Environmental Outlook for the Chemicals Industry

1,22
MB

168
stron

4976
ID Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

2001
rok

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD8

1. SUMMARY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL OUTLOOK FOR THE CHEMICALS INDUSTRY9

2. INTRODUCTION19

3. CHEMICALS INDUSTRY TRENDS AND OUTLOOK21

3.1 Description of the industry21

The industry as a whole21

Companies 21

Production processes.22

The sectors of the industry24

3.2 Production, consumption and trade .24

Past and current trends25

Production in OECD countries .25

Global expansion of the industry 26

Overall global production .27

Global production by industry sector29

Global consumption31

Trade .32

Future outlook 34

Overall global production .34

Geographic distribution of production and consumption .35

Changes in sectors and products .36

Investment trends 38

Developments in trade 38

Other trends.39

4. ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS AND OUTLOOK.41

4.1 Effects on the environment of the chemicals industry and its products 41

Potential impacts 41

4.2 Trends and outlook for environmental impacts related to production.45

Use of natural resources .45

Water.45

Oil, natural gas and coal .46

Releases to air and water, and waste generation.47

Energy use and CO2 emissions.47

Substances that promote the formation of tropospheric ozone and acid rain 51

Ozone depleting substances 52

Hazardous substances .53

Waste 55

Releases due to chemical accidents 56

4.3 Trends and outlook for environmental impacts related to products 58

4.4 Pollution control expenditures.59

5. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICIES 61

5.1 Overview.61

5.2 Policies for managing risks posed by the production of chemicals.63

Public right to know and information collection through emission inventories.64

Information collection through environmental monitoring 67

Management of releases from factories67

Specific chemicals 67

Environmental management systems69

5.3 Policies for managing risks posed by chemicals and chemical products 69

Processes for managing products .70

Collecting information on characteristics, effects and exposure 70

Hazard characterisation, classification and risk assessment .72

Risk management73

Philosophy and implementation of chemicals management policies .76

New industrial chemicals76

Existing industrial chemicals 78

Pesticides 79

5.4 Small and medium sized enterprises .80

5.5 Holistic approaches to chemicals management.81

5.6 International chemicals management 82

6. ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS AND POLICIES.87

7. KEY ISSUES AND FUTURE POLICY OPTIONS 89

7.1 Key issues89

Greater production of chemicals in non-OECD countries89

OECD countries to concentrate on the production of life science and speciality chemicals .90

Fewer, but larger multinational companies 90

Collecting and making relevant data more available91

Need for new and innovative policies 91

7.2 Policy options92

Technological development and diffusion92

Legal and regulatory instruments .93

Production policy93

Products policy .95

Chemical accidents .99

Effective policies 100

Economic instruments 100

Voluntary agreements.102

Information and other instruments .103

International action.103

8. CONCLUSIONS: ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE CHALLENGES105

8.1 Highlights of the past 105

8.2 Building on past achievements106

8.3 New approaches for the future 106

Holistic chemical safety approach107

Managing the safety aspects of globalisation in the chemicals industry 107

Environmental democracy in chemical safety107

Annex 1 Definitions of the “chemicals industry” .110

Annex 2 World chemicals industry output (1970-98).111

Annex 3 Chemical sector output estimates (% share for available regions) .112

Annex 4 Chemicals output, demand, and trade growth between 1979-96, and demand per capita in

1996 .113

Annex 5 World exports/imports (1980-1998).114

Annex 6 Projections for growth in GDP, population and chemicals industry production (1995-2020)

.115

Annex 7 World chemical demand from 1995 to 2020 117

Annex 8 Yearly growth rates (%) in production capacity for petrochemicals and plastics118

Annex 9 World exports/imports (1995, 2010, 2020) 119

Annex 10 Agro chemical industry consolidation (1983-1999) .120

Annex 11 1995 Industrial water use121

Annex 12 1995 Chemicals industry process fuel use122

Annex 13 Energy efficiency initiatives.123

Annex 14 CO2 emissions from the chemicals industry, all industries and all sectors (1995-2020)125



Annex 15 Production of CFCs for selected countries and regions126

Annex 16 Summary of OECD Member Country PRTR Activities 127

Annex 17 Releases of 1988 “Core” chemicals by the US chemicals industry128

Annex 18A Consumption of pesticides129

Annex 18B Trends in the consumption of pesticides 130

Annex 19 Examples of successful voluntary chemical management programmes.133

Annex 20 International conventions involving chemical substances136

Annex 21 How environmental regulations are appraised in OECD countries138

Annex 22 Modelling framework used for the Reference Scenario and

Policy Simulations .139

Annex 23 Third Session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (Bahía, Brazil; 15–20

October 2000)148

LIST OF ACRONYMS.159

REFERENCES ..161