Business strategy and the environment in a traditional manufacturing sector

This research is concerned with the relationship between business strategy and the environment within traditional sectors. It has sought to learn more about the strategic environmental attitudes of SMEs compared with large companies operating under the same market conditions. The sector studied is the ceramics industry (including tableware & ornamental-ware, sanitary ware & tiles, bricks, industrial & advanced ceramics and refractories) in the UK and France. Unlike the automotive, oil, chemical, steel or metal processing sectors, this industry is one of the few industrial sectors which has rarely been considered. The information on this sector was gathered by interviewing people responsible for environmental issues. The actual programme of valid interviews represents approximately a quarter of the UK and French ceramics industry which is large enough to enable a quantitative analysis and significant and non-biased conclusions. As a whole, all companies surveyed agreed that the ceramics activity impacts on the environment, and that they are increasingly affected both by environmental legislation, and by various non-legislative pressures. Approaches to the environmental agenda differ significantly among large and small companies. Smaller companies feel particularly pressed both by the financial costs and management time required to meet complex and changing legislation. The results of this survey also suggest that the ceramics industry sees environmental issues in terms of increased costs rather than new business opportunities. This is due principally to fears of import substitution from countries with lower environmental standards. Finally, replies indicate that generally there is a low level of awareness of the current legislative framework, suggesting a need to shift from a regulatory approach to a more self-regulated approach which encourages companies to be more proactive

Conselho estadual de meio ambiente do Rio Grande do Norte: paradigmas, proposições e atores sociais

The environmental movement rises up strongly in the year 1972 with the Stocolmus Conference, in the middle of pressions concerning the environmental preservation, in consequence of the environmental catastrophes. In spite of the fact that, in Brazil, the environmental movement has is institutionalization with the 1988 Constitution, in a way that the councils became democratic spaces, and provided the society’s participation in the management of public policies. In this way, we propose a discussion about the participation and the exercise of the citizenship in the State Council of Environment of Rio Grande do Norte (CONEMA), focusing the glance about the decisory process, as from the expression of the social actors. For that, our research compilate documents of the meetings of the referring council, transcribing the main discussions about the environmental necessities which were important in the potiguar society, and checking how these agents defend their interest during the meetings. We understand, with these informations, the role of CONEMA/RN as a communicative mechanism between State and Society. With the analysis of the informations of the extraordinary meetings from 2007 to 2014, we concluded that the CONEMA is a council where the civil organized society takes part on the decisory process, despite the great influence of the representative actors of public power over the representative actors of civil society. The results of this research confirm the discrepancy between the participation of representative councilors of civil society in CONEMA/RN. The conclusion point out that the civil society representative don’t, yet, assimilate the citizen duty, the responsibility of it1s action, producing, in this way, damages for the legal structure of the potiguar environmental legislation, with serious consequences on the public policy implementation

Combater as secas e defender as florestas a natureza nos desafios da ciência e da técnica para modernizar o Brasil (1889 a 1934)

In the first decades of 20th century the just instituted Brazilian Republic faced the challenge to modernize the country. Considering that the progress was associated with the exhaustion of the forest reserves and with climatic changes, two big issues were seen as fundamental: To Fight the Droughts and To Defend the Forests; headed by professionals who were dedicated to these ideals. This research starts from the premise that these were the main challenges enforced by nature to the Brazilian development; the general objective was delimited in the search to understand the meaning and the conception of the natural world by this group of professionals who faced the shock between modernizing the country and conserving its natural resources. Aiming to contribute with the construction of the Brazilian environmental history and to bring historical elements to the debate about the environment in the country, the author concentrates his attention to the analyses, the discussions and the actions that preceded the regulation on the use of natural resources and the implementation of the environmental legislation in Brazil, occurred in 1934. The investigation uses as methodological basis the theoretical directions of environmental history, using sources of data still little explored and valued. In such way, it is taken as starting point some published papers about this subject during the period between 1889 and 1934 in two technical magazines the Revista Brazil Ferro-Carril and the Revista do Club de Engenharia. National engineering played a basic role in this process while arguing, projecting and constructing the development. The formulated proposals, after being divulged, had fomented the interchange with other professionals and had favored the advance of ambient questions in Brazil, in the sense to preserve natural resources, to construct more harmonic relations between the society and the nature and to equate the development with the environment preservation

Estilo de desarrollo y el tratado de libre comercio entre República Dominicana, Centroamérica y Estados Unidos. Análisis del capítulo ambiental

