Emil Adrian V. Fernandez
M.S. Industrial Engineering Student
Industrial Engineering Department, De La Salle University – Manila fernandeze@dlsu.edu.ph ABSTRACT
Among current environmental issues, pollution is of major importance in terms of the impact on people’s health and their living and working conditions regardless of the origin or source of pollutants. The indiscriminate discharge of untreated wastewater, improper disposal of solid waste and air pollution pose great risks to public health and cause significant welfare losses. The Philippine Pulp and Paper Industry though played a major role in the economic recovery program is one of the major contributors of these wastes. Inefficiencies in the production processes, lack of research and management skill and commitment to environmental protection are just one of the causes of these wastes. End of the Pipe Approach of the industry to comply with the government policies imposes cost to increase that degrades their capital to invest in a cleaner technology that worsened the impact on the environment. The objective of this paper is to assess current environmental management and control practices of pulp and paper industry from micro to macro perspective using cleaner production, life cycle analysis and material flow accounting as a platform of the analysis. The paper also aims to provide creative conclusions to minimize the environmental impact of pulp and paper industry in the Philippines.
KEYWORDS: Life Cycle Analysis, Cleaner Production, Material Flow Accounting, Pulp and Paper, End of the Pipe (EOP) Approach
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Philippine Pulp and Paper Industry Profile In the Philippines There are a total of 37 pulp and paper mills operating. Only one of these mills is an integrated pulp and paper mill. Of the 36 non-integrated mills, five have facilities solely for the production of pulp while the remainder