Business And The Economy Essay

While the free essays can give you inspiration for writing, they cannot be used 'as is' because they will not meet your assignment's requirements. If you are in a time crunch, then you need a custom written term paper on your subject (business and the economy)
Here you can hire an independent writer/researcher to custom write you an authentic essay to your specifications that will pass any plagiarism test (e.g. Turnitin). Waste no more time!

Task - 1

Discuss whether firms like Rechem should be allowed to "import" chemical waste from overseas to be disposed of here in the U.K.

ANALYSIS

Rechem have thirty years of experience in solving environmental problems caused by a wide range of hazardous and toxic materials. Their range of services included the following:

+ Waste Management

+ Logistics

+ Incineration

+ Project Management

+ Recycling

+ Environmental Monitoring

(See APPENDIX A)

DISCUSSION

Not all Countries in the World have the ability or the technology to safely dispose of chemical waste such as polychlorinated biphenyl s (PCBs). It may be argued that it is more desirable and safer to move the waste to another country for disposal. The alternative of storing the waste for long periods of time may result in serious problems and consequently cause pollution effecting living organisms beyond the host countries borders.

There has been instances where one country s pollution problems in turn pollute neibouring countries such as Mercury used in manufacturing process eventually leaking into river systems (This happened between Canada and the United States). Another example is acid rain caused by burning fossil fuels without capturing or burning off the chemicals that cause acid rain, for example, UK s industrial plants affecting the forests of Germany and Scandinavia.

Chemical pollution has no boundaries, dumping chemical in the North Sea by the northern European countries not only destroys the food chain in that area, but, with tidal and ocean currents, this pollution can affect organisms and eventually human beings on the other side of the globe.

Pros:- of firms like Rechem importing & disposing chemical waste:

1. Helps the environment because it discourages landfills.

2. It breaks chemicals down at high temperatures not a low normal temperatures which can be dangerous.

3. It can break down PCB s which are extremely dangerous.

4. Brings money into the British economy.

5. Supplies jobs for workers.

6. Licences for this type of disposal is limited and helps the environmental factor of other countries that do not have this process and have to resort to landfills or burning the waste at dangerously low temperatures like, America and Germany.

7. In the eighties many articles on "green" companies and industries featured Rechem

8. Rechem were praised by the Minister for the Environment at the time as "true friends of the earth"

9. Rechem were acknowledged as a world leader in the safe incineration of dangerous chemicals.

Cons:- of firms like Rechem importing & disposing chemical waste:

1. Britain is taking other countries and disposing of it for them and the sub product of the incineration product is released into British air.

2. The research to test if it is fully liable is limited and seems to be on a trial and error basis.

3. Profit and shareprices seem more important than environmental issues.

4. The world is more environmentally aware.

5. Bad press as stories circulated about babies being born with eye malformations and also diseased cattle near Rechem plants.

6. The Daily Telegraph reported that tests on foliage samples near the South Wales Rechem plant showed PVB s to be 50-100 times the pollution inspectorate s advisory limit.

7. A Welsh Water Authority document stated that the Pontypool plant had discharged up to 82 times the permitted levels of lead, copper, zinc and nickel into the sewers.

8. Trouble of removing bad press scars about the safety of disposing chemicals without discharging polluted air and that it can dispose of the ash and residue without contaminating the locality.

9. PCB s are highly dangerous and are believed to cause cancer and damage to the liver.

10. Contaminated cargoes of PCB would have to be transported to the treatment plant on the road sea and air, any accidents in these situations would be disastrous and puts the British people and wildlife in a precarious situation.

11. Dock workers and employees refused to handle PCB s from Canada.

12. Most of Britain s larger ports refused to handle PCB material.

Economics of Importation of Chemical Waste

Rechem have been fortunate in the market of disposal of chemical waste due to booming demand for this service where capacity could not be increased quickly due to planning permission restrictions at home and abroad. By year end March 1988, Rechem made a profit of 4.5M out of a turnover of 13.4M, which equals a 33.5% profit, the first years profit on a turnover of 19.5M was 45% at 8.8M. We can conclude that there are huge profits to be made in this area.

Rechem have completed a floatation on the stock market selling 2.6m shares therefore increasing their exposure to external pressure groups. Another factor to consider is Balancing internal and external expectations. Internally, a business usually needs to make a profit for shareholders, managers and other stakeholders. Externally, the business has to contend with selling products in the face of competition and the regulatory influences exerted by governments. It also has to take into consideration the interests of external stakeholders and the pressures from a variety of other independent factors. Failing to take heed of organised pressure groups such as Friends of the Earth, the National Anti-Vivisection Society and Greenpeace may lead to the worst possible outcome - a consumer boycott, perhaps on a international scale.

Banks and Investment Bodies like Pension Funds and individuals (public) are now paying more attention to their exposure to environmental risk and investors are starting to show concern about risks posed by companies with poor environmental records.

Task - 2

Not all pressure group activity is as highly publicised as that of greenpeace. What other forms does it take and what is its purpose.

