Sustainability Matters

The following sections are included:

• PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• MESSAGE FROM SHELL COMPANIES IN SINGAPORE

• MESSAGE FROM CHAIR MEM ADVISORY COMMITTEE

• MESSAGE FROM DEAN SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENT

• CONTRIBUTORS

• SUPERVISORS

• CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION – SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN ASIA
  • Introduction
  • Asia: The Environmental Challenge and Prospect
  • Commentary on the Collection of Essays
  • Reflections
  • References

The extent to which corporate environmental governance is correlated with financial performance remains a topic for debate; however, consensus of opinion seems to be that there are some environmental management initiatives that add value to a firm's bottom-line and other environmental management initiatives that adversely impact a firm's bottom-line. This paper puts forth a new Strategic Environmental Management Framework (SEM Framework), which ties together much of the existing theory on corporate environmental management. The SEM Framework provides analysts and corporate strategists with a conceptual model that demonstrates how various forces influence a firm's environmental governance commitment. Factors which influence a firm's commitment to environmental governance are extracted from the SEM Framework and employed to guide assessment of publicly available corporate environmental disclosures for 88 firms listed on 5 major stock market indices in Singapore and Canada. The environmental governance commitments of these firms were then compared to aggregated financial performance data in order to provide the comparative data for evaluating the environmental governance — financial performance relationship. The empirical research fails to confirm a significant correlation between environmental governance and financial performance for firms within any of the industry indices studied. Acknowledging the positive contributions that certain environmental initiatives can have on firm profitability, this paper concludes that a weak correlation between environmental governance and financial performance could exist; however, the correlation is not strong enough to out-weigh the other elements that influence a firm's profitability. The implication of these findings for policy makers is that mechanisms other than free-market incentives are necessary if policy is to guide corporations toward adopting more sustainable environmental governance practices.

Hotels form a major component of the tourism industry. From its operational activities that require lighting, heating, cooling, cleaning and washing, to the provision of auxiliary services such as restaurants, entertainment and retailing, the hotel industry bears characteristics that can impact any social or ecological order through its demands on energy, water, food supply and waste disposal, and its influence over land use decisions and real estate prices. If not properly managed, hotels can adversely affect the environment, society and cultural heritage of the places they operate in.

A variety of large and small hotels are located in Singapore. In recent decades, Singapore-based companies have also ventured overseas, to develop or operate hotels and resorts. There are now a number of Singapore-headquartered or Singapore-managed hotel groups with operations in Singapore and/or overseas.

The context of Singapore as the corporate headquarters or operational headquarters for these hotel companies provides the basis of this study. The objective of the study is to develop a new framework for tracking corporate environmental performance and to establish an industry-based self-regulatory mechanism for Singapore hotels and resorts.

This study contains descriptions of the proposed framework and of the key supporting approaches that are vital to the implementation of the framework at the corporate level. It also explores key factors concerning the use of an environmental code of conduct as a way to extend environmental best practices from the corporate level to the industry level.

Corporate environmental management in Singapore is not considered a new trend. As with many other developed nations, Singapore prides itself on its environmental achievements and its businesses have practiced sound environmental management for many years, much of it before most economies in the region. Many government and non government environmental initiatives currently exist in Singapore and several companies have environmental management systems in place. However, unlike other environmentally-proactive countries, Singapore does not have an extensive benchmarking system that gathers, measures and ranks corporate environmental performance. This dissertation examines why it is so and whether there exists a demand for a corporate environmental performance ranking system or index in Singapore.

The thesis commences with an insight into environmental management and methodologies employed to measure corporate environmental performance. It also highlights viable ranking systems existing worldwide. To understand the Singapore context, a Delphi study comprising of seventeen experts is conducted through two rounds of questionnaires. Existing and future drivers of corporate environmentalism in Singapore are first explored. Subsequently, the feasibility of a corporate environmental performance ranking system, along with its design and execution considerations as well as advantages and disadvantages are studied in detail. The results indicate that a demand does exist and that most experts believe the benefits of such a system outweigh its costs in the long run. The thesis recommends a coordinating structure of possible involved bodies and highlights the importance of clearly defining the purpose and context of the system as the starting point. It concludes with the hope of instigating a future Corporate Environmental Performance Index which could be further expanded to include social and economic performance factors under an all-encompassing Corporate Social Responsibility Index.

