Leather/Skin/Hide Processing Industry - Environmental Clearance

Conceptual Facets of EIASpecific tools under each group are discussed precisely in next sections.2.3.1 Tools for assessment and analysis2.3.1.1 Risk assessmentRisk is associated with the frequency of failure and consequence effect. Predicting suchsituations and evaluation of risk is essential to take appropriate preventive measures. Themajor concern of the assessment is to identify the activities falling in a matrix of high &low frequencies at which the failures occur and the degree of its impact. The highfrequency, low impact activities can be managed by regular maintenance i.e., LDAR(Leak detection and repair) programmes. Whereas, the low frequency, high impactactivities (accidents) are of major concern in terms of risk assessment. As the frequencyis low, often the required precautions are not realized or maintained. However, the riskassessment identifies the areas of major concerns which require additional preventivemeasures; likely consequence distances considering domino effects, which will give thepossible casualties and ecological loss in case of accidents. These magnitudes demandthe attention for preventive and disaster management plans (DMP). Thus is an essentialtool to ensure safety of operations.2.3.1.2 Life cycle assessmentA broader approach followed to deal with environmental impacts during manufacturing iscalled LCA. This approach recognizes that environmental concerns are associated withevery step of processing w.r.t manufacturing of products and also examinesenvironmental impacts of the product at all stages of project life cycle. LCA includes theproduct design, development, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, usage and disposal.LCA is concerned with reducing environmental impacts at all stages and considering thetotal picture rather than just one stage of production process.Industries/firms may apply this concept to minimize the costs incurred on theenvironmental conservation throughout the project life cycle.2.3.1.3 Total cost assessmentTotal Cost Assessment (TCA) is an enhanced financial analysis tool that is used to assessthe profitability of alternative courses of action ex. raw material substitution to reduce thecosts of managing the wastes generated by process; an energy retrofit to reduce the costsof energy consumption. This is particularly relevant for pollution prevention options.These options because of their nature, often produce financial savings that are overlookedin conventional financial analysis, either because they are misallocated, uncertain, hard toquantify, or occur more than three to five years after the initial investment. TCA includesall of relevant costs and savings associated with an option so that it can compete forscarce capital resources fairly, on a level playing field. The assessments are oftenbeneficial w.r.t the following:Identification of costly resource inefficienciesFinancial analysis of environmental activities/projects such as investment in cleanertechnologiesPrioritization of environmental activities/projectsEvaluation of product mix and product pricingTGM for Tanneries August 20102-3