IO Directory 2016

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Inside Out
an unacceptable impact to the
environment and human health in
the face of scientific uncertainty
2.2 Precaution places the burden of
proof on the proponents of the
activity.
2.3 Precaution applies the substitution
principle, seeking safer alternatives
to potentially harmful activities,
including the assessment of needs.
2.4 Precaution requires public
participation in decision-making.
REACH (See Montebell
Agreement)
Registration, Evaluation,
Authorization and Restriction of
Chemicals (REACH)
The European Union’s REACH EC
1907/2006 regulation was established
on December 18, 2006 and became
law on June 1, 2007. The regulation’s
intent “should ensure a high level
of protection of human health and
the environment as well as the free
movement of substances, on their
own, in preparations and in articles,
while enhancing competitiveness and
i ould
also promote the development
of alternative methods for the
assessment of hazards of substances.”
This law is the most comprehensive
legislation ever completed regulating
all chemical substances. A full 401
pages of this 849 page document are
10 appendices that mostly call out
ca ns and substances
to f the
document outlines and defines the
requirements of compliance.
REACH will affect chemical
industries worldwide by requiring
testing and registration with the
European Chemicals Agency on
any imported chemical substance
over 1,000 kg in weight. Chemical
substances manufactured in the
European Union are subject to the
same regulation.
Recycling
The U.S. Department of Energy
defines recycling as “the process of
converting materials that are no longer
useful as designed or intended into a
new product.”
Renewable Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy
defines renewable energy as “energy
derived from resources that are regener-
ative or for all practical purposes cannot
be depleted.
“Types of renewable energy resourc-
es include moving water (hydro, tidal
and wave power), thermal gradients
in ocean water, biomass, geothermal
en rgy, solar energy and wind energy.
“Municipal solid waste (MSW) is
also considered to be a renewable
energy resource.”
Reservoir
The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change defines reservoir as:
“A component of the climate system,
other than the atmosphere, which has
the capacity to store, accumulate or
release a substance of concern, for
example, carbon, a greenhouse gas or
a precursor. Oceans, soils and forests
are examples of reservoirs of carbon.
Pool is an equivalent term (note that
the definition of pool often includes the
atmosphere). The absolute quantity of
the substance of concern held within
a reservoir at a specified time is called
stock.” For example, uptake or (carbon)
sequestration, adds greenhouse gases
to rainforests (reservoir) and their
soils (reservoir).
RoHS
An acronym for Restriction of
Hazardous Substances Directive (the
lead-free directive).
Although not a law, the European
Union passed this directive in 2006,
limiting the use of six materials in any
part of electronic and electrical prod-
ucts. The six materials limited by RoHS
are: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexava-
lent chromium (chromium VI or Cr6+),
polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and
polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE).
PBB and PBDE are flame retardants
used in some plastics.
Similar standards have been
adopted in China, Japan, Korea and
California. The U.S. federal govern-
ment currently has no plans to adopt a
similar directive.
Sink
“Any process, activity or mechanism
that removes a greenhouse gas, an
aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse
gas or aerosol from the atmosphere”
is considered a sink, according to
sources at the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change. A sink removes a
greenhouse gas, for example, from the
atmosphere, then by uptake or (carbon)
sequestration, the greenhouse gas is
added to a reservoir (see Reservoir and
Uptake/Sequestration).
Stakeholder(s)
The online Business Directory
describes this as, “Person, group or
organizati
stake in an organization because
it can affect or be affected by the
organization’s actions, objectives
and policies. Key stakeholders in a
business organization include creditors,
customers, directors, employees,
government (and its agencies), owners
(shareholders), suppliers, unions
and the community from which the
business draws its resources. Although
stake-holding is usually self-legitimizing
(those who judge themselves to
be stakeholders are de facto so),
all stakeholders are not equal and
different stakeholders are entitled to
different considerations. For example,
a firm’s customers are entitl d to
fair trading practices but they are not
entitled to the same consideration as
the firm’s employees.”
Sustainable development
Economic, social (political) and
environmental development that is har-
monized for th
Many, inclu
tions, use the definition from the
Brundtland Report Our Common
Future that “sustainable development
is development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”