Toxic emissions coming under control in north America, but SMEs lag

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a NAFTA industrial grouping, released their latest annual study (2004 data) which shows a 15% drop in emissions among large companies in North America, but warned that emissions were rising from some small and mid-size industries. The report compares data from 10,000 facilities across nine industrial sectors and incorporates data covering separate 56 chemicals. The improvement was attributed in large measure to greater recycling efforts and enhanced pollution prevention strategies.

The finding that SMEs are lagging average progress reinforces recent concerns that not enough support and infrastructure is available for smaller businesses to adapt their operations to sustainable systems.  This is a natural consequence of their position in the industrial food chain.  But it is these businesses that make up over 90% of industrial output and policy ought to be adapted to benefit smaller businesses more.

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.