Environmental management - report

An analysis on the environmental management system of Denta and BIC production facility BEC2223 – Environmental Management By : The Five 5/4/2017 Registration Number Name Signature

Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2 Organizations impact on the environment. .................................................................................................. 2 Negative effects ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Positive effects .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Strategies ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 The EM policy and objectives ................................................................................................................... 5 Organizational practices ........................................................................................................................... 5 Suggestions for improvement ....................................................................................................................... 9

Introduction The Denta and BIC factory situated at Meewalla is one of the many production facilities engaged in the production of personal care items under E.B. Creasy and company. Despite the nature of the products produced at this facility and the resources used, the company’s exceptional environmental management system which is engraved into the company’s strategic management process the company was able to secure the silver award under the pharmaceutical, chemical and personal care category of the National green awards for 2 consecutive years. Organizations impact on the environment. Negative effects 1. High electricity and water consumption The production activities of the Denta and BIC production facility runs 24 hours a day. The factory premises could be accommodating close to 100 employees at any given point in time and around 30 different machines could be working at any given point in time. This results in an inevitable consumption of electricity and water for employees, lighting and machines alike. 2. Emission of heat and carbon As the machines of the production facility keeps on working for a long time period and as the production activities are done daily 24 hours a day, the machines within the factory premises tend to emit a great degree of heat and carbon. 3. Raw materials and their environmental impact The production facility engages in the production of tooth brushes and razors. The organization mainly uses small pallets made out of a mix of plastic and rubber for the production of the two items. These pallets are heated and molded into the heads and handles of the tooth brushes and razors. This results in a negative impact to the environment at both the production and consumption stages. At the production stage the non-biodegradable plastics are put into the environment in the form of production

wastage. The tooth brushes and razors are disposed after being used for a certain period of time. This results in the disposal of non-biodegradable plastics to the environment at the consumption stage. Furthermore, the organization uses plastic covers and heavily printed packaging, which are frequently added to garbage as these packages does not have any use after the start of consumption of the products. 4. Disposal of paper, polythene and other degradable and non-degradable waste This production facility, like any other production facility uses a large quantity of paper. As the organization still uses a traditional system for documentation, the organization uses a large quantity of paper for tasks such as requisitions, production schedules, quality control, human resource management activities etc. producing a high quantity of paper waste. Although paper is considered to be a relatively easily biodegradable material, there is no doubt about the harm caused to the environment due to the excessive disposal of paper and harm caused due to chemical compounds associated with the ink used on paper. One of the other substances disposed from the facility at large is polythene. The organization uses polythene for storage and packaging purposes. One of the other sources contributing to the amount of polythene disposed by the organization is its canteen. The use of polythene within the canteen area has become inevitable given the large number of employees working within the premises and given the fact that the canteen of the production facility too operates for long periods of time with the production facility itself. This is one of the strongest negative impacts the organization has on the environment given the severity of damage made to the environment due to polythene. One of the other less harmful materials disposed by the organization are food wastage. Although most of the food waste is easily biodegradable, the amount of food waste disposed is certainly a fact to consider. 5. Water pollutants Most of the machines used within the organization require the use of water in them. This could result in the contamination of water disposed with chemical compounds. Although

the amount of chemical compounds which could be mixed in this water is relatively low, even the slightest amount of pollution of water could result in a great damage to the environment in today’s context. Positive effects It may seem impossible for an organization engaging in such an industry to have any positive impacts on the environment. Although it is hard to fathom any positive effects resulting from the business activities, the indirect positive effects the organization has on the environment are not negligible. 1. Use of raw materials which extends the product life time The organization is the pioneer in the use of Dupont Tynex antibacterial bristles in their tooth brushes. These contain antimicrobial additives that inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi. One of the main reasons for the replacement of toiletry items is the growth of bacteria and fungi due to the moist environment created around these products. The addition of antimicrobial substances would hinder the growth of these microorganisms resulting in the hindrance of the need to dispose and replace the item more frequently. This indirectly reduces the average amount of plastic added to garbage within a given period of time. 2. Management system with a high concern on the environment. The organization had given a high weightage to environmental concerns and environmental management in their strategic management process. These processes and policies lead to the education of the society through the organizations labour force mainly comprised of the younger generation about the importance of environmental management and the small but powerful impacts them as individuals can make to protect the environment.