Wafer fabrication is a business which has the potential to adversely impact the environment through excessive consumption of natural resources, electricity, and materials such as chemicals and silicon. Large amounts of waste, toxic air, and water pollution could be generated if its operations are unsustainable and not properly managed. Thus there is a need to study if the wafer fabrication plants in Singapore are practicing environmental sustainability. An “Environmental Sustainability Framework” is proposed using environmental sustainability principles and tools, current best practices and global codes of conduct. Tools such as life cycle analysis, designfor- environment and environmental impact assessment, help companies to carry out their tasks more accurately. Combinations of codes of conduct and business best practices make the approaches of the companies more holistic. The framework is applied to the wafer fabrication industry in Singapore to test for evidence of environmental sustainability practices. Managers of six wafer fabrication companies were interviewed and two were selected for in-depth case studies; to analyze the differences between their environmental practices. The interviews and analysis of two of the wafer fabrication companies in detail, show that the presence of environmental sustainability in the daily business operations of wafer fabrication plants in Singapore is limited, and the areas for improvement are highlighted. The Environmental Sustainability Framework proposes strategies and practices that companies can adopt to achieve environmental sustainability.

This study examines the issues related to the implementation of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) in Vietnam. Its objectives are to explore the current trend of ISO 14000 certification and implementation in Vietnam, its possible benefits and problems encountered by firms in implementing this standard. As Vietnam develops, attention is being paid to the implementation of ISO 14000 certification. In general, most of the benefits and problems in ISO implementation stated in the literature are applicable to Vietnam.

This research used a questionnaire-based survey to examine the validity of the factors identified in the literature. The method was face-to-face interviews with the managers of eight enterprises that have attained ISO 14000 certification in Vietnam. The hypotheses were tested using mean importance ratings and t-test of the means. Almost all the listed benefits were found to be applicable to the responding companies. Almost all the barriers to implementation that were identified in the literature review were found not to be applicable to the sample companies in Vietnam. Proposals are made on systematic ways of implementing the EMS to ensure maximum benefits to the enterprises.

Hong Kong is one of the few countries to implement Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of major plans and proposals. SEA has provided decision makers with information on environmental impacts resulting from proposed plans or programs and has resulted in greater accountability and transparency in the decision-making process. SEA has also helped to increase environmental awareness of various governmental departments. SEA models for assessing developmental impacts on air, noise, and water quality are developed to aid in SEA application. Public participation takes place at various stages of the SEA process and has helped to increase the public environmental awareness and involvement. However, application of SEA in Hong Kong has notable limitations and difficulties. Generally, Hong Kong lacks a comprehensive strategic planning policy for the environment. Different departments often have conflicting interest when facing development. In Hong Kong, SEA is primarily used as a planning tool to evaluate the environmental implications of development plans or strategies but is seldom applied to major policies and programs. Hence, most SEA studies are development led and mainly consider new development areas instead of placing conservation value on important habitat and natural resources. Another limitation is that current land use plans and transportation strategies in force will largely determine the pattern of development over the next few years but are not apparently subject to SEA.

The lack of knowledge of Hong Kong's own environmental resource base has resulted in projects with adverse impacts on high ecological value areas being implemented without knowledge of the impacts. Furthermore, the intrinsic value of the natural environment and cultural heritage is subjective and is often underestimated or neglected. The indirect impacts caused by proposed developments may be unforeseeable during the time of assessment. Rapid population growth, rapid urbanisation, increasing unemployment rates coupled with a historic lack of planning controls, low public awareness, inherent conflicts among government departments, and vested interests in economic development have been major obstacles to achieving environmental and social sustainability.

