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Australian MasterEnvironment Guide

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DCCH AUSTRALIA LIMITED Date: 6-AUG-10 Time: 19:45 Seq: 2

DisclaimerNo person should rely on the contents of this publication without first obtaining

advice from a qualified professional person. This publication is sold on the terms and

understanding that (1) the authors, consultants and editors are not responsible for the

results of any actions taken on the basis of information in this publication, nor for any

error in or omission from this publication; and (2) the publisher is not engaged in

rendering legal, accounting, professional or other advice or services. The publisher,

and the authors, consultants and editors, expressly disclaim all and any liability and

responsibility to any person, whether a purchaser or reader of this publication or not,

in respect of anything, and of the consequences of anything, done or omitted to be

done by any such person in reliance, whether wholly or partially, upon the whole or

any part of the contents of this publication. Without limiting the generality of the

above, no author, consultant or editor shall have any responsibility for any act or

omission of any other author, consultant or editor.

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Australian MasterEnvironment Guide

CCH AUSTRALIA LIMITEDGPO Box 4072, Sydney, NSW 2001

Head Office North RydePhone: (02) 9857 1300 Fax: (02) 9857 1600

Customer SupportPhone: 1 300 300 224 Fax: 1 300 306 224www.cch.com.au

Book Code: 34319A

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About CCH Australia Limited

CCH Australia is a leading provider of accurate, authoritative and timely information

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ContentsPage

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

PART A — MANAGEMENT ESSENTIALS

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2. Environmental law in Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3. Environmental risk management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4. Stakeholder communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

5. Corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting . . . . . . . . . . . 67

6. Green marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

7. Regulating green marketing claims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

8. Product stewardship and extended producer responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . 101

PART B — ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

9. Life cycle analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

10. Supply chain management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

11. Environmental auditing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

12. Environment and technology management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

PART C — ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

13. Introduction to environmental management systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

14. EMS: Policy, objectives, targets and programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

15. EMS: Baseline environmental review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

16. EMS: Implementation and operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

17. EMS: Checking, auditing and management review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

18. EMS: Integrated management systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

PART D — ENVIRONMENT TOPICS

Planning and development

19. Planning law and development approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

20. Environmental impact assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

21. Environmental compliance issues in mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

22. Heritage law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

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Page

23. Sustainable built environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Contaminated land

24. Contaminated land practice and compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

25. Remediation techniques and technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

26. Sustainable energy use in remediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Pollution control

27. Overview of pollution control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

28. Noise, odour and nuisance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Chemicals and the environment

29. Introduction to chemical safety in industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

30. Regulation of chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

31. Life cycle of chemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

32. Nanotechnology: health, safety and environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471

Climate change and energy management

33. Energy practice and compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

34. Carbon footprinting and energy management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

Waste management

35. Waste compliance and practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

36. Recycling, reuse and recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

37. Sustainable packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551

Water management

38. Water resource efficiency and cleaner production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

39. Case studies: water supply, management, recycling and

reuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593

Biodiversity and ecology

40. Biodiversity and ecology in Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

41. Genetically modified organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

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PrefaceNow more than ever, companies must reduce their environmental impact and

sustainably manage scarce natural resources in the face of global challenges, such as

climate change. Indeed, Australia is tackling its own unique environmental issues, a

chief example being water management in a drought-stricken land. Moreover, an

increasingly informed community is urging industry, governments and all relevant

stakeholders to implement environmentally and socially responsible policies and

practices.

The Australian Master Environment Guide gives practical guidance to companies on

environmental best practice and regulatory issues and provides resources for further

information. Leading academics, lawyers, consultants and practitioners have

contributed to the Guide to ensure that the best and most accurate information is

presented.

Environmental law, risk management, green marketing, corporate social

responsibility and product stewardship are broadly outlined in the Guide.

Management systems are covered, as well as management techniques in the areas of

life cycle analysis, the supply chain, auditing, and design and technology.

Importantly, key management and compliance issues are addressed for environmental

topics including planning and development, contaminated land, waste, pollution,

chemicals, energy, water, and biodiversity and ecology.

The Guide is relevant to all levels of management, such as environment managers,

HSE (health, safety and environment) managers, line managers, facilities managers,

senior managers, and all those who need a comprehensive briefing on environmental

issues in industry. Academics and students alike will find the Guide an invaluable

resource. In addition, local councils and other levels of government will find the

Guide relevant to their policies and practices. Users of this Guide will be able to

supplement their knowledge, enabling a broader, more integrated understanding of

environmental issues.

