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Anticipating the Environmental Effects of
Technology Prepared by Preface There is growing recognition of the importance of applying technologies that support the national and sub-national development process in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner. This requirement was highlighted in Agenda 21 and is now being addressed in many international, regional and national initiatives, including the International and Regional Round Tables on Cleaner Production. New technologies, and effective and efficient use of existing technologies, are essential to increasing the capabilities of countries, especially developing countries, to achieve sustainable development, sustain the world's economy, protect the environment, and alleviate poverty and human suffering. Achievement of these goals requires improvements in the technologies currently in use and their replacement, when appropriate, by more accessible and more environmentally sound technologies. Environmentally sound technologies protect the environment, are less polluting, use all resources in a more sustainable manner, recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle residual wastes in a more acceptable manner than the technologies for which they are substitutes. Environmentally sound technologies are more than just the specific application of know-how. Such technologies are the total systems that include know-how, technical procedures, goods and services, equipment, and organisational and managerial procedures. Consequently, the assessment, transfer and assimilation of these technologies involves consideration of such requirements as human resources development and other local capacity building needs. Moreover, environmentally sound technologies should be compatible with nationally determined socioeconomic, cultural and environmental priorities. Sometimes the environmental and human health and safety impacts of a proposed technology investment are overlooked by those advocating the use of a new or upgraded technology. Policies that promote the development and use of environmentally sound technologies (often called "cleaner technologies" in the context of pollution prevention and control) have been adopted by many national agencies. An important aspect of implementing such policies is the ability to recognise the most appropriate (clean) technology among all the options under consideration. Without an appropriate method for evaluating technology options in terms of their environmental and related impacts, the process of technology transfer remains a chancy affair. Thus the tool of "Environmental Technology Assessment" - or EnTA for short - was born. EnTA is being developed and promoted by the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, and specifically by its International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) and its Production and Consumption (P&C) Unit. The P&C Unit focuses on EnTA for process technologies used by industry while IETC focuses on EnTA technologies used in urban environmental and freshwater management, whether by governments, civil society or industry. EnTA helps ensure the right decisions are made on technology choice. These can be commercial decisions of what to import, government decisions on what processes to license, decisions on what environmental technology to adopt and apply, on regulatory decisions relating to issuing a permit, decisions by community and other groups regarding support for, or opposition to, a proposed technology investment, and even decisions by exporters on how to market their new processes or environmental technologies. EnTA thus addresses the needs of various groups. It applies to local processes and technologies as much as imported ones, and can be used at small scale and for big industrial plants. It is just as useful for industry departments as it is to environmental organizations, since it reveals aspects of efficiency and effectiveness, infrastructure needs and supply chains. UNEP is an advocate of EnTA for two interconnected reasons. From the production or industry perspective, an apparently easy solution to pollution prevention is to include a treatment plant as part of the technology system. But treatment plants are expensive to buy, expensive to run, and make no return on the investment. In many cases the treatment is not as effective as is desired. The cleaner production approach avoids this dilemma by using improved and environmentally sound production technologies, and more efficient operation. The result is less pollution, and a more productive enterprise - a win-win situation. But it is sometimes hard to persuade people to adopt this approach. UNEP has been promoting the cleaner production approach for over 10 years, and there is now very satisfying uptake of the approach, by both governments and the private sector. But the growing acceptance of cleaner production brings with it a growing need to identify cleaner and safer technology alternatives. It is not always appropriate to believe the enthusiastic claims of those promoting a particular technology. Technology options should be assessed in a systematic and comprehensive manner, so that the eventual choice represents the most environmentally sound alternative, while at the same time meeting the other requirements for the intervention. As cleaner production becomes a household word, there is need for a tool like EnTA to facilitate the change. On the other hand, from a consumption perspective, solid waste and wastewater are also a consequence of resource use. Such wastes can be reduced but not totally avoided. Waste avoidance is ideal, but it is not yet popular. Waste avoidance and reduction are value laden practices that require value orientation or reorientation in societies, if they are to be accepted. Much of the responsibility to ensure people and individuals are aware of the appropriate values and of the 'soft' technologies to apply (such as the appropriate management systems and procedures, and the practices that avoid waste, reduce waste or reuse or recycle waste) rests with municipal and other local government authorities. EnTA is a method that will help such government agencies, and local communities, identify and select the most appropriate technology option. This Manual has been developed by UNEP to inform and guide planners, decision
makers and other stakeholders regarding a practical tool that will help them
identify the potential impacts of different technological choices, before any
environmental problems occur. The tool aims to assist stakeholders to explore
options and make informed choices about technologies that are compatible with
sustainable development goals. In its simplest form, EnTA is about helping
people make good choices - for the environment, as well as for themselves. Lead acid battery recycling is also presented as a case study in the Manual.
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