Josh Carlyle
As the productive forces develop, the intensity of industrial human intervention in the “affairs” of nature increases. Industrial development turns the entire planet into the arena of practical activity of people. Currently, almost all renewable natural resources are used, and the degree of use of each of them is increasingly approaching the incoming part of their balance. According to an ecological study, improving the environmental friendliness of industrial production is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the production process, reducing its environmental impact and making anecological perspectivebetter in the same way.
To reduce the environmental intensity of production as a whole, it is necessary to combine all methods. As confirmed by anecological studymentioned above,each of the solutions alone cannot solve the problem in part. When adjusting the process of manufacturing goods, it is better to consider the following important solutions.
Low-Waste Technologies
To make possible the process of manufacturing goodscompletely waste-free, the task does not boil down to completely eliminating all the environmentally negative effects of production processes.
It is very important for companies to strive for cleaner production. This is a technological strategy that prevents environmental pollution and minimizes the risk to people and the environment. With regard to processes, this is the rational use of raw materials and energy, the elimination of the use of toxic raw materials, reducing the amount and degree of toxicity of all emissions and waste generated during the production process.
From a product point of view, cleaner production means reducing its environmental impact over the entire product lifecycle from the extraction of raw materials to the disposal (or disposal) after use. Cleaner production is achieved by improving technology, applying know-how and/or improving the organization of production.
To create low-waste, resource-saving technologists need the following actions:
- Complex processing of raw materials using all its components;
- Intensification of production processes based on their automation, electronization and robotization;
- The introduction of high-tech, high-tech automated systems;
- Reducing the separation of the technological process into separate operations, reducing the number of intermediate stages of transition from raw materials to the final product;
- The use of continuous processes and reducing the time of technological cycles;
- Reduction of specific consumption of natural resources and energy, maximum replacement of primary resources with secondary ones, recycling of by-products and wastes into the main process, regeneration of excess energy;
- The use of combined energy technology processes, ensuring maximum use of the full potential of energy resources;
- Introduction of environmental biotechnologies based on physicochemical and biological processes that ensure the possibility of using or disposing of waste by bringing it to a natural state;
- Creation of integrated technologies covering the areas of environmental management, production, and consumption;
Using the advantages of manufacturing goods in a particular country, the conditions of which are most appropriate for the production of a particular product. The advantages of manufacturing goods in a particular country and exporting them to foreign markets can not only reduce the negative impact on the environment but also improve the economy of the producing country.
The system analysis of production processes from these positions allows determining the ways of creating new generation technologies. Integrated processing of raw materials is aimed not only at the careful use of natural resources, but also at reducing the flow of waste into the environment and, thereby, to protect it from man-made pollution.
Complex Processing of Raw Materials
Low-waste technologies in the processing industry are based on production cycles, in which the number of technological transitions from raw materials to finished products is reduced, the closure of material flows is increased and, consequently, the harmful effect coefficient is reduced.
Resource-saving and low-waste technologies help to improve the environment. But many operating enterprises cannot be quickly transferred to low-waste production schemes. The technologies existing on them are highly waste; therefore, the creation of effective systems for the collection, use and processing of gaseous, liquid and solid wastes remains topical.
Recycling
Proper and complete recycling of waste is one of the most complex environmental problems. For waste disposal, it is necessary to overcome a number of organizational and technological difficulties. The main organizational problem is the separate collection and sorting of waste, especially solid household waste. The main technological difficulties are associated with the high energy intensity of waste processing and its harmful impact on the environment, with ensuring the necessary purity of the final products. The main stages of recycling are determined by its type.
Solid waste processing includes:
- Control of radioactivity, explosiveness, and toxicity of raw materials;
- Classification and selection of methods for enrichment and disposal of waste; development of an environmentally friendly, optimal scheme for extracting valuable components from secondary raw materials.
Recycling of liquid waste and industrial effluent includes:
- Input control and neutralization of toxic substances;
- Neutralization of solutions;
- Development of an optimal scheme for enrichment and extraction of valuable components.
The choice of the method of grinding, enrichment and processing depends on the size of the processed raw material, its composition, requirements for the final product, the availability of the necessary reagents, a sufficient amount of water and the corresponding energy resources (natural gas, electricity, coal). In addition, the availability of necessary equipment, qualifications of technical personnel and workers of the enterprise, which is planned to carry out enrichment and processing, are taken into account.
Saving our planet is essential to avoid the detrimental effects of possible disasters the humanity might face. We produce more goods than ever and keep wondering how could it happen that the Earth is becoming devastated. In order to make our home a more environmentally-sustainable place to live in, we need to implement low-waste technologies of production, make quality processing of raw materials a habit, and convert waste into reusable material. Once people learn how to operate on these solutions properly, the next generations will be able to benefit from the optimal living conditions.