OCTOBER 19-20, 2012 - YMCA University of Science & Technology

Proceedings of the National Conference on
Trends and Advances in Mechanical Engineering,
YMCA University of Science & Technology, Faridabad, Haryana, Oct 19-20, 2012
QUEST FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION BY INTEGRATED
GREEN MANUFACTURING SYSTEM
Sandeep Handa 1 , Tilak Raj 2 , Sandeep Grover 2
1 Research Scholar, YMCA University of Science and Technology, Sector-6, Mathura Road, Faridabad – 121
006.
2 Professor, YMCA University of Science and Technology, Sector-6, Mathura Road, Faridabad – 121 006.
E-mail: handasandeep @yahoo.com
Abstract
In recent years there has been an appalling rate of depletion of natural resources due to an ever-increasing
number of goods manufactured to satisfy human needs. There is intense pressure from government regulatory
acts and consumers on the manufactures to become environmentally friendly. Green Manufacturing has emerged
as a key approach for industries seeking to become environmentally friendly. This study reviewed various
literatures to explore the interrelationships between environmental issues and manufacturing strategies. This
paper identifies various issues involved in enhancing eco-efficiency of a manufacturing system
Introduction
The increase in consumption and production of goods using non-replenish able resources and environmentally
detrimental manufacturing practices over the past few years has increased the scale of negative human impact on
earth. Manufacturing industry provides mankind with goods to fulfill his various needs but at the same time it
generates serious problems of the resources depletion and environmental degradation. Henriques and Sadorsky
(1999) highlighted that manufacturers today are being subjected to intense scrutiny to mitigate environmental
damage by diverse stakeholder groups like end-consumers, industrial customers, suppliers, financial institutions
and government regulators The manufacturing activity needs to be carried in such a manner that is
environmentally benign, energy conscious and economically viable
As per Melnyk and Smith(1996) manufacturing managers have to adopt Green Manufacturing strategies to limit
the adverse impact of their operations and products on the natural environment. They defined green
manufacturing as a system that integrates product and process design issues with issues of manufacturing
planning and control in such a manner as to identify, quantify, assess, and manage the flow of environmental
waste with the goal of reducing and ultimately minimizing environmental impact while also trying to maximize
resource efficiency. Green manufacturing encourages the utilization of resources which have relatively lower
environmental impacts then the existing ones. It focuses on elimination or minimizesing waste in the form of
energy, emission, hazardous chemical and solid waste. Green manufacturing includes source reduction, recycling
and green product design. Cairncross et. al (1992)emphasizes the importance of having a corporate
environmental policy. These environmental policies and strategies must reflect sound environmental goals.
These environmental goals and targets should be both clear and measurable. The formation of an environmental
policy is usually one of the first, if not the first, steps in developing an environment management system. It
establishes an overall sense of direction and sets the guidelines for environmental actions by the organization in
place.
Facets of a Green Manufacturing System
2.1 Process Design
Green process design is a process for assessing and evaluating the environmental, occupational health and
resource consequences of a product through all phases of its life, i.e. extracting and processing raw materials,
production, transportation and distribution, use, remanufacturing, recycling and final disposal Alting L(1993)
Green process design is an optimization problem by maximizing the added value and minimizing the resource
consumption and waste dispersion activities at different stages of manufacturing. Life cycle analysis (LCA)
involves a detailed study of the different environmental parameters at different stages of the product
There are various variants of LCA which are used by different designers. Cradle-to–gate approach is partial
assessment method which only takes into account the environmental impact of manufacturing within the factory
gate. Cradle–to–Cradle is a biometric approach to the design of system which analysis environmental impact
right from inception to final disposal of product. Due to the rising cost of energy Life Cycle Energy Analysis
approach based on total life cycle energy consumption of a product is also being favored by manufactures.
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