Charmian Barton

Partner

DLA Phillips Fox

August 2010

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CCH AcknowledgmentsCCH Australia Limited wishes to thank the following who contributed to and

supported this publication:

Managing Director

Matthew Sullivan

Editor-in-Chief

John Stafford

Portfolio Projects Manager

Kate Aylett-Graham

Senior Editor/Team Leader

Carolyn Uyeda

Editors

Deborah Powell

Beverley Rogers

Production

Kenny Ng Yat Sing — Subeditor

Salwana Aminuddin — Production Editor

Rafiza Abd Aziz — Team Leader

Berabagaran Rasashihar — Graphics Editor

Gnaliny Tigarajan — Graphics Editor

Raveena Rajavetti — Production Manager

Indexer

Mark Southwell

Marketing

Jen Armstrong — Director of Marketing

Teresa Vaccaro — Product Manager — Books

Mathias Johansson — Designer

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Contributors

Major contributors

Robert Staib is an environmental and business management consultant qualified in

mechanical engineering, business management and environmental studies. He is a

Visiting Fellow at Macquarie University’s Graduate School of the Environment in

Sydney, teaching corporate environmental management. Robert writes widely on

environmental management and his books Environmental Management and Decision

Making for Business and Business Management and Environmental Stewardship are

published by Palgrave Macmillan, London. The latter book was selected as an

Outstanding Academic Title for 2009 by Choice, the magazine of the American

Library Association.

Charmian Barton, Partner at DLA Phillips Fox, leads the Planning and Environment

practice in Sydney. She has significant experience advising government and corporate

clients in contaminated land management, pollution and waste licensing,

biodiversity, planning, heritage and energy reporting. Charmian regularly conducts

environmental due diligence for property and commercial transactions, and provides

strategic advice to clients on the development assessment and approval process for

major infrastructure and renewable energy projects, including state and federal

environmental impact assessment requirements. Charmian is a Fulbright scholar with

degrees in law and environmental science and a Masters degree from Harvard Law

School.

DLA Phillips Fox

Mark Bartley, Partner, Melbourne, is team leader of the Victorian Planning and

Environment practice and a Law Institute accredited specialist in environment

planning and local government law. He leads the firm’s water practice and has 17

years’ experience as a lawyer, following 15 years in town planning and project

management. Mark acts for government agencies, councils and developers in all

aspects of planning and environment approvals, tendering, probity and public sector

governance. He also advises and acts for the ACCC, NWC, state water authorities and

others in relation to water policy, water trading, water infrastructure approvals,

governance, compliance and related matters.

Charmian Barton, Partner, Sydney — see ‘‘Major contributors’’ above.

Mark Beaufoy, Partner, Melbourne, is in the Planning and Environment team and

has over 13 years’ experience in environment and planning law in Victoria and New

South Wales. Mark now practises primarily in Victoria where he acts for corporate,

Commonwealth, state and local government clients. He advises on environmental

assessment and approval requirements for major infrastructure projects, as well as

environmental due diligence and risk management in business and property

transactions. Mark has published and presented widely on contaminated land law. He

regularly deals with the EPA and other government agencies on regulatory matters,

including representing clients in investigations and defending prosecutions.

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Alicia Chryssochoides, Solicitor, Sydney, specialises in environment and planning

law. She advises clients on a broad range of matters, including specialist planning

issues, environmental risk and compliance, contaminated land management,

environmental impact assessment and heritage. Alicia regularly appears in court for

mentions and hearings and has prepared for and conducted Class 1 Merit Appeals and

Class 4 Judicial Review proceedings in the Land and Environment Court.

David Cole, Special Counsel, Adelaide, has practised in environment law for more

than 20 years. He advises clients on a wide range of environmental and contaminated

sites issues. From 2005 to 2008, David was the Director of the Centre for

Environmental Management and Compliance at the University of South Australia,

where he was responsible for preparing the national component of the online

Contaminated Sites Law and Policy Directory for the Cooperative Research Centre for

Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment.

Kylee Creighton, Senior Associate, Brisbane, has expertise in environment and

planning law, particularly in relation to major projects and infrastructure. She

specialises in corridor and site selection and acquisition, and has advised both private

and public clients in relation to roads, bridges, rail, pipelines, transmission lines,

significant projects and mining developments. Kylee also practises in the areas of

water, climate change, cultural heritage and strategic planning.

Amelia Dixon-Weidner, Solicitor, Sydney, has broad experience in environment,

planning and local government law, litigation and international human rights law.

She is a member of the Environmental Law Committee of the Law Society of New

South Wales Young Lawyers and is the Coordinator of the Environmental Law

Committee’s Sub-Committee on Climate Change. Amelia has also worked as a

volunteer for the Environmental Defender’s Office. Her interests include climate

change, renewable energy, ecologically sustainable development and heritage law.