ANALYSIS

A pressure group is really an agent of activity representing an interest group. Interest groups would, in the main, like to influence the Government, rather than to become the Government. Clearly this can change, as with the emergence of green interest groups who have fought elections on environmental and other issues. However, the majority of interest groups do not make this transition, concentrating instead on putting pressure on Government on particular issues, or carrying out other activities. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) acts as an interest and pressure group, but also carries out work in research and training.

Forms of Pressure Groups

1. Greenpeace

2. Friends of the Earth

3. National Trust

4. Royal Society for Nature Conservation

5. Civic Trust

6. The Media (Newspapers, Television, etc.)

7. Wildlife Trusts (RSPB, etc.)

8. The local community (Residents, Farmers, etc.)

9. Government/National & Local council/government

10. Trade Unions (represent Employees, and other aspects, Dock Workers.)

11. Professional Associations

12. Consumer Groups

13. Businesses

14. Anti-Incineration Campaigners - Communities Against Toxics (CATs), UK and Norwegian and British Green Parties fighting with waste incinerators

Purpose of listed Forms of Pressure Groups

The Media - To present the concerning public with fact based stories on economy and environmental issues and anything that is endangering the environment or the British public and analyse the activities of possible "dangerous" companies or industries.

Wildlife Trusts - Look into anything that could upset the environmental balance and effect the surrounding wildlife, to make sure waters are not being polluted that will kill fish and animals that food source is in the rivers and thus affects the whole food cycle.

Local Community - They live in the area and have to beware of any aspects that can affect their standard of living, drop in house values because its undersiable to live there, health aspects young children and the effects pollution could have. Local farmers have maintain the quality of their livestock and pollution could affect the food sources like crops and land, any bad environmental factors could mean loss in investment and will effect their quality of life and livelihood.

National Government - Brings in Codes of Practice and in some cases Legislation such as Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Waste-Management legislation (SEE APPENDIX B)

Local Council/government - Their job is to serve the local residents and maintain a number of aspects of the local community like the streets, land, houses and make the town/city a desirable place for tourists and people to live and not have a stained reputation of being an unsafe place to live.

Trade Unions - To represent all workers in a particular industry right from the start process right through to end product. They will be wary of the dangerous situations employees could be put in and make sure they are treated fairly and represented. Organise strikes if needed to prevent companies and industries from taking advantage.

Professional Associations - Associations of accountants, marketers, engineers, etc. Promote good practice and adopt advisory roles.

Consumer Groups - Promotes the needs of consumers for safer products and better labelling and (Consumer Association) has extended its interest to environmental issues.

Businesses - From the CBI to the Trade Association keep a watch on developments and often lobby the government to institute changes, particularly at the time when the national budget is drafted.

Anti-Incineration Campaigners - Anti use of chemicals and the incineration of such chemicals.

Friends of the earth - A green party like Greenpeace lobbying to keep the Earth in its natural state.

National Trust - An organisation existing in order to maintain and protect the Nations heritage whether in buildings, land, habitat or natural environments.

Task - 3

Should private sector firms be allowed to make money out of hazardous "muck" or should the disposal of dangerous waste be nationalised.

Health and safety is an area that has come to the forefront of company policies over recent years. Accidents at a chemical plant in the North Sea can permanently tarnish an organisation s image. At the same time organisations have become increasingly aware of the adverse effects of their products can have on the health and safety of consumers. Ethical an environmental perspectives need to be built into corporate strategy. The new tools of environmental management will include:

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) - Carrying out an assessment of the likely impact of major capital projects.

Environmental audits (or eco-audits) - Carrying out an audit of current activities to create a snapshot of the environmental impact of these activities.

Product life-cycle analysis - Looking at the environmental impact of a product throughout its life-cycle. Such an analysis would examine what happens to a product from the sourcing of raw materials to the ultimate disposal of waste.

Environmental accounting - Accurately recording the value of environmental assests and their deprecations, as well as the true size of environmental liabilities and pollution costs.

An Environmental Management Programme needs to be developed which will translate the policy into clearly understood responsibilities, requirements and procedures.

A key factor attracting German chemical companies to the UK seems to be the more flexible and less prescriptive approach to environmental control. David Culpin of the UK Chemical industries Association comments:

"We re no less rigorous than the Germans, but where

legislation lays down maximum quantities of an effluent

that may be...

You should cite this paper as follows:

MLA Style
. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 22 May, 2012 from
    <http://essaymania.com/127826/business-and-the-economy>

More College Papers

Business And The Environment essay
The relationship between corporations and the environment is a tumultuous one. Corporations have abused and violated the environment for generations. These actions have now become unacceptable in our present society. There is growing concern for our natural resources; the world's forests, waterway

C.I.T.E.S. essay
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. C.I.T.E.S. The International wildlife trade, worth billions of dollars annually, has caused massive declines in the numbers of many species of animals and plants. The extent of the decline because of the trade aroused so much concern for th

Buying Votes essay
Buying Votes The Legislative branch of the United States government was designed to represent citizens of this nation. Congressional members are representing the people in their district or state. Laws are supposed to be passed in the public s best interest. People attempt to influence the passi