Chlorine in the Netherlands: an analysis of environmental bottlenecks and uncertainties

Abstract

The first example of a ‘messy’ controversy in this book is the (Dutch) chlorine debate. In this debate, the stakes are high and the information about the benefits and problems associated with chlorine is complex. Against this background, in the early nineties a number of Western governments started comprehensive studies with the aim of evaluating all or large parts of the chlorine chain (e.g. Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands; see Ecotec, 1991; Alwast et al., 1993; Plinke et al., 1994; Enquete-Kommission, 1994; Keml 1995a; Tukker et al., 1995b). The Dutch study, as a very detailed one, is particularly interesting from the perspective of what the structured generation of knowledge has yielded in terms of (scientifically) robust information1. Before dwelling upon this question I will briefly review the role of chlorine in the Western economy and the concerns about chlorine’s environmental problems.

This is chapter is based on A. Tukker et al. (1995b), A Chlorine Balance for the Netherlands, TNO-STB and CML, Report TNO-STB/95/040, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. The text of this chapter is a slightly adapted version of two articles based on this study:

René Kleijn, Arnold Tukker, and Ester van der Voet, ‘Chlorine in the Netherlands, Part I, An Overview’, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 1:1 (Winter, 1997), pp. 95-116. © 1997 by Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Arnold Tukker, Rene Kleijn, Ester van der Voet, and Edith R. W. Smeets, 'Chlorine in the Netherlands, Part II: Risk Management in Uncertainty for Chlorine', Journal of Industrial Ecology, 1:2 (Spring, 1997), pp. 91-110. © 1997 by Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.