Cost Effective Pollution Control

This informative study looks at six UK companies and examines their approach to the selection and implementation of cost-effective pollution control measures.These industry examples included in the guide describe how six companies chose cost-effective pollution control. Each industry example describes the problems faced by the company and the economic and environmental benefits achieved by following an integrated approach to pollution control.

Reduced trade effluent costs

Bristol Myers Squibb employs 160 people in the manufacture of toiletries at its Cramlington site in Northumberland, United Kingdom. In 1996 the site turnover was £28 million.

Reasons for considering pollution control equipment

An environmental audit of the site carried out by the company’s corporate environmental department revealed that trade effluent quality limits were breached regularly. The site decided to embark on remedial action to achieve consistent compliance with these limits.

Project objectives and constraints

The ability to achieve the site’s effluent quality limits.
The limited availability of space at the Cramlington site.

Selection process

A team of key staff from the Cramlington site inspected effluent treatment plants at other Bristol Myers’ sites around the world, but these would fail to overcome Cramlington’s problems of space and technical performance. Bristol Myers then commissioned consultants to undertake an assessment of appropriate technologies and provide indicative capital costings. A number of activities were carried out in parallel, including:

characterisation of the flow and the pollutant content of the effluent;
a technical and cost assessment of short-listed technologies;
small-scale treatability trials to establish the effectiveness of the technologies in dealing with the effluent from the Cramlington site.

This assessment showed that aerobic treatment using pure oxygen was the only option capable of meeting Bristol Myers’ performance objectives. This technology was also compatible… request a copy of the full document >>