Policy on corporate role in eco-protection soon

NEW DELHI: In a bid to nip the evil of pollution in the bud, the government, along with the industry, will finalise a Charter for Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection (CREP) by the month-end.
At a national conference on the 27th and 28th of this month in Mumbai, to be attended by senior Environment Ministry officials, Central Pollution Control Board officials and representatives of 17 most polluting sectors, CREP will be finalised to facilitate voluntary compliance of pollution norms by the industries.
One of the issues expected to be discussed and included in the CREP will be the use of non-polluting production methods to nip the evil of pollution in the bud, official sources told PTI.
Traditionally, pollution control measures have been dependent on "end-of-the-pipe" treatment technologies which allow wasteful use of resources and then consume further resources to deal with environmental problems, sources said.
With the increasing crunch in raw materials and energy coupled with tightening of pollution control norms, the industries will have to look for cost-effective alternatives in terms of raw materials and energy conservation as well as cleaner production technologies, they said.
Another issue to be discussed is adoption of pollution control technologies which is still far from adequate, sources said, adding, apart from hesitation to incur expenditure for pollution control equipment, the industries based on older production processes find it difficult to instal pollution control systems due to technical and physical limitations.
A number of industrial units need revamping and modernisation of their production processes for adoption of low waste technologies and the industry needs to be convinced that it is profitable too, sources said, adding the charter will address this issue as well.
The conference will also discuss the experience in some industries like chloralkali and steel which have shown that the switchover to modern production technologies also helps in conservation of resources, they said.
It is necessary to sensitise the industries about the fact that even with the add-on pollution control technologies, which will involve some initial investment, substantial economic dividends could be derived through recycling and reuse of wastes as well as by-product recovery as in some industries like tanneries, metal finishing, pulp and paper and distillery, sources said.
In the cement industry too, installation of electrostatic precipitators and bag filters have proved to be of tremendous economic benefit and apart from reduction of pollution through cement dust emissions, they added.
The Charter is expected to stress on a coordinated approach in which industrial organisations and regulatory bodies work in tandem and a consortium of concerned organisations may be built to establish such a partnership for pollution control, sources said.
Thermal power plants, fertilisers, pesticides, iron and steel, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, refineries, distilleries, sugar, dye and dye intermediates, pulp and paper cement, zinc, copper, aluminium and caustic soda are among the major polluting industries which will be parties to CREP, it added.