An economic analysis of industrial pollution control

Abstract

This paper develops the idea that industrial production and environmental protection need to be developed in a balanced manner. The subject is hindered by emotional contributions, when what is needed is an agreement on levels. Nearly all substances are toxic to human beings at a given concentration whilst other, quite noxious, ones are harmless, or even beneficial, when diluted sufficiently. Of course there are also dangers to non-human life which has indirect effects on us, and there are further the perils of accretion to all forms. Suffice to say, nobody will obtain full protection by legislation alone.The line of attack is via economic measures whereby three simple indices are developed. The first is a broad one relating the cost of effluent control to the value added to the product, and the implications of using this as a comparative measure for external monitoring are discussed. The other two are essentially internal and relate to materials (utilisation and waste) and water productivity. The former is fairly obvious, although a case study is necessary to show how this is evolved in a practical fashion, whilst the latter highlights a possibly overlooked commodity as the first step to a greater use of recycling.