Environmental Management, Waste Handling and Pollution Control
Aspects and impacts
An environmental aspect is what an activity does to the environment (emission, discharge, waste, noise, resource use); an impact is the resulting change (air pollution, fish kill, habitat loss). Significance considers severity, likelihood, legal limits and stakeholder concern.
Management
ISO 14001 uses PDCA: policy, aspects and legal register, objectives, operational control, monitoring, audit, management review. New projects need an EIA before approval; operations need permits and consent limits, with monitoring and records.
Pollution pathways
Air (particulates, SO₂, NOx, VOCs, CO₂), water (effluent BOD/COD, oil, nutrients), land and groundwater, noise and heat. Control at source first, then treat, then disperse only as a last resort - dilution is not treatment.
Waste
Hierarchy: prevent/reduce → reuse → recycle → recover (energy) → dispose. Segregate at source, label, store securely, and transport with a manifest or consignment note through a licensed contractor - cradle to grave. Hazardous wastes include used oil, batteries, e-waste, medical waste and asbestos; they never go into general refuse. Spill response: stop the source, contain, recover, notify NOSDRA/regulator, remediate, investigate.
Traps
Getting the hierarchy order wrong; ranking recycling above reuse; confusing aspect with impact; forgetting regulatory notification after a spill.
Rule of thumb
First ask "can we avoid producing it?" - every step down the hierarchy costs more and controls less.