TQEM - methods for continuous environmental improvement

Abstract

The above quote represents the change in thinking of the business community that has occurred since the inception of the environmental movement in the late 1960s. Historically, businesses were reactive and sought ‘end-of-pipe’ solutions to environmental pollution. They attempted to comply with a myriad of environmental regulations by treating and disposing of pollutants after they were generated. In many cases this proved to be extremely costly and offered no guarantee that the promulgated standards would be met. As a result, gradually but increasingly, companies are discovering that the problems of minimizing air and water pollution, controlling resource depletion, creating clean technologies, reducing hazardous wastes and managing their disposal have to be dealt with throughout the organization, not just at the end of the pipe.

The onus of proving that sustainable development is feasible rests primarily on the private business sector, as it controls most of the technological and productive capacity needed to conceive more environmentally benign processes, products and services, and to introduce them throughout the world. Peter Wallenberg, President, International Chamber of Commerce, Stockholm, October 1989.