Factory pollution; you can't control it with green laws only

Factory pollution is also called as industrial pollution. It comprises of emissions, effluents, and wastes of any manufacturing process.

There are three main types of factory pollution. If a factory;

• Emits smoke more than prescribed limits we call it industrial emissions. It pollutes the air environment.
• Releases its effluent without treatment we call it industrial effluent. It pollutes the water bodies.
• It generates waste but does not dispose of it safely. We call it industrial waste. It pollutes the land environment.

It is not the industrialization which causes this type of pollution. It is actually the greed for manufacturing more by spending less which causes it.

Factory owners actually don't want to spend much to save the environment. They just want to manufacture more and more. To earn more and their greed never ends. So the environment suffers from their greed.

When factory pollution got out of control people got worried about it. They protested on its rise. So the advanced world approved the laws to control it. We call them green laws.

Greed for more pollutes more

Advanced nations enforced green laws and control it to some extent. But the greed for more had and still has no limit. People want to ease in life. So they want more and more machines to get ease. Industrialists are happily producing more and more to meet people's demands. So humans beings are now in a vicious circle of more and more comfort. So the rise in factory pollution is natural.

Production of artificial things is on the rise. So more emissions, effluent, and waste are obvious. How long the government can keep a strict vigil on them. So industrialists in a frenzy to produce more smartly avoid to obey green laws. They dodge the green regulators by complying less and showing more. This is called greenwashing and we will discuss it in another post.

Responsibility versus duty

Every type of manufacturing is machine-based. So the burning of fuel is a must. it causes air emissions. The use of chemicals generates effluent and toxic waste. Who will treat or neutralize them before disposing of? Obviously, factories have to do this. 

But they don't do this as their responsibility. They just do this to avoid penalties. So they apply tricks to spend less to comply with the green laws. It needs money to install a treatment plant. They have to buy a stack for the chimney of their factory. They need to hire waste collection workers to dispose of it safely. So they try to save by dodging the regulator.

Poor countries resist with green laws!

In poor countries, the situation is still worse. In most such countries, factories resist complying with green laws. They have several ifs and buts to dodge the regulator. They say they don't have savings. They claim they are suffering from losses. 

So they can't afford another expense. They just need saving today. They don't have any worry for their tomorrow. They don't realize their children will suffer from the pollution they are creating. If they have this vision I would have not been lamenting on the pathos here.

What green laws do?

Green law of any country binds factories that:

· All emissions, effluents and wastes from the factory must be within prescribed limits.

· Environmental impact assessment of each expansion and installation must be carried out

· The inside environment of the factory must be clean free from pollution

· Environment audit of the factory must be conducted on a regular basis

· An emergency response system must be there to ward off any environmentally adverse situation

Every country has also developed regulations to further explain their green laws. But factories don't want to understand these explanations. In advanced nations things are improving. Rising awareness has forced them to fully comply green laws.

But in poor countries still, a long way to go. Neither factory owners are serious to control the pollution generated by them. Nor government has this much commitment to strongly enforce their green laws. So mess in the industrial environment is obvious.