INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE QUESTOR SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES QUESTIONNAIRE

Transcription

1 Introduction INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE QUESTOR SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES QUESTIONNAIRE The best known definition of sustainable development comes from the Bruntland Report. development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). The UK government, in addressing the issue, has offered an alternative definition: Sustainable development is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. It means a more inclusive society in which the benefits of increased economic prosperity are widely shared with less pollution and less wasteful use of natural resources (DETR, 1999). The government has also suggested approaching sustainability by: social progress which recognises the needs of everyone; effective protection of the environment; prudent use of natural resources; and, maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment (DETR, 1998). The DTI funded Sustainable Technologies Initiative has the aim of encouraging UK companies to develop and adopt new technologies which are more sustainable and which will contribute to sustainable development and competitiveness. The stated primary aim is of, decoupling economic growth from adverse environmental effects such as emissions of greenhouse gases, waste production, use of hazardous materials, or, more generally, through poor efficiency in resource use. This has been described as the need to achieve a factor 4 increase in resource efficiency. (DTI, 2000) Our survey has the aims of: informing Northern Irish companies about the issues, discovering the extent to which they are already taking sustainability into account, identifying areas where improvement is needed, and identifying appropriate development projects for followon assistance. We have developed a set of questions which we hope you will be able to answer and which should give us the information we seek. References DETR (1998) Sustainability Counts. DETR, London. DETR (1999) Quality of Life Counts - Indicators for a Strategy for Sustainable Development. DETR, London. DTI (2000) Sustainable Technologies Initiative. Department of Trade and Industry Website ( last consulted March 2001) World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future (The Bruntland Report). Oxford University Press. Oxford. 1

2 Explanatory notes on the questions - please refer to these notes as you complete the questionnaire. Section One - Economic Sustainability Q1 and Q5. Economic growth The UK government has included the goal of continued economic growth as one criterion for sustainability. These two questions ask about recent past performance and anticipated future performance in terms of company turnover. It will be sufficient to use figures from company annual reports without correcting for inflation. Q2 and Q6. Investment in buildings and equipment On-going investment in buildings, equipment and processing methods has been associated with companies remaining internationally competitive, protecting existing and gaining new markets. There is no need to correct figures for inflation. Q3 and Q8. Employment levels The aim of government is to achieve high and stable levels of employment. For individual companies, sustainability may be associated more with increasing the levels of added value and productivity per employee and may not be directly linked to the number of employees. This question is limited to the national objective of high and stable employment levels. Q4 and Q9. New products and processes It is likely that new products and processes will be associated, at least, with improved economic performance but, bearing in mind the pressures from national government and the EU, environmental and social improvements should also arise. It is at the design stage that significant improvements can be most easily engineered into new products. Improvements to existing mature products are often more difficult and expensive to realise. Q7. Research and development Companies making significant investment in R&D will be better able to adopt the changes needed to ensure their products (and their businesses) are sustainable. 13

3 Section two - Social Sustainability Q10 and Q11. Staff training and skill levels The assumptions here are that well-trained staff with higher skills will contribute more added value per person per salary cost, and that those people will be better paid and feel more satisfied with their work. Q12, Q13 and Q14. Health and Safety There will be a direct social benefit associated with reduced numbers and severity of health and safety incidents. Q15. Absences due to illness Levels of illness are often correlated with levels of job satisfaction. Low absence levels are one measure of social health. Q16. Social equality Companies which have addressed these issues are believed to be contributing to greater social sustainability. Section three - Environmental Sustainability Section 3.1 Environmental commitment Q.17 Written company policy on environmental performance? Many observers have pointed out that it is difficult to achieve environmental improvements without the whole-hearted commitment of senior managers via a strong company policy. 14

4 Q18. Improved performance The four methods listed: waste minimisation, energy efficiency, environmental auditing and environmental management systems indicate (approximately) an increasing degree of sophistication in investigating and improving environmental performance. Section 3.2 Environmental Performance Q19 and Q21. Use of Non-renewables The government has identified reduced use of non-renewable energy (electricity, fuel oils, coal and gas) and other non-renewable resources (oilderived plastics, minerals, unsustainable tropical hardwoods, etc.) as headline indicators of environmental sustainability. The question asks how use levels divided by product output have changed to remove the effects of changing production rates. The Don t Know box should be used if this issue has not been addressed in your company (it is not meant to indicate that you personally do not know the answer!). Q20. Climate Change Levy Assume significant level of use is more than 10 % of costs of raw materials and energy combined. Those companies registered for an 80 percent reduction in CCL charges need to make a committment to reduce their energy consumption, typically by 8 to 10 % by Q22. Waste emissions Reduced waste emissions is another of the government s headline indicators for sustainability. Please complete as many of the rows as possible and, as in the previous questions, divide emissions by output levels to remove the effects of changing production rates. The Don t Know box should be used if this issue has not been addressed in your company (it is not meant to indicate that you personally do not know the answer!). The main Greenhouse Gases are carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ). Other air pollutants include oxides of sulphur (SO 2 ) and nitrogen (NO, NO 2, N 2 O), volatile organics (solvents and unburnt hydrocarbons), dioxins, PCBs and heavy metals (lead, mercury, etc.). 15

5 Q23. Employee travel Another of the Government s headline indicators is the amount of travel, both on business and to and from work. Their goal is to reduce such travel with benefits in saved time, less emissions from vehicles, less road accidents and less need to build and repair roads. Public or shared transport is preferred to single-occupancy car travel. Section 3.3 Environmental Sustainability and Product Design Q24. Product design The product design stage is vital in moving towards more sustainable technologies. Decisions taken at this stage will influence all aspects of a product s raw materials, manufacture, performance during use, and end-of-life disposal or re-use or recovery. Applying environmental improvements to existing products is likely to be more expensive, technically difficult and to result in incremental rather than step change improvements. Q25. Transport by HGVs One of government s goals is to reduce the tonne-kilometres of transport by Heavy Goods Vehicles on our roads, preferably by switching to alternative transport methods, or indeed by reducing the need to transport goods over large distances. Q26. Company policy Many companies already have a policy which includes environmental objectives and some elements of sustainability. 16

6 Q27. Feedback This is our first attempt to survey Northern Irish companies about their awareness of sustainability issues and the degree of importance they attach to them. It would be useful to have feedback on your opinions of the value of the exercise and of your future intentions. We are aware that there are already many annual surveys - it is not our intention to repeat this one. Thank you for your time. 17