Strategies The EM policy and objectives The EM policy of the organization reads as follows; - “We at E.B.Creasy & Co.PLC BIC and Denta factory shall voluntarily endeavor to protect the environment and the natural resource. To meet this objective we are committed to: Identify continuously the impact on the environment of our processes and activities, set objectives and targets in respect of environmental concerns and review them at planned intervals, comply with all the relevant legislations and regulations and continually improve our EM system complying with ISO1400;2004 International standard to prevent pollution.” - E.B. Creasy & Co. PLC environmental management policy – To ensure that the above environmental management policy is implemented within the organization the organization had set the following environmental management system objectives. - “ 1. Reduce total electricity usage in the factory per production unit by 2% by the year end 2 . Reduce the total water usage in the factory by 1% by the year end 3 . Achieve zero disposal of plastic, polythene and paper waste to the environment by the year end - Report on EMS of Denta and BIC factory – Organizational practices 1. Depiction of electricity and water usage. The organization depicts charts of the monthly electricity and water consumption of the factory premises. This is done with the hope of motivating employees to follow the environmental management system of the organization and to actively contribute in the achievement of the EMS objectives of the organization.

2. Reusing water The organization has established a water purification plant within the factory premises. Any water coming from machines, toilets and canteen are purified at these water purification plants and redistributed for the purpose of using in machines, washing machinery within the factory and cutlery and pottery within the canteen and the maintenance of the garden. 3. Collecting and using rain water The organization had created a large pond close to the factory premises. The water collected is connected to the purification plants and purified. This mechanism allows the organization to reduce the water consumption from the national grid and to manage the available natural resources effectively, working aligned with the EMS policy of the organization. 4. Creation of bio mass energy Any of the degradable waste materials of the organization goes to the small bio fuel production plant within the facility. This does not only reduce the electricity consumption of the organization as part of the energy is attributed to bio fuel but it also helps the organization to achieve a zero level of degradable garbage disposal. 5. Production of compost A part of the organizations degradable garbage goes to the facility’s compost bins. This does not only help the organization to achieve a zero level of degradable garbage disposal but also helps the organization to use natural fertilizer rather than using chemicals which are harmful to the environment.

6. Garbage separation and recycling mechanism One of the main rules by the organization regarding the disposal of garbage is that the garbage should be separated at all times. For an example, if an employee has his/her lunch the paper in which they have rapped the food should be separated into one bin, the remaining food to another bin and the polythene should be washed thoroughly and put into a third bin. This proper garbage separation mechanism allows the organization to recycle every small piece of garbage and not allow any garbage to move out of the production facility, thus allowing the organization to achieve their objective of achieving zero disposal of paper and polythene waste. 7. Reusing raw materials in the production process. In order to produce the 2 products (tooth brushes and razors) the machines heat small plastic and rubber mixed pallets into sheets and molds are cut out of those sheets. Instead of disposing the remaining plastic and rejects, those are introduced to the production process again in order to minimize the wastage and hence the amount of plastic disposed to the environment. 8. Updating technology The technology used for production is reviewed annually. This allows the organization to continually evolve into more efficient technology which reduced the energy consumption of the organization to a considerable level. 9. Higher emphasis on quality. The organization emphasizes greatly on the quality of raw materials and final output through aggressive quality control mechanisms. This helps in the reduction of waste disposed to the environment in many ways. One way is by reducing the waste in terms of

raw materials which cannot be used in the production process. Another means is by producing a high quality product which increases the product life time and hence reduces the frequency of plastic (through the product of the organization) being disposed to the environment. 10) Educating employees The organization engages in educating their employees about environmental management and the need of maintaining a clean and healthy environment through workshops and through their management system as well. The organization frequently holds workshops focused on environmental management, quality management and health and safety standards. On the other hand, the organization follows an extremely flexible human resource management system. One of the elements of their HR system is to motivate and allow employees to plant trees within the factory premises. This had been able to - Reduce the stress levels of employees - Educate the employees about the need of trees and their part in the environment and create an inclusive mindset. - Create a layer of greenery around the production facility to absorb any carbon emitted by the entity. 11) Recycling of CFL bulbs Today the organization had moved one step forward in their environmental management system by undertaking the task of recycling CFL bulbs. The organization had openly invited the general public to hand over any CFL bulbs to be disposed to the Denta and BIC production facility in order to recycle those bulbs. Improper disposal of CFL bulbs could cause a great degree of harm to the environment due to the mercury content within the bulb. By taking over this task the organization had clearly indicated that they are planning and are able to move further in terms of environmental management.

Suggestions for improvement 1) Changing the design of the packaging. The organization uses a plastic tube like package with heavy printing on it for the kids toothbrushes. These packaging does not have any other use resulting in them adding up to the waste within the nation. One option the management has is to change the package into a one similar to an adults toothbrush. However, given the fact that the packaging is used for the purpose of marketing the product, the organization could change the design and shape of the packaging to reduce the amount of plastic used. The organization could also further simplify the packaging design for the adults toothbrushes. 2) Use of day lighting As the factory is designed as a single story building, the organization could resort to a day lighting mechanism, where heat proof glass sheets could be included into several parts of the roof allowing the factory to be lightened by sun light during the day time. This would result in the decrease of electricity consumption. 3) Use of solar energy The organization could use solar panels to generate electricity using solar energy. Although this energy might not be sufficient to power the machines it could be used for other purposes such as lighting which again would reduce the electricity consumption.