Eugene Fung, Partner, Brisbane, is in the Corporate and Financial Services team and

has practised exclusively in corporate and commercial law since 1990. His principal

areas of practice include corporate finance, takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, joint

ventures and commercial law. Eugene’s industry area of focus is in energy and

resources, with an emphasis on renewable energy projects, particularly geothermal

energy and commercial law aspects of mine development and operation.

Michael Marshall, Partner, Brisbane, leads that office’s Planning and Environment

practice. He is one of Queensland’s leading lawyers in the field of planning and

development law, advising major property developers, local governments, and state

and Commonwealth agencies. Apart from Planning and Environment Court

litigation, Michael also specialises in the areas of environment law, infrastructure

charging and delivery, and compensation for compulsory acquisition. In recent years,

he has developed an area of focus in master planned developments, including large

mixed-use proposals and coastal development.

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Geoff Taperell, Partner, Sydney, is a leading expert in trade practices law and

competition policy. He has more than 30 years’ experience advising public and private

organisations on trade practices, competition policy, industry regulation,

administrative law and commercial law generally. Geoff was one of the three members

of the Competition Policy Review Committee (Hilmer Committee) whose 1993

report forms the basis for Australia’s current competition policy. He also co-authored

a book on Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law and has written many

articles and papers on trade practices law, competition policy and other commercial

law subjects.

Sara van den Hoogen, Senior Associate, Perth, works within the Energy and

Resources team. She has extensive experience in environment law, specialising in the

provision of legal advice on environmental issues relating to mining and infrastructure

developments, particularly the establishment of new major projects. Sara holds a

Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western

Australia and regularly provides presentations on environmental law matters.

Paul Vergotis, Senior Associate, Sydney, practises in the areas of environment,

planning, government law and litigation. He has acted for many government

authorities in relation to town planning, environmental compliance and corporate

governance. His experience extends to private clients and includes advising on a broad

range of environmental and planning matters, such as land contamination,

biodiversity, pollution, waste and climate change. Paul is an experienced litigator in

the Land and Environment Court of NSW and has run many litigated matters as a

solicitor–advocate. He regularly writes articles and presents papers on environment

law and town planning law and practice.

Croner-i Environment and Sustainability writers

Nigel Carter, Principal Consultant at En-Venture in the UK, is an experienced

environmental consultant and principal adviser. En-Venture provides services to

businesses that promote environmental performance improvement and sustainable

management.

Rick Gould is a writer for Croner-i Environment and Sustainability.

Daianna Rincones is a business support and development manager at Business in the

Environment and Business in the Community (BITC), a unique movement of over

700 of the UK’s top companies that are committed to improving their positive

impact on society. Business in the Environment is the environment campaign of

BITC, and supports, challenges and inspires companies to adopt environmentally

responsible business practices.

Chris Wilson, of Wilson Environmental, is an independent waste management and

environmental consultant in the UK. He formerly worked for the Centre for Waste

Management as a Research Fellow and Environmental Auditor. Chris has a wide range

of experience, having completed more than 200 days of environmental auditing, and

has written and implemented over 50 environmental policy statements, conducted

more than 100 activity audits (waste and energy), and written several guides on

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environment legislation. In addition, he is a qualified asbestos surveyor, a waste

awareness certificate trainer and is qualified to implement and audit ISO 14001

environmental management systems.

Tony Wright is a management consultant, registered with the Institute of Quality

Assurance Management Consultancy Register in the UK. He is the main author of

Croner’s Quality Manager, a contributor to several other Croner publications and

author of more than 100 management-related articles. His main area of expertise is in

management systems.

Other contributors

Kris Ambrose is OHS Technical Coordinator (Laboratories) at the University of

Western Sydney. She is responsible for the development of effective OHS services and

for providing assistance, direction and support for risk management within

laboratories and associated facilities. Kris has developed and conducted training

courses in aspects of laboratory safety, and is the co-author of a number of

publications, including the UWS Laboratory Safety Guidelines.

Lara Barclay is Managing Director at Adaptation Strategic Environmental Support,

which helps organisations manage environmental risk by providing hands-on support

packages. She has extensive experience working with businesses, government and

environment groups in the research and development of information and resources

that assist behaviour change to achieve an improved environmental outcome,

particularly in implementing corporate sustainability initiatives. Lara has also worked

with numerous corporate clients to meet the objectives of the National Packaging

Covenant. Her previous experience includes Executive Officer roles in the Buy

Recycled Business Alliance and the independent Butt Littering Trust.