Este estilo de desarrollo del país no ha generado encadenamientos productivos y recurre constantemente, a políticas implementadas en la promoción de las exportaciones, liberalización y apertura comercial, drásticos ajustes en las funciones del Estado y la atracción de inversión extranjera (tanto directa como financiera). Objetivos que se materializan en la negociación de tratados de libre comercio al estilo del Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Centroamérica y Estados Unidos. En él se sientan las bases institucionales para la flexibilización del accionar del capital global, la profundización del proceso de apropiación de los factores de producción (básicamente, los recursos y servicios naturales, y la fuerza de trabajo) e incorporar nuevos negocios en sectores que, precisamente, suponen las mejores posibilidades de incrementar la acumulación de capital, siendo éstos, hoy, los recursos energéticos y hídricos. Abstract This style of development of the country has not generated productive linkages and it constantly appeals, to politicians implemented in the promotion of the exports, liberalization and opening commercial, drastic adjustments in the functions of the State and the attraction of foreign investment (so much direct as financial). Objectives that are materialized in the negotiation of treaties of free trade to the style of the Treaty of Free Trade between Central America and United States. In him they feel the institutional bases for the flexibility of working of the global capital, the to make deeper of the process of appropriation of the production factors (basically, the resources and natural services, and the work force) and to incorporate new business in sectors that, in fact, they suppose the best possibilities to increase the capital accumulation, being these, today, the energy and hydric resources.

Minería de oro en el marco de la inseguridad normativa, los grupos de interés y las zonas de exclusión

En este artículo se aborda el tema de la minería en zonas excluibles, por medio de una revisión bibliográfica de la legislación vigente, y se ejemplifican dos casos icono que se han presentado en Colombia en relación con la minería de oro en áreas de protección: el Parque Nacional Yaigojé-Apaporis y el Páramo de Santurbán. En ambos casos se evidencia la falta de coordinación entre las autoridades mineras y ambientales, y el vacío legislativo especialmente en la fase exploratoria, que, además de causar serios impactos ambientales y vulnerar los derechos de minorías étnicas y la población en general, crea inseguridad normativa y grandes costos a las empresas mineras. En un primer momento se describe el panorama jurídico que rige la explotación minera en Colombia, seguido de un contexto técnico del ciclo minero y de las implicaciones desde el punto de vista jurídico de este tipo de explotaciones en áreas protegidas. Luego, se presenta una cronología de los estudios de caso de la minería en un área protegida del sistema de Parques Nacionales y otra de carácter regional, concluyendo que la falta de coordinación entre instituciones deja al sector en un limbo jurídico.

Análisis preliminar de la fitotoxicidad del material particulado sedimentable de la zona urbana de Cuenca

Este artículo informa sobre la valoración de la fitotóxicidad del Material Particulado Sedimentable (MPS) en la zona urbana del cantón Cuenca. El MPS se recolectó en tres sitios de la zona urbana, mediante el método descrito en el Texto Unificado de Legislación Ambiental Secundaria del Ministerio del Ambiente (TULASMA). Por el material particulado se realizó la determinación de la concentración de los componentes utilizando el análisis gravimétrico, la de los metales pesados por espectroscopía de absorción atómica, y la de aniones por método adaptado de referencia EPA 300.1. Posteriormente se evaluó su fitotóxicidad en cuatro especies, mediante el bioensayo de germinación y elongación de raíz e hipocótilo, en semillas de Lactuca sativa, Brassica oleracea itálica, Allium cepa y Raphanus sativus. En el bioensayo las semillas se expusieron a diferentes diluciones de la suspensión acuosa de MPS. Los resultados muestran que el efecto de los MPS dependió de la concentración y de la especie analizada, evidenciando diferentes grados de fitotóxicidad.

Combater as secas e defender as florestas a natureza nos desafios da ciência e da técnica para modernizar o Brasil (1889 a 1934)

