Survey among Seven OECD Countries – Integrated Environmental Protection Gains International Foothold
ResearchAbout 76.8 per cent of the companies in Canada, Germany, Hungary, France, Japan, Norway and the United States rely on integrated environmental protection (IEP) to avoid environmental damage.
This is the surprising result of a study on factors that determine a company's choice of technology for preventing environmental pollution. The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, participated in conducting the study on behalf of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The findings also show that major differences remain between the individual countries. Seven OECD countries were examined with Germany displaying the smallest share of integrated environmental protection (57.5 per cent) and Japan at the very top (86.5 per cent).
In general, there are two types of avoidance technologies in environmental protection: measures of integrated and additive environmental protection (the latter are also referred to as end-of-pipe technologies). Integrated environmental protection reduces environmental damage as companies use more environmentally-friendly products and production processes such as water-soluble lacquers or process-intern water recycling. End-of-pipe technologies, by contrast, do not change the production process itself, but lower environmental impacts with the aid of downstream measures. Examples include diesel filters or desulphurisation units.
IEP technologies are often considered to be ecologically but also economically superior since they allow economies of scope in the production of goods and environmental performance. An efficient use of energy may, for instance, reduce the emission of climate-damaging gases and save energy costs at the same time.
The main reason behind the low share of IEP measures in Germany can be found in the German regulatory legislation. In the past, it favoured end-of-pipe measures, partly due to stricter limits that could only be met by end-of-pipe measures. However, more recent empirical ZEW studies have shown a visible shift towards integrated environmental protection.
There are several reasons for this development. On the one hand, companies hope that integrated environmental protection brings about cost advantages. On the other hand, organisational measures such as environmental audits support the shift towards IEP. Furthermore, investments in environmental research have a positive impact. But what is also clear is that it is neither realistic nor desirable to fully replace end-of-pipe technologies with integrated environmental protection since IEP technologies are not yet available at an affordable price for all environmental issues. Diesel filters are currently more efficient in reducing motor vehicle emissions than low-consumption diesel engines.
More information about the study can be found in an article of the ZEWnews March 2005.
Contact
Dr. Klaus Rennings, Phone: +49(0)621/1235-207, E-mail: rennings@zew.de