Lucy Cole-Edelstein is a facilitator and stakeholder engagement practitioner, with

nearly 20 years’ experience in the government, non-government and private sectors.

She has designed, implemented and evaluated engagement programs in a wide range

of applications, including environmental assessments, infrastructure planning and

construction, and policy and planning environments, and has developed social plans

and social marketing strategies. Lucy specialises in engagement process design and

implementation and, particularly, in ensuring that ‘‘all the voices’’ participate in

processes.

Nigel Corby is a chemical engineer and chemist with six years’ experience in the

water industry. He is currently team leader in City West Water’s Water Innovation

Department and is responsible for developing and implementing City West Water’s

Alternative Water Strategy. Nigel is also involved in delivering a range of Alternative

Water Projects for City West Water’s customers through the use of recycled water,

stormwater harvesting, sewer mining and aquifer storage and recovery.

Patrick Crittenden is the Director of Sustainable Business Pty Ltd and a project

leader at the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES) at

Macquarie University, Sydney. Patrick has a professional background in business

strategy, policy development and organisational change that he has applied over the

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past 15 years to the issues of energy efficiency, climate change and corporate

sustainability. He combines detailed knowledge of current and emerging government

policy and legislation with facilitation skills to build organisational capability and

effective corporate and operational responses to emerging issues, such as climate

change.

Stephen Healy is a Senior Lecturer in the School of History and Philosophy at the

University of New South Wales and coordinates the Faculty of Arts and Social

Science’s Environmental Studies and History and Philosophy of Science Programs. His

research interests centre on the social, institutional and political aspects of science and

technology, encompassing areas such as risk, public participation and sustainable

energy.

Gabrielle Higgins is a community engagement and communications specialist who

works primarily in the government sector. She has worked on a range of projects,

including infrastructure development and construction, community renewal and local

government planning. Prior to her role in community engagement, Gabrielle worked

in education and the creative arts.

Usha Iyer-Raniga is Assistant Director of the Centre for Design and Senior Lecturer

at the School of Property, Construction and Project Management, both at RMIT

University. Her interest lies in reducing the environmental impacts of the built

environment through applied research and the development of practical tools and

strategies for the building and construction industry. Usha has led projects to support

initiatives by various organisations, including at all government levels and across a

range of built environment industries.

Sarah Kinsela is a Senior Sustainability Consultant at Adaptation Strategic

Environmental Support. Sarah holds qualifications in environmental science and

management and has worked within the government, non-government and corporate

sectors. She specialises in providing practical advice to organisations that require

strategic and technical sustainability support. Sarah has a broad understanding and

experience in various environmental sectors, working on sustainability projects

covering resource management, producer responsibility, and community and business

advocacy, engagement and consultation programs.

Audra Liubinas is a chemical engineer and coordinator of the Cleaner Production

Solutions program at City West Water. The program actively helps large industrial

customers to improve their water use efficiency and reduce critical contaminants

(including salt and heavy metals) in trade waste discharge. City West Water is one of

three retail water businesses in metropolitan Melbourne. It manages the distribution

of drinking water and the provision of sewerage, trade waste and recycled water

services to approximately 313,000 residential and 34,000 industrial, commercial and

institutional customers.

Gabrielle Hirsch is a Solicitor at TressCox Lawyers and practises in the areas of life

sciences and intellectual property. She provides strategic legal advice in relation to

intellectual property protection and enforcement, commercialising research and

innovations, and regulatory issues in biotechnology and life sciences. Gabrielle holds a

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Bachelor of Science (Genetics), a Bachelor of Science Honours (Biochemistry and

Molecular Biology), and is completing her Masters in Law at the University of

Melbourne.

Daniel Lambert is Manager of Arup’s water business in Victoria and is a Chartered

Professional Engineer. He works in integrated water resource management, with

expertise in water reuse and recycling, water efficiency, and alternative water sources

for industrial, residential, sport/recreational facilities and commercial clients. Daniel

has helped numerous industrial users (both small and large), water authorities and

associations to identify and develop viable water efficiency and reuse initiatives. His

role and impact on the water industry has been recognised through a number of

awards, including the 2010 International WaterCentre’s Water Leader Scholarship

and the 2007 National ACEA Future Leader’s Award.

Kate O’Connell is a community engagement and communications specialist, who has

worked in a variety of roles across the private, government and non-government

sectors. Kate has worked on a range of projects, including infrastructure construction,

environmental remediation and community renewal, and has been a speechwriter and

policy project manager.