In the first decades of 20th century the just instituted Brazilian Republic faced the challenge to modernize the country. Considering that the progress was associated with the exhaustion of the forest reserves and with climatic changes, two big issues were seen as fundamental: To Fight the Droughts and To Defend the Forests; headed by professionals who were dedicated to these ideals. This research starts from the premise that these were the main challenges enforced by nature to the Brazilian development; the general objective was delimited in the search to understand the meaning and the conception of the natural world by this group of professionals who faced the shock between modernizing the country and conserving its natural resources. Aiming to contribute with the construction of the Brazilian environmental history and to bring historical elements to the debate about the environment in the country, the author concentrates his attention to the analyses, the discussions and the actions that preceded the regulation on the use of natural resources and the implementation of the environmental legislation in Brazil, occurred in 1934. The investigation uses as methodological basis the theoretical directions of environmental history, using sources of data still little explored and valued. In such way, it is taken as starting point some published papers about this subject during the period between 1889 and 1934 in two technical magazines the Revista Brazil Ferro-Carril and the Revista do Club de Engenharia. National engineering played a basic role in this process while arguing, projecting and constructing the development. The formulated proposals, after being divulged, had fomented the interchange with other professionals and had favored the advance of ambient questions in Brazil, in the sense to preserve natural resources, to construct more harmonic relations between the society and the nature and to equate the development with the environment preservation

Preparação de óxidos mistos de níquel e zinco nanoparticulados a partir de combustíveis alternativos

The field of "Materials Chemistry" has been developing in recent years and there has been a great increase of interest in the synthesis and chemical and physical properties of new inorganic solids. New routes of synthesis and synthesis modified has been developed with the aim not only to optimize the processes in laboratory scale, but also on an industrial scale, and make them acceptable by current environmental legislation. The phenomenology of current solid state chemistry properties coupled with the high temperature superconductivity, ferromagnetism, porosity molecular and colors are evidence affected by the synthesis method, which in turn can influence the technological application of these materials. From this understanding, mixed oxides of nickel and zinc nanoparticulate were synthesized by microwave-assisted combustion route using three specific types of organic fuels employing the weight ratios 1:1/2 and 1:1 of cation metallic/fuel, in order to investigate the influence of such proportions to obtain the solids. The new fuels were chosen to replace, for example, urea or glycine that are the fuels most commonly preferred in this kind of synthesis. The powders without heat treatment were studied by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and then calcined at 900°C. After heat treatment, the samples were characterized by analysis of X Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The modified synthesis route porposed was effective for obtaining powders. Both the alternative fuels chosen as the different weight ratios employed, influenced in the morphology and obtaining oxides

Síntese de zeólita A a partir de diatomita como fonte de aluminossilicato

The synthesis of zeolites from natural sources of silicon and aluminum are promising alternative routes to obtain porous or zeolite MCM family. Such materials are typically used in catalytic processes and / or adsorption is to obtain new products or for separation and purification processes thereof. Environmental legislation is becoming stricter and requires the use of materials more efficient, aiming to achieve pollution prevention, by gas or liquid contaminants in the environment. In order to obtain a material with environmentally friendly features, this study aimed at the synthesis of zeolite A, from an amorphous sediment, diatomite, which is found in abundance in the northeast region of Brazil, may be substituted for conventional products the production of zeolite, involving higher costs. The methodology for obtaining the "Zeolite A" using as a source of silica and alumina diatomite is simple, since this is a source of silicon, not requiring therefore a structural driver, but also by heat treatment, only drying conventional to remove water. The "zeolite A" was obtained from diatomite, but as an intermediate step we obtained the sodalite. The characterization was made by the following techniques: EDX, XRD, FT-IR, SEM and determining a specific area by the BET method and the BJH method for checking the diameter of pores. By characterization of the obtained material was first demonstrated the achievement of sodalite and after modification of the same, there was obtained zeolite A

Parques lineares ao longo de corpos hídricos urbanos : conflitos e possibilidades; o caso da orla do lago Paranoá – DF

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, Programa de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação da Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, 2016.

A influência do movimento ambientalista nas políticas públicas : um estudo comparado entre Brasil e Estados Unidos

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, 2016.

Modelagem do desempenho ambiental dos projetos de exploração e produção aplicando equações estruturais

