EEF, in its publication Sustainable Development: a practical guide, defines sustainable development for manufacturing companies as:
‘balancing their activities and economic growth with the effects they can have on the environment and the wider community, both now and in the future.’
Similarly, the American businessman and environmental author, Paul Hawken, defines sustainability as:
“an economic state where the demands placed upon the environment by people and commerce can be met without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations.”
However, the commonly accepted definition of sustainable development is that used by the UN sponsored World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in its report Our Common Future published in 1987. Known as the Brundtland definition, after the Prime Minister of Norway (who chaired WCED), it describes sustainable development as:
‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’
The UK Government expanded on this definition, in its first comprehensive environmental white paper This Common Inheritance issued in 1990. This stressed that:
‘sustainable development means living on the earth's income rather than eroding its capital. It means keeping the consumption of renewable resources within the limits of replenishment. It means handing down to successive generations not only man made wealth ... but also natural wealth ... ’
Sustainable development has set the agenda in major UN international conferences since, notably, Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Johannesburg in 2002.
The concept of sustainable development has arisen because of concern about the environmental, economic and social issues facing humanity as a result of accelerating global population growth, depletion of non-renewable resources, over exploitation of renewable resources, the generation of waste and pollution, and the need to improve living standards in the developing world.
A key principle underpinning sustainable development is the ‘precautionary principle’. This was set out in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) – Principle 15:
‘in order to protect the environment the precautionary approach shall be adopted by member states according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.’
Government policy on sustainability
Since the early 1990s, virtually all government environmental policy has been influenced and driven by the concept of sustainable development. As stated in the UK Government’s own website on sustainability, there are four priority areas for immediate action, shared across the UK, these are:
The government also recognises that changing behaviour is an essential factor in the achievement of all of these priorities.
Until recently, industrial economies have pursued development which has largely disregarded the volume of resources being consumed and the effects of the waste and pollution generated. The environment, as the provider of these resources and absorber of wastes and pollutants, has frequently been taken for granted. The increasing amount of environmental legislation has ostensibly been introduced to counteract this tendency.
Sustainable consumption and production
Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) requires us to achieve more with less. The earth’s resources are unlikely to be sufficient to sustain equivalent ‘western’ standards of consumption for all nations. Some calculations suggest that three planets’ worth of resources would be needed to achieve UK levels of consumption across the world.
The challenge of sustainability in manufacturing is to shift from the current ‘linear production model’ to more of a 'closed loop' industrial economic system by re-using and recovering (including recycling) materials, and by enhancing energy efficiency and recovering it whenever possible (see resource efficiency).
- Government policy developments aimed at closing the loop include a legal measure known as ‘producer responsibility’. Industry and commerce are obliged in some specific cases (e.g. in the case of packaging – see emissions to land) to ensure the productive re-use (or recovery) of products and materials which have served their original purpose).
- Thus the Environment Act 1995 enables regulations to be introduced that impose legal obligations on companies to recover value from materials (e.g. packaging) that have otherwise reached their ‘end of life’. Other measures such as the landfill tax are intended to encourage waste producers such as industry to improve process efficiency and minimise the amount of waste they produce (see emissions to land).
- Other taxation measures are used to encourage the recycling of specific materials, e.g. the Aggregates Tax – a tax on newly quarried stone which encourages the re-use of recovered stone.
Climate change and energy
Climate change is now widely acknowledged to be influenced by human activity (see climate change).
We are being encouraged by government to change the way we generate and use energy, and conduct other activities that release greenhouse gases. The precautionary principle is promoted and UK manufacturers are motivated by a mixture of legal compulsion (e.g. IPPC – see emissions overview), taxation (e.g. climate change levy) and encouragement of good environmental management.
Natural resource protection and environmental enhancement
The use of natural resources is vital for all sorts of human activity. The use of materials is covered in resource efficiency. In the context of natural resource protection, we must also consider those resources which we do not intend to use, but which might become compromised or damaged as a result of our activities. Protection of eco-systems (see managing environmental responsibilities), even if they are far away from the activities which might damage them, is now recognised as a vital consideration for any industry.
Protecting natural resources by operating in a way which minimises damaging impacts is, therefore, part of sustainable development
Sustainable communities
Businesses generally help to support the communities in which they operate. They provide a livelihood for residents of nearby towns or villages as well as positive consequences for communities further afield.
Companies which are attempting to operate in a sustainable way have to consider their impacts (both positive and negative) on communities. Contributing to sustainable communities can involve: careful purchasing policies; auditing of suppliers (see managing contractors); attention to issues regarding nuisance for neighbours (see emissions to air); and contributing to community initiatives and facilities.