Michael O’Neill is an Environmental Specialist at Arup and a Certified

Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP) who has worked extensively with industry in the

areas of water efficiency, reuse and recycling, and alternative water sources. He has

helped large and small industrial users in the plastics, chemicals and food industries

to understand their water use and develop ways to reduce it. Michael’s experience

includes planning recycled water schemes — from sewer mining to large-scale

stormwater harvesting — and environmental and social impact assessment,

environmental compliance inspections, community and stakeholder consultation, and

project management.

Michael Jay Polonsky is the Chair in Marketing within the School of Management

and Marketing at Deakin University. Michael has been researching environmental

issues in marketing and management for almost 20 years and is considered one of the

leaders in the field. He has edited three books related to green marketing and has

written over 20 book chapters and 110 academic journal articles, a number of which

pertain to environmental marketing.

Rezina Shams is a Project Manager with the Department of Primary Industries,

Victoria, Australia. She has previously worked for environmental consulting firms,

state government natural resources departments, and taught at the University of

Western Sydney and Curtin University. She completed her PhD in Geological

Sciences from the University of Birmingham under the British Commonwealth

Scholarship. Her work includes investigation and remediation of soil and groundwater

contamination arising from agriculture and industrial activities. Rezina has been

involved in teaching and research on ecologically sustainable development approaches

to environmental management.

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Jeff Simpson of Haztech Environmental is a Chemical Regulations and Hazardous

Chemicals Specialist. He helps clients with sustainable choice, management and use of

chemicals by providing chemical regulatory compliance information and advice,

classification, labelling and MSDS. His Hazmat & Environment Notes, published since

1985, provides succinct coverage of relevant hazardous chemicals issues. Jeff produces

and coordinates the FPAA HazMat Conference program, assisted by a network

committee from industry, professional, union and community associations.

Mehdi Taghian comes from a long corporate employment background in marketing.

He has held different marketing management positions with companies such as

Gillette and Ansell International. He acquired his BEc from the American University

in the USA, his Master’s degree in Marketing from Monash University, and his PhD

in Marketing from Deakin University. Mehdi is currently the unit Chair of

International Marketing at Deakin Business School. His research focus is in marketing

strategy, consumer behaviour and environmental marketing.

Carolyn Uyeda, a senior editor, writer and team leader of CCH’s OHS and

environment editorial group, conceived and developed the Australian Master

Environment Guide in both print and web formats. She also developed the 2nd edition

of the Australian Master OHS & Environment Guide and has worked on a number of

other titles and projects related to the environment, OHS and employment. Prior to

CCH, Carolyn worked in multimedia and trade publishing, and in product

management.

Su Wild-River manages environmental risk for the Australian National University.

Her achievements include evaluating outcomes from environment protection laws and

reducing ANU’s environmental risk, towards a best-practice target.

Nicola Willand is a research consultant at the Centre for Design, RMIT University.

Nicola is an internationally experienced architect, with a strong practical interest in

sustainable design. Her research interests include sustainable development aid,

energy-efficient building design and sustainable materials.

Chris Winder is Professor in Toxicology and Occupational Health in the School of

Risk and Safety Sciences at the University of New South Wales. Prior to joining

UNSW in 1992, Chris worked at the National Occupational Health and Safety

Commission in chemicals regulatory reform.

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A special thanks to Peter Fitzmaurice,

Sally Wilson and Eryl Adams

of Croner, Wolters Kluwer UK, for their

invaluable support and assistance during the

development of this publication.

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PART A

Management essentials

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CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION

Robert Staib

Environmental Management Consultant

Visiting Fellow, Macquarie University

Australian Master Environment Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¶1-010

Preamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¶1-020

Environmental strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¶1-030

Management essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¶1-040

Environmental management techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¶1-050

Environmental management systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¶1-060

Environment topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¶1-070

Chapter contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¶1-080

¶1-010 Australian Master Environment Guide

This Guide provides a broad coverage of the environmental issues facing modern

business and guidance to managers at all levels in an organisation. Written by experts

in different areas of environmental management, each chapter summarises key points

and includes guidance for organisations and their managers to achieve improved

environmental performance.

The Guide places a strong emphasis on the legal aspects of the environment to help

readers develop an understanding of the relevant legislation, both at the federal and

state level. It is important that each organisation first achieves and maintains legal

environmental compliance as a basis for its operations and then uses this base to drive

continual environmental improvement. The Guide emphasises the need for all people

in an organisation to become involved in and committed to this process of continual

environmental improvement.

The Guide is divided into four parts:

● Management essentials

● Environmental management techniques

● Environmental management systems (EMS)

● Environmental topics.

Each part has a number of chapters that describe environmental aspects in more

detail, and these are outlined later in this chapter.

