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Waste represents the loss of both material and energy resources. Because excessive waste generation is a symptom of inefficient production processes, low durability of goods and unsustainable consumption patterns, waste [...]

Freight handling in EU ports fell by more than 12 % during the global economic crisis in 2008-2009 after almost a decade of continuous growth. The decrease of freight handling in the Klaipeda seaport, the only port in Lithuania, was 6.7 % and happened due to the dominant outward movement of goods (mainly oil products). The Klaipeda seaport, due to its peculiarity, is the only ice-free port in the northern part of Baltic Sea. The present study explores the environmental impact of Klaipeda seaport activities from 2001 to 2011. Moreover, it compares the environmental effectiveness of environmental protection strategies used in the four biggest companies that, in fact, cover about 88 % of total activities (except general cargo) of the seaport. The first group of targeted companies used an environmental protection strategy to implement an ISO 14001-based environmental management system, and the second group selected to follow environmental management practices without certification. The paper analyses the development of the companies' activities in regard to the change of environmental effectiveness. The paper evaluates the pressure of the economic crisis on the companies' activities and its influence on environmental decisions, with particular interest in the ability of different environmental protection systems to resist and handle the expected performance. The study identified a significant decrease in companies' activities during the crisis period. However, the economic activities and environmental effectiveness demonstrated similar short-term tendencies in regard to the environmental strategy selection but differed in long-term perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial processes have different levels of impact on the environment and there is a need to foster knowledge of the environmental consequences of industrial activities. One of the ways of achieving this by the application of the concepts of industrial ecology (a multidisciplinary research approach) to industry's day-to-day activities. Another possible way of pursuing this goal is to use environmental education as a tool for increasing awareness with regard to the social, political and economic relevance of as well as the need for, environmentally sound industrial methods. Technical universities in the Baltic Sea region, trader tire framework of the BALTECH consortium, have decided to develop and implement a new MSc Programme in Environmental Management and Cleaner Production, based on an integrated approach to industrial ecology towards current and long term/strategic environmental goals. The programme focuses on technologies and concepts in environmental planning and management for sustainable industrial development. The programme began at Kaunas University of Technology in September 2002. The Institute of Environmental Engineering (APINI), which is the main organisation responsible for the Environmental Management and Cleaner Production MSc programme in Kaunas University of Technology, treats the multidisciplinary approach as the main priority in the design of curricular models and views it as a strategic device in training graduates who will succeed in the labour market. This paper outlines a new educational model that provides students with both a systemic perspective and a more technical attitude for handling environmental multidimensionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial processes have different levels of impact on the environment and there is a need to foster knowledge of the environmental consequences of industrial activities. One way of achieving this is the application of the concepts of industrial ecology (multidisciplinary research approach) to industry's day-today activities. Another possible way of pursuing this goal is to use environmental education as a tool towards increasing awareness with regard to the social, political and economic relevance, as well as to the need for environmentally sound industrial activities. This paper outlines the common features of both subjects and provides an example from Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), where such approaches have been integrated in an M.Sc. programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has penetrated everyday life. The EEE industry is characterized by a rapid technological change which in turn prompts consumers to replace EEE in order to keep in step with innovations. These factors reduce an EEE life span and determine the exponential growth of the amount of obsolete EEE as well as EEE waste (e-waste). E-waste management systems implemented in countries of the European Union (EU) are not able to cope with the e-waste problem properly, especially in the new EU member countries. The analysis of particular e-waste management systems is essential in evaluation of the complexity of these systems, describing and quantifying the flows of goods throughout the system, and all the actors involved in it. The aim of this paper is to present the research on the regional agent based material flow analysis in e-waste management systems, as a measure to reveal the potential points for improvement. Material flow analysis has been performed as a flow of goods (EEE). The study has shown that agent-based EEE flow analysis incorporating a holistic and life cycle thinking approach in national e-waste management systems gives a broader view to the system than a common administrative one used to cover. It helps to evaluate the real efficiency of e-waste management systems and to identify relevant impact factors determining the current operation of the system.