK central government has targeted small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as a focus for effor... more UK central government has targeted small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as a focus for efforts aimed at improving the environmental performance of industry. It recognizes that few SMEs are active on environmental management, and has attempted to encourage greater action, through schemes aimed at providing information about what can be done. Four schemes have been launched in as many
New European environmental legislation requiring producers to recycle electrical and electronics ... more New European environmental legislation requiring producers to recycle electrical and electronics products at so‐called “end‐of‐life” is likely to introduce new areas of competition to the global market for information technology (IT) products. This paper presents the findings of a study investigating the use and disposal of IT equipment by 151 companies in the UK. Although 71 per cent of companies disposed of their equipment as waste, other “disposal” routes were found to be of greater significance, such as charitable donations, transfer to employees, and resale to second‐hand dealers. Therefore it is argued that the current legal definition of “waste” may be too restrictive to be applied to end‐of‐life IT equipment within the commercial sector. In addition, it is argued that the provision of product “end‐of‐life management” services to commercial customers (in compliance with legislation or otherwise) could help IT producers add value to their existing support services beyond the i...
Due to the similarities in structure ISO 14001 is often “sold” to companies on the back of the IS... more Due to the similarities in structure ISO 14001 is often “sold” to companies on the back of the ISO 9000 quality systems standard. However, there is no ISO 9000 equivalent to the identification and assessment of environmental aspects and impacts. Based on practical experiences within a UK automotive supplier, this paper compares and contrasts two approaches for identifying and assessing environmental aspects and impacts, namely a mass balance and audit. The type of approach was found to affect both the structure and operation of the overall system and highlights important issues that need to be addressed in initial design. The popularity of ISO 14001 suggests these findings are relevant for other organisations implementing environmental management systems.
Aero engine designs can have a life time of over 45 years, which is long enough for the understan... more Aero engine designs can have a life time of over 45 years, which is long enough for the understanding of environmental problems to change significantly. This places the aero engine designer in a position of uncertainty, as unforeseen environmental problems could affect the viability of a design. ‘Risk’ is used to describe future uncertainties that can lead to undesirable consequences. This paper presents a framework for environmental risk management that allows the designer to answer the question: what is the risk to a design from its environmental impacts over the life cycle? The framework provides a process for turning complex environmental business hazards into a form that can be used to develop mitigating actions within the design process. The paper demonstrates the framework through two examples and discusses findings, leading to conclusions on what is required to implement the framework into a business.
Global Business Organizations (GBOs)-initially defined as those with less than 50% of their reven... more Global Business Organizations (GBOs)-initially defined as those with less than 50% of their revenue in any one continent, and more than 20% in each of at least three continents-are unlike national, regional or multinational (MNC) business organizations in a number of critical ways. They have: Multiple, and potentially conflicting stakeholder interests that can and do change rapidly and unpredictably Trans-cultural employee & management populations, often arranged in complex matrix structures Diverse regulatory compliance requirements, coupled with a need to comply with both internal and external ethical standards A need to globally manage their brand and their reputation, and to be responsive to public opinion Large organizational and geographical distance between their headquarters and their operational sites Organizational and business models that are significantly more complex than those found in MNCs and regional or local companies Existing environmental and sustainability management system models, and policy tools, are not adequate for the needs of GBOs for four reasons: first, existing systems protocols and standards are usually limited in their scope to one aspect (e.g. environment, social, etc.) of the business management process; second, contemporary sustainability codes and standards are normally intended to guide policy development rather than to facilitate management system Sustainable Development Management Systems in Global Business Organizations 3 implementation (CERES, Global Compact, Sullivan); third, work on sustainability standards has generally been limited to three aspects (economic, environmental, and social) of business behaviour, which is not adequate for current or future GBO business models or requirements; and fourth, these standards do not accommodate the requirement for environmental or sustainability management systems to operate across a diverse and sometimes contradictory range of regulatory regimes. Given these limitations, a new sustainability management system model is proposed for use in GBOs. First, it expands the established triple-bottom-line approach to embrace wider range of business activities, specifically: ethics; ecology; reputation; social; quality; and economic. Secondly it incorporates a 'cylinder of influence' concept that links stakeholders to the entire business process chain, from supplier, through to customer. This paper describes the development of a definition for a GBO, briefly reviews established standards and identifies their limitations, and presents a suitable model for the management system.
PurposeThis paper aims to review how current policy instruments drive (or not) environmental inno... more PurposeThis paper aims to review how current policy instruments drive (or not) environmental innovation and, by doing so, to reinvestigate the relationship between innovation and regulation.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive literature review on innovation and environmental regulation created a theoretical foundation of the paper. Using the grounded theory, a model was developed and evaluated using interviews. This is a timely topic as the new shape of recent environmental regulation appears to be fairly strict. A new model is presented to encapsulate highly dynamic interaction of environmental innovation and regulation to provide results that reflect on the present innovation behaviour and its implications.FindingsThe model highlights various diffusion pathways that are triggered by the main three drivers of innovation namely government (regulation), market (competition and cost) and technology which has the possibility of an autonomous diffusion.Research limitations/implic...
This research investigates the carbon footprint of the lifecycle of console games, using the exam... more This research investigates the carbon footprint of the lifecycle of console games, using the example of PlayStation®3 distribution in the UK. We estimate total carbon equivalent emissions for an average 8.8‐gigabyte (GB) game based on data for 2010. The bulk of emissions are accounted for by game play, followed by production and distribution. Two delivery scenarios are compared: The first examines Blu‐ray discs (BDs) delivered by retail stores, and the second, games files downloaded over broadband Internet. Contrary to findings in previous research on music distribution, distribution of games by physical BDs results in lower greenhouse gas emissions than by Internet download. The estimated carbon emissions from downloading only fall definitively below that of BDs for games smaller than 1.3 GB. Sensitivity analysis indicates that as average game file sizes increase, and the energy intensity of the Internet falls, the file size at which BDs would result in lower emissions than downloads could shift either up‐ or downward over the next few years. Overall, the results appear to be broadly applicable to title games within the European Union (EU), and for larger‐than‐average sized games in the United States. Further research would be needed to confirm whether similar findings would apply in future years with changes in game size and Internet efficiency. The study findings serve to illustrate why it is not always true that digital distribution of media will have lower carbon emissions than distribution by physical means when file sizes are large.