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4 AUSTRALIAN MASTER ENVIRONMENT GUIDE

¶1-020 Preamble

The natural environment is important to society and to its organisations, and needs to

be preserved and restored. It provides support for all life, human and non-human; it

has intrinsic and non-anthropocentric values; and it provides many of the material,

energy and medical needs of society. These values should be considered and upheld by

all managers and people working in business in their environmental management and

support roles.

In this preamble to the Guide, we look at some of the external environmental drivers

that are requiring organisations to make changes, some of the significant

environmental impacts that are occurring as a result of business operations, and some of

the business responses being achieved by business organisations.

● Environmental impact drivers include ongoing growth in world population,

growth of societies’ use of energy and resources, growth and development of

technology and, increasingly, growth in biotechnology.

● Environmental impacts include: unsustainable use of the earth’s non-renewable

and renewable energy, resources, land, biological resources; loss of biodiversity;

climate change; and pollution.

● Business responses to environmental issues include growth in the use of EMS,

growth of ethical investment and increasing awareness by industry of

sustainability issues — environmental and social.

Several indicators have been chosen to graphically illustrate the above aspects. Many

organisations (both government and private) are producing indicators that attempt to

characterise the environmental state of the world and regional environments. In

parallel, many organisations are now using their environmental indicators to

characterise their own environmental performance.

In this section, we use information and extracts from recent documents produced by a

number of organisations including: the Worldwatch Institute, the World Wide Fund

for Nature, the United Nations, the World Business Council for Sustainable

Development, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UK Government,

Ethical Investment Research Services, Dow Jones and the International Organization

for Standardization.

Environmental driver — population growth

The world population continues to grow (though at a decreasing rate) and developing

countries seek to emulate the developed countries’ material and energy-rich lifestyles.

A large part of this population increase is occurring in urban areas and about half the

world population now live in cities which are developing increasing environmental

footprints (Flavin 2007). Figure 1.1 shows the projected growth of the world

population (both total population and growth per five-year period).

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INTRODUCTION 5

Figure 1.1: World population and projected growth

Based on United Nations (2008) data

Environmental driver — fossil fuel consumption

Figure 1.2 shows that world fuel consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels (oil, gas,

coal) and consequent emissions of carbon dioxide from carbon-based fuel use continue

to grow. Other indicators show that the production of renewable energy is increasing

steadily and in some areas dramatically, though it is only a small part of total energy

supply.

Figure 1.2: World fossil fuel consumption

Based on BP (2009) data

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Environmental impact — earth’s biocapacity

The index in Figure 1.3 illustrates a situation where the world’s ecological footprint

(measured in global hectares) has exceeded the available biocapacity of the earth (also

measured in global hectares). The ecological footprint is a measure of how much area

(land and water) we need to produce the biological resources, non-biological resources

and energy we consume, plus how much area we need to absorb our wastes. It is based

on current technology.

It shows that our ecological footprint, that is, our use of the world’s natural and other

resources has been increasing and in the 1980s we exceeded the earth’s capacity to

supply these resources sustainably. We are now eating into our natural capital and

this can have significant environmental consequences for the planet and its people.

Figure 1.3: Human ecological footprint and earth’s biocapacity

Based on WWF (2008) data

Environmental impact — climate change

There is now a strong scientific consensus and evidence that increasing levels of

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are largely the result of human activity: carbon

dioxide from the use of fossil fuels and land use change, and methane and nitrous

oxide from agriculture. The increasing levels of greenhouse gases are leading to global

temperature rises, sea level rises and effects on climate and the earth’s biota (IPCC

2007):

‘‘Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident fromobservations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures,widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level . . . Atcontinental, regional, and ocean basin scales, numerous long-term changes inclimate have been observed. These include changes in Arctic temperatures andice, widespread changes in precipitation amounts, ocean salinity, windpatterns and aspects of extreme weather including droughts, heavyprecipitation, heat waves and the intensity of tropical cyclones . . .’’ (IPCC2007)

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INTRODUCTION 7

Figure 1.4 shows the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as

measured by the US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory (2010).

Figure 1.4: Atmospheric carbon dioxide — Mauna Loa, Hawaii

Based on NOAA (2010) data

Business response — environmental management systems

Increasingly, business and government organisations are introducing EMS to help

them manage the many environmental issues they are faced with, including those

originating from changing legislation, from increasing societal concerns and from

people within the organisations themselves. Many are adopting ISO 14000 (a series of

standards for EMS), environmental risk management, life cycle assessment,

environmental performance evaluation, auditing and environmental labels and

declarations. Figure 1.5 shows that by December 2008 approximately 190,000

organisations worldwide had been externally certified to ISO 14001 (the main

standard in the series).