A legislação ambiental e os principais agentes que se relacionam com a empresa se constituem em fatores exógenos que não podem ser negligenciados ao formular-se e avaliar-se a política ambiental corporativa. As influências exógenas e seus efeitos sobre a gestão ambiental e o gerenciamento de projetos de exploração e produção (E&P) e, por essa via, sobre o desempenho ambiental, foram objetos de estudo desta tese. Embora o desempenho ambiental seja um assunto relevante, a pesquisa sobre esse tema ainda é escassa. Tal carência desponta ainda mais acentuada quando se aborda o desempenho ambiental de projetos na indústria de petróleo e gás. O principal objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a relação entre a legislação ambiental vigente, as ações de órgãos reguladores, fornecedores, empresas terceirizadas e comunidades locais e o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P na indústria de petróleo e gás e, também, analisar os efeitos do sistema de gestão ambiental e o gerenciamento dos projetos sobre tal desempenho. Na fase abdutiva, foi conduzido um estudo de caso com abordagem qualitativa em uma grande empresa brasileira do setor de petróleo e gás, na fase dedutiva, foi realizada uma pesquisa survey explanatória de corte transversal com abordagem quantitativa, incluindo 113 projetos de E&P de cinco unidades executoras da empresa. Foi formulado um modelo conceitual, com cinco construtos e sete hipóteses de pesquisa, representativo dos efeitos de fatores externos sobre o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P. Os dados foram tratados aplicando a Análise Fatorial Exploratória e a Modelagem de Equações Estruturais com aplicação dos softwares IBM® SPSS® Statistics 20.0 e IBM® SPSS® Amos 18.0. O modelo de equações estruturais foi reespecificado e estimado utilizando o método de Máxima Verossimilhança e o procedimento bootstrap com 2000 reamostragens, até alcançar adequados valores dos índices de ajustamento. O modelo mostrou boa aderência às evidências empíricas, representando uma teoria explicativa dos fatores que influenciam o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P na empresa estudada. As estatísticas descritivas apontaram adequado desempenho dos projetos de E&P com relação aos efluentes descartados, volume de água reutilizada, redução de resíduos e práticas de reciclagem. Identificou-se que projetos de maior porte alcançam melhor desempenho ambiental em relação aos de menor tamanho. Não foram achadas diferenças significativas entre os desempenhos de projetos executados por unidades operacionais distintas. Os resultados da modelagem indicaram que nem a legislação ambiental, nem os agentes externos exercem influência significativa sobre a sistemática da gestão dos projetos de E&P. Os agentes externos atuam sobre a gestão ambiental da empresa exercitando capacidades colaborativas, obstrutivas e propositivas. A legislação ambiental é percebida como entrave ao desenvolvimento dos projetos ao longo de seu ciclo de vida, principalmente, pelas deficiências dos órgãos ambientais. Identificou-se que o sistema de gestão ambiental influencia diretamente o Programa de Desenvolvimento e Execução de Projetos de E&P, que, por sua vez, provoca efeitos diretos e indiretos sobre o desempenho ambiental. Finalmente, comprovou-se que o Sistema de Gestão Ambiental da empresa é determinante para o desempenho ambiental dos projetos de E&P, tanto pelos seus efeitos diretos, como pelos indiretos, estes últimos mediados pela sistemática de gestão dos projetos de E&P

The study of agricultural non-point source pollution control policy system

As the agricultural non-point source pollution(ANPSP) has become the most significant threat for water environmental deterioration and lake eutrophication in China, more and more scientists and technologists are focusing on the control countermeasure and pollution mechanism of agricultural non-point source pollution. The unreasonable rural production structure and limited scientific management measures are the main reasons for acute ANSPS problems in China. At present, the problem for pollution control is a lack of specific regulations, which affects the government's management efficiency. According to these characteristics and problems, this paper puts forward some corresponding policies. The status of the agricultural non-point source pollution of China is analyzed, and ANSPS prevention and control model is provided based on governance policy, environmental legislation, technical system and subsidy policy. At last, the case analysis of Qiandao Lake is given, and an economic policy is adopted based on its situation.

Black carbon trends in southwestern Iberia in the context of the financial and economic crisis. The role of bioenergy.

Since black carbon concentrations are useful to reveal changes in anthropogenic activities, measurements taken from 2007 to 2015 in a Portuguese city are used to assess to which extent the ambient air was impacted by the economic crisis. The average black carbon concentrations are representative of an urban area of small size (1.3 ± 1.3 μg m−3). The highest concentrations are observed in the heating season, being biomass combustion one of the causes for the high values. The daily cycle of black carbon concentrations presents both morning and evening peaks, mainly due to road traffic and, in the heating season, to domestic heating as well. The yearly averaged black carbon mass concentrations decreased 33 % from 2007 to 2015, possibly due to a combination of the economic recession and environmental legislation. The reduction in road traffic led to a decrease in the daily morning peak from 2007 to 2015. This reduction was not followed by a decrease in the evening peak, explained by an increase in biomass burning. Biomass is the cheapest heating fuel in Portugal, and its consumption increased in the aftermath of the economic crisis. The use of bioenergy is an alternative to fossil fuels and presents many advantages. However, energy policies should discourage inefficient biomass burning and promote better ways of exploiting the available energy resources and emission air pollution mitigation strategies.