There is a need for comprehensive overall strategic planning for the environment. Environmental objectives should be stated in all development proposals. Effective SEA can take place either through enforcement by a legal system or management of the process by a competent official body with sufficient power. There should be close interaction among relevant planning authorities, the environmental protection department and other relevant parties. Guidelines developed by the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) should be closely followed to maintain a high standard of SEA processes. The public participation element of the process should also be strengthened and early public involvement encouraged. There should be a review of the need to conduct an SEA whenever there is a material change in development strategy. SEA application should move beyond a sectoral approach, to look at ways in which development decisions can not only prevent environmental damage but positively enhance natural resources.

The Protected Area (PA) is a common resource, and provides basic necessities for livelihoods. As a result, access to this resource is very much of interest to local communities. The success of PA management depends on the socioeconomics and politics of the governing countries and communities. This study examines the policy implementation that encourages the conservation of biological diversity. It was carried out in the Langtang National Park and its surrounding buffer area in the central Himalayan region of Nepal.

It was found that local communities are heavily dependent on park resources for their livelihoods. Protected Area policies that provide access to grazing, and firewood collection from the park area are considered conducive to acceptance. However, the traditional rights over these resources are still the issue of park-people conflict. Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are still “locked resources” for local communities. The present PA policy fails to incorporate the issue of wildlife crop damage and livestock depredation. The rights and responsibilities of buffer zone (BZ) institutions are poorly delineated. There is a need to encourage local participation in buffer zone management activities.

It is necessary to review the existing root causes of park-people conflict. The roles, responsibilities and authorities of BZ institutions need to be clearly delineated. It is suggested that the buffer zone management council (BZMC) be strengthened as an apex decision making body, whose role should not be limited to the BZ boundary. Furthermore, the policy should address the issue of wildlife damage and mechanisms to compensate such loss would be an asset in PA governance. Local communities should be given management rights, at least to forest areas near the settlements. A long term and prescribed management plan for MAPs is necessary. The equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms help to overcome the major setbacks in sustainability of PA, a common property resource.

Lion-tailed Macaques or LTMs (Macaca silenus) are an endangered primate species, endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India. Due to their declining population in the wild and habitat degradation, captive breeding has been considered as a potential tool to re-establish populations in the wild. LTMs are captive bred in zoos principally in North America, Europe and India, and kept as exhibits in various other zoos. The captive breeding programs in North America and Europe were successful when compared to the captive breeding program in India.

In this report, features of the successful captive breeding programs were compared with the captive breeding program in India. The possible reasons for their failure in India were elucidated in the report from various angles such as the number of participating institutions and the viability of populations. Following discussions on the above areas, recommendations have been made towards successful captive breeding by cooperation of all these institutions and incorporating scientific management of these captive bred populations. This report comments on the endemic status of the Lion-tailed Macaques in India which restricts reintroduction programs only to Western Ghats of South India. The biology of these species has been taken into account using the research studies done on Lion-tailed Macaques to describe possible solutions. For example, the phenomenon of male migration has been discussed to mimic the same in captivity for successful breeding and also to maintain the natural gene flow.

Managerial recommendations have also been included in terms of studbook maintenance which is important for consistent monitoring of captive populations. Other viable methods to preserve their genetic pool have been proposed in this report, like the assisted reproductive techniques such as cryo preservation of sperm, artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.

Thus, this report functions as a comparative analysis of the successful and failed captive breeding programs and proposes recommendations on the basis of review of available data on the same. The vital importance of preserving the habitat is also discussed in various sections.

Nepal has established a wide spectrum of protected areas with the primary aim of conserving biodiversity. Various problems relating to the management of protected areas have emerged over the years. The Integrated Conservation and Development Program (ICDP) approach in protected areas is an important tool to link conservation and development with the aim of resolving various problems associated with protected area management regime.

This study investigates the impact of the ICDP approach on biodiversity conservation, local participation, local socio-economy and livelihood. This was carried out in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), Nepal. A social survey using various tools such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), semistructured interviews, and questionnaires was conducted.

The results indicated that ICDP had a significant positive impact in study sites compared to before its intervention. The study suggests that forest condition was improved, there was significant reduction in the use of fuel wood, local people had easier access to resources, the wildlife population increased, people's participation had increased, and the local economy improved. The ICDP approach was successful in involving the majority of the local population in conservation. People were found to be very positive towards conservation initiatives and park authority. The ICDP approach was successful in getting local support and collaboration in conservation initiatives. As a result, there was significant development in the local institutional arena and local capacity building.