Figure 1.5: Environmental management systems (ISO 14001 certifications)

Based on ISO (2005; 2006; 2008) data

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Business response — ethical investment

Figure 1.6 indicates how the level of ethical fund investments in the UK has been

increasing. Ethical Investment Research Services (2008) has collected and analysed

data since 1989 with data from investment managers and the Investment

Management Association (IMA). The funds are mainly retail unit trusts available to

the general public. The funds do not include institutional funds (EIRIS 2008).

Figure 1.6: Ethical fund investments in the UK

Based on EIRIS (2010) data

Note: Yearly values are now totalled at the end of December. Earlier values were totalled at different

months of the year.

Business trends

Many businesses worldwide are responding to the external environmental and social

challenges that now face the world. The indexes in Figures 1.5 and 1.6 illustrate a

trend of increasing business acceptance of its responsibility to both the social and

environmental milieu in which it operates. In addition, many peak organisations are

providing guidance and information to their members to assist and guide them on a

path of greater social and environmental sustainability, for example, on a world scale,

the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and on a local scale, the

Australian Industry Group. Many non-government organisations, as well as their

lobbying role, are increasingly working with organisations to improve their

environmental outcomes, for example, on a world scale, the World Wide Fund for

Nature, and on a local scale, the Total Environment Centre’s Green Capital group.

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INTRODUCTION 9

Sustainable development

The Brundtland Commission of the United Nations developed the idea of sustainable

development as ‘‘development that meets the needs of the present generation without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’’ (Brundtland

1987). It identified the three components of sustainable development as economic,

social and environmental, with the critical issues for humanity being uneven

development, poverty and population growth. These were placing significant pressure

on the world’s lands, waters, forests and other natural resources, causing a ‘‘downward

spiral of poverty and environmental degradation’’, resulting in a waste of

opportunities and resources and, in particular, a waste of human resources.

Despite the good intentions behind the concept of sustainable development, it has yet

to deliver the significant change necessary to protect the world’s environment. It has

resulted, however, in improved environmental practices, particularly in the business

world, and this Guide continues this approach to assist business in becoming more

environmentally sustainable. This Guide is mainly about environmental management,

although all three aspects of sustainable development (environmental, social and

economic) need to be kept in mind when developing environmental strategies and

programs within organisations.

¶1-030 Environmental strategy(This section is based on the references: Viljoen and Dann 2003; and Staib 2005.)

Many companies have adopted strategic approaches to managing their businesses and

it is important that environmental considerations are included in their corporate

strategic processes and in their corporate strategy.

Organisations use and manage resources, manufacture and produce goods and services,

and provide employment. This involves using environmental resources (energy, earth

materials, plant and animal materials). They also create pollution and generate waste.

Organisations need to minimise and prevent pollution, manage waste (by avoiding,

reusing and recycling), provide environmental goods and services, meet and create

consumer demand (for green goods and services), develop green products, and reduce

consumption of environmental resources.

Global environmental and social issues

Global environmental and social issues impinge directly and indirectly on

organisations and need to be considered when establishing corporate environmental

strategies. They include the:

● unsustainable use of resources (see earlier graphs)

● disparity between developed and underdeveloped countries, ie intragenerational

equity

● needs of future generations, ie intergenerational equity

● globalisation of industry and environmental issues

● incorporation of sustainable development (social, environmental and economic)

into a country’s legislation

● community pressure for business to address social and environmental problems.

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External forces for change

At an industry level, there is a need to respond to:

● government and legislative requirements for pollution, waste, reporting and

approval conditions for developments

● community and green group concerns about the environmental and social

impacts of business

● consumer demand for green products, organic food, degradable packaging, etc

● markets for environmental goods, eg pollution control equipment,

environmental consulting services

● the push for accountability to governments, neighbours, shareholders and

owners.

Advantages of responding environmentally

The advantages to business of responding proactively to environmental issues include:

● legislative compliance and maintenance of permission to operate

● cost reductions with more efficient use of materials and energy

● product differentiation with environmentally friendly products and services

● initial gains by being first into the green market

● improved performance with more sustainable operations and committed

workforces (Welford 1998; Porter 1995).

Most of these environmental aspects are felt at a strategic level of an organisation and

therefore an organisation’s business strategy should include a strong environmental

strategy that is linked to an EMS. Typically, strategic planning

commences/recommences with an organisation identifying its vision (its ideal future),

its mission (what the organisation does) and its values (how it does things). This flows

onto strategic planning processes such as:

● Analysis — of the external environment, internal skills/resources, stakeholders’

needs/expectations

● Direction — to formulate objectives and targets, identify performance measures

● Choice — to generate options, choose preferred strategy

● Implementation — to develop systems, acquire/utilise skills and resources,

develop organisational structure, manage organisational culture

● Evaluation/control — to measure performance, take corrective action

● Reanalysis — by recommencing this strategic process (Viljoen and Dann 2003).

