Pollution In International Business

Pollution

Pollution is the wastage created from the production and manufacturing of goods in various forms. There are many negative effects associated from the pollution which can have serious effects on the planet, with things like global warming - reducing the O zone layer. The manufactured goods process has pollution at all stages - extraction, production, consumption and disposal. From this process some pollution problems could be:

• Destruction of the landscape from quarrying
• Toxic waste which poisons the land and water supply
• Unrecyclable materials within modern electrical equipment which cannot be easily disposed of

Some Examples are:

Shell Burst Pipe In Nigeria

One example of this pollution is from the incident of shells oil extraction in Nigeria, where a pipe burst creating a mass oil spillage - polluting the surrounding land. This had poor consequences for the business as they didn't send a team to clean it up for some time, and it took a lot of work to make the land usable. This is a link to pictures of the effects of this burst pipe:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/04/africa_polluting_nigeria/html/7.stm

Air Pollution

Air pollution is caused by almost every business, but this can have dire consequences on the environement and people across the world. This has led to businesses having to look at their levels of emissions. This is a bbc news article looking at the effects on people of air pollution:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_8020000/newsid_8028200/8028244.stm

Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)

Also the European Comission, has pollution permits which are distributed through ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) to countries who then distribute them to individual firms. These permits allow for one tonne of CO2 emissions each, and there is a maximum emission level for the whole of the EU which cannot be broken as fines are then issued. This total level means that businesses have to buy these permits in order to pollute. This effects international business as firms have to take into account their CO2 emissions and buy permits in order to pollute. This link shows the pollution hotspots across the world:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4083331.stm

The way that your company deals with pollution could change your image and brand. If you are seen to be more 'green' and recycle for example then customers are more likely to buy from you or use the services that you offer. If another business wishes to use you for something then they may look for a business who considers the environment so that they have a positive for their customers as well.

The above are pictures of various types of pollution and the effects that they have on the environment around them.