Developing countries generally face great development pressure with many resulting environmental problems. The need for integrated ecological planning emerges from these concerns. However, there are constraints on the implementation of the requisite processes; these include the lack of political will, as well as lack of expertise, tools, information and funding. In this study, a feasible landscape evaluation method is proposed, which is suitable for application in these countries.

The research involves identifying the key elements of all suitable methods, which are later distilled and refined to develop the system referred to as Adaptive Landscape Evaluation Tool or “ALiT”. The strengths of this system lie mainly in establishing the evaluation methods, the proposal for an adaptive list of data, and a system of scoring thresholds that embraces sustainable land development principles. The method was validated in a case study of Bintan Island in Indonesia.

The proposed evaluation method, ALiT, is comprehensive yet manageable and practical. It encompasses four elements as part of the development and evaluation process, namely, initial secondary data collection, rapid survey to verify critical data, multi-disciplinary analysis with Geographic Information System (GIS), and stakeholders' inputs. ALiT can be a very useful tool for reducing adverse impacts on the environment in the course of economic development in developing countries.

Fiscal management is an integral component in the management of parks and nature reserves. Budgetary challenges faced by public sector agencies in Singapore and other countries have resulted in the introduction of innovative fiscal instruments in the management of parks and nature reserves. The inherent social elements in the provision of parks and nature reserves means that the introduction of such tools and instruments has to be carefully considered against the backdrop of the benefits attributed to parks and nature reserves. This is particularly so in the case of the intangible social benefits of parks and nature reserves, which cannot be simply weighed against any economic benefit. In this chapter, the fiscal aspects of parks and nature reserves management in Singapore are examined.

Fiscal management models are discussed with particular emphasis on established fiscal instruments and mechanisms that are based on broad principles of cost-recovery, cost-reduction and income-generation. The applications of these fiscal instruments and mechanisms are analyzed with respect to Singapore's experience in the provision of parks and nature reserves. In response to various challenges that park managers have to face in the management of parks and nature reserves, recommendations are made to enhance the fiscal management model towards long-term fiscal sustainability.

The introduction of invasive marine species into new environments by ships' ballast water, ships' hulls and via other means has been identified as one of the greatest threats to the biodiversity of the world's oceans. This study analyzes the present status of invasive marine species in Singapore waters and relates this to global context.

Most countries are being affected by the adverse impact of invasive marine species. Developed countries are responding to this threat by introducing national legislation, adopting new technologies, and by researching into the subject. International organizations are playing their part by planning to impose effective legislation to prevent the international spread of invasive marine species. Numerous research projects are underway to identify the alien species, to determine their potential impacts, and to discover effective ballast water treatment technologies.

Studies reveal that no detailed research has been done in Singapore to ascertain the status of alien species in its waters. Officially, only one species of alien mussel and a few species of toxic dinoflagellates have been found in Singapore waters thus far. These species have already shown their adverse impacts in other parts of the world and they are potentially harmful in Singapore as well. There is currently, no regulation of the discharge of ballast water or the introduction of alien species into Singapore waters. Studies show that Singapore is particularly vulnerable to this problem. Thus, there is a need to establish regulations to prevent the introduction of alien marine species. However, local baseline information on the native marine species is inadequate and more research work is required.

It is generally agreed that the global captured fishery is facing a crisis as a result of over-harvesting, which has taken place in the past few decades. Likewise, capture fisheries in the Southeast Asia region have been stagnating in recent years. Culture fisheries, on the other hand, are increasingly recognised as a potential sustainable source of production, both regionally and internationally. By examining both the capture and culture fish sources in Singapore and regionally and forecasting the future demand for fish in Singapore, the study seeks to determine whether the path of development and management of the fishery sector in Singapore would promote or undermine sustainable production, both locally and regionally. This study revealed some interesting insights into the patterns of consumption of animal protein, including fish, in Singapore. It has predicted that Singapore's dependency on imports from the three regional countries, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia will not be a major contributing factor that undermines a sustainable fishery in the region. The inadequacies of national laws and policies for the management of fisheries in Singapore were also analysed.

The Tam Giang lagoon, one of the biggest in Asia, is located in Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam. Its area is about 22,000 ha with a length of 70 km along the coast. Tam Giang lagoon has great potential for aquaculture development which brings better incomes for local people. Aquaculture has significantly contributed to poverty reduction in Thua Thien Hue Province. However, there has not been an appropriate plan for local aquaculture, resulting in an uncontrolled increasing number of aquaculture ponds and net enclosures. That poses negative impacts on the environment and natural resources. This study examines the present status of aquaculture in Tam Giang lagoon and analyses the environmental problems that local aquaculture faces. From this synthesis, recommendations are formulated. The objectives are to reorganize local aquaculture in more appropriate ways; address technological, organizational and regulatory issues in order to improve environment protection and sustainable aquaculture development.

This study critically examines the theory underlying the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) with reference to Thailand. It investigates the EKC using cross-regional panel data on emissions of four major air pollutants (PM10, NO₂, SO₂, and CO) and data on deforestation. There are two different relationships in the EKC of Thailand: an inverted U-shaped relationship for PM10 and CO, and a monotonically increasing relationship for SO₂ and NO₂. The relationship between per capita income-PM10 and per capita income-CO appear to support the EKC thesis; but these results could be biased due to the effect of the 1997 financial crisis, which substantially reduced these pollutions. However, environmental measures, both command-and-control (e.g. improvement of fuel quality, and improvement of emission standards) and economic instruments (introducing a price differentiation between leaded and unleaded gasoline, and demand-side management in the power sector), have played a major role to improve air quality in recent times. Unlike PM10 and CO, NO₂ and SO₂ violate the EKC theory by showing a rising relationship with per capita income. A plausible explanation for the monotonically increasing relationship for NO₂, SO₂ is the usage of energy resources in Thailand that are high sulfur and nitrogen content energy resources. Coal, which emits acidic gas in the form of SO_x and NO_x followed by SPM (suspended particulate matter) into air after burning, is a major fuel in electricity generation and other industries in Thailand. The increased coal consumption could explain why the relationship between income-SO₂ and income-NO₂ are a monotonically increasing relationship, even though environmental policies have been adopted to improve air quality. Furthermore, this study finds no evidence of an inverted-U shaped EKC for deforestation in Thailand. Population density is a factor that has an effect on deforestation and this study illustrates that the 1989 logging ban in Thailand had little effect on forest conservation. On the basis of this study, it is reasonable to conclude that a monotonically rising relationship between income and environmental degradation is more valid in the context of Thailand, implying that Thailand is on a rising path of EKC so far.

The Government of Indonesia (GoI) has demonstrated strong commitment in seeking to prudently manage the forest resources by issuing the Republic of Indonesia Law number 41/1999 in 1999. This is seen as a positive step in an improved commitment to environmentally sustainable use of forestry resources which have been exploited recklessly in past decades. This law aims to manage the forest resources of the country for current as well as future generations. It designates all forested areas into three classes according to their ecological function. However, this new forest classification has created significant issues in some areas where the newly designated functions of the forests are overlapping with other development activity which had previously been endorsed by other regulations. Some 155 mining companies had, in previous years, been granted Contract of Work rights to operate in areas that were later designated under this law as protected areas. This law compels the companies to suspend all activities as it prohibits open pit mining in protected forests areas. Some three quarters of these companies still continue to operate due to legal disputes. The GoI has to choose and foster the most desirable alternative and it needs assessment tools such as Cost Benefit Analysis which will enable it to make informed and justifiable determinations.

This study seeks to determine the course of action which is the most desirable for society as a whole. A Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is applied in the study. This study concludes that the benefits of the forest are expected to exceed US$ 12.32 million. Should the forest be preserved, , it will last for a potentially infinite period of time, and remain as a life support system for current as well as future generations. On the other hand, the benefits accrued from mining activities will last for only 20 years, and with limited additional benefits in terms of post-mining operations.

Since 1984 the Malaysian furniture industry has grown