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INTRODUCTION 11

Strategic choice and environmental objectives

Environmental aspects should be considered during each of these strategic planning

processes and environmental commitments made progressively. Short, medium and

long-term targets should be set for management processes and for individual products

and processes.

Environmental targets for individual processes or products are being set by many

organisations but, at the strategic level, strategic medium and long-term targets

should be considered. If organisations are to become part of achieving global

sustainability, they need to consider long-term environmental targets for their

businesses, for example, a tenfold increase in efficiency in the way they use energy,

natural resources and other materials (Hawken 2000, p 11) and then, or in parallel,

move to more rigorous targets like ‘‘zero discharges, no net energy use or use of only

renewable energy’’.

Choosing strategic environmental objectives is an ongoing process. We do not suggest

any in this chapter as each business is different, but the following chapters of this

Guide provide the techniques and tools to help organisations choose, evaluate and

implement different strategic environmental objectives.

¶1-040 Management essentials

The first part of this Guide (Part A) outlines aspects of corporate environmental

management that should be considered and understood at the board and top

management levels of an organisation. It provides a link from corporate

environmental strategy to the rest of the organisation to help it arrange the

organisation’s environmental management, science and technology aspects. Important

aspects covered are environmental law, risk, stakeholder communications, corporate

social responsibility, marketing and product stewardship.

Environmental law is predominately statute based but also relies on traditional

common law property rights. Chapter 2 includes a summary of environmental law to

provide an overarching framework for the more detailed listing and discussion of

federal and state environmental laws in later chapters.

Chapter 3 describes the approach to environmental risk management adopted by the

Australian standard AS/NZS 4360:2004 Risk Management and now included in the

ISO risk management standard ISO 31000. It is a semi-quantitative approach to

identifying and ranking risk to enable a progressive elimination of risk, commencing

with the highest risks.

Increasingly, organisations are being driven to consider their role and responsibilities

in relation to a diverse range of stakeholders and to many aspects of the natural

environment under a framework of corporate social responsibility, and to demonstrate

through public reporting what they are doing and how well they are achieving their

environmental and social goals. Chapter 4 outlines a structured approach to good

practice in stakeholder communications, and Chapter 5 outlines the basics of

corporate social responsibility measurement and reporting.

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Green marketing is the marketing of products that are stated to be environmentally

safe, the development and marketing of products designed to minimise negative

effects on the environment, and the efforts by organisations to produce, promote,

package and reclaim products in a manner that is responsive to environmental

concerns. Chapter 6 describes the main aspects of environmental marketing, and

Chapter 7 outlines green marketing legal issues.

Chapter 8 discusses the concepts of product stewardship and extended producer

responsibilities where organisations are increasingly (through legislation and public

pressure) being required to consider the environmental and social ramifications of the

impacts of both their suppliers and customers, in addition to their own impacts.

¶1-050 Environmental management techniques

To implement corporate environmental strategy and to manage and direct the

environmental planning and performance of organisations (in addition to the

essentials of general management), organisations need to consider and implement a

number of specific techniques developed to address environmental aspects of an

organisation. The second part of this Guide (Part B) describes four of them: life cycle

analysis, supply chain management, environmental auditing, and environmental

design.

A life cycle analysis (Chapter 9) of a company’s products and services requires people

to look beyond their own internal focus in an organisation by considering the

environmental impacts of the materials they use from the point when they are

harvested and mined, through processing and manufacture, through customer use,

and finally to disposal, that is, a cradle-to-grave approach. This life cycle analysis

provides information to an organisation to help it to analyse all aspects of its

operations and to reduce environmental impacts.

Supply chain management (Chapter 10) is the recognition that the suppliers to an

organisation can create significant environmental impacts when sourcing and

processing their supplies and that the organisation may have the ability to positively

influence suppliers’ environmental performance.

Environmental auditing (Chapter 11) is an essential management process that enables

the organisation and its stakeholders to confirm that its environmental strategy and

objectives are being met, and provides the organisation with feedback to enable it to

continually improve its environmental performance.

To achieve significant reductions in environmental impacts, environmental

considerations should be a central part of an organisation’s technology strategy.

Chapter 12 describes approaches to innovation, research and development, design and

production management to help organisations develop and implement an

environmental technology strategy to minimise environmental impacts and maximise

the environmental benefits of technology.

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