This paper reports on a comparative study undertaken for different types of optical fiber sensor ... more This paper reports on a comparative study undertaken for different types of optical fiber sensor developed to monitor the cure of an epoxy resin system. The optical fiber sensors used to monitor the cure process were based on transmission spectroscopy, evanescent wave spectroscopy and refractive index monitoring. The transmission sensor was prepared by aligning two optical fibers within a specially prepared sleeve with a gap between the optical fiber end-faces. During cure, resin from the specimen flowed into the gap between the optical fibers allowing transmission spectra of the resin to be obtained. The evanescent wave sensor was prepared by stripping the cladding from a high refractive index core optical fiber. The prepared sensor was embedded in the sample and attenuated total reflectance spectra recorded from the resin/core boundary. Refractive index monitoring was undertaken using a high refractive index core optical fiber which had a small portion of its cladding removed. The prepared sensor was embedded in the resin specimen and light from a single wavelength source was launched into the fiber. Changes in the guiding characteristics of the sensor due to refractive index changes at the resin/core boundary were used to monitor the progress of the cure reaction. The transmission and evanescent wave spectroscopy sensors were used to follow changes in characteristic near-infrared absorption bands of the resin over the range 1450 - 1700 nm during the cure reaction. Consequently these techniques required tunable wavelength sources covering specific wavelength ranges. However, the refractive index based sensor used a single wavelength source. Therefore the equipment costs for this type of sensor were considerably less. Additionally, the refractive index sensor did not require a single wavelength source at any particular wavelength and could be applied to any spectral region in which the optical fiber would transmit light. The advantages and disadvantages of these three methods are discussed.
Although new paint products and technologies have been developed, the sector of paint application... more Although new paint products and technologies have been developed, the sector of paint application still contributes substantially to total volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. Recent environmental legislation, especially the EU Solvent Emission Directive 1999/13/EC and its transposition into national law, coming into force in 2007, will have an important influence on the sector structure and the associated supply chain, especially
Proceedings of the ICE - Waste and Resource Management, 2012
This paper provides recommendations for assessing the criticality of materials (metals and non-fu... more This paper provides recommendations for assessing the criticality of materials (metals and non-fuel minerals), including the need for context-dependent assessment methods, providing a framework for conducting criticality assessments. Materials criticality captures concerns over the accessibility of materials, as the product of assessing a material's 'supply risk' and the impact of a supply restriction. Through a review of selected studies, problems with criticality assessments are discussed, highlighting how these become particularly important when the results of assessments are used in decision making. Considering how the results of criticality assessments are used in decision making highlights how criticality exhibits some of the characteristics of a 'complex context'. Building on predefined attributes of effective decision support in complex contexts, recommendations are made on how these problems can be addressed to better assess criticality in the future. These also include building on metric-based assessment methods by developing scenarios of future material supply and demand.
Business‐to‐business (B2B) electronics account for a significant volume of the electrical and ele... more Business‐to‐business (B2B) electronics account for a significant volume of the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market. Very little B2B waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is reported as collected in the European Union (EU) in compliance with the WEEE Directive, which uses the policy principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) to ensure that WEEE is managed correctly. This presents a barrier to parties looking for access to the waste. Company practice dictates the channels into which B2B WEEE flows following primary use. This article presents a study that engaged with company actors directly to get a better understanding of business information technology (IT) EEE asset management. Data were collected to determine the barriers current practice could present to the collection of B2B IT EEE at end of life and the implications of these for the development of policies and strategies for EPR. A questionnaire was developed and data were gathered from organizations in three EU countries - the United Kingdom, Germany, and France - stratified by size. Some notable findings were that there are several routes by which end‐of‐life B2B WEEE can flow. The recycling and refurbishment of B2B IT units at end of use was shown to be commonplace, but it is likely that these units enter streams where they are not reported. The actors disposing of their units did not have information on the management or disposition of these streams. It is concluded that to achieve the goals of EPR for B2B IT WEEE, the networks and the operational practices of these streams need to be better understood when developing strategies and policies.
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 1998
UK central government has targeted small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as a focus for effor... more UK central government has targeted small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as a focus for efforts aimed at improving the environmental performance of industry. It recognizes that few SMEs are active on environmental management, and has attempted to encourage greater action, through schemes aimed at providing information about what can be done. Four schemes have been launched in as many
New European environmental legislation requiring producers to recycle electrical and electronics ... more New European environmental legislation requiring producers to recycle electrical and electronics products at so‐called “end‐of‐life” is likely to introduce new areas of competition to the global market for information technology (IT) products. This paper presents the findings of a study investigating the use and disposal of IT equipment by 151 companies in the UK. Although 71 per cent of companies disposed of their equipment as waste, other “disposal” routes were found to be of greater significance, such as charitable donations, transfer to employees, and resale to second‐hand dealers. Therefore it is argued that the current legal definition of “waste” may be too restrictive to be applied to end‐of‐life IT equipment within the commercial sector. In addition, it is argued that the provision of product “end‐of‐life management” services to commercial customers (in compliance with legislation or otherwise) could help IT producers add value to their existing support services beyond the i...
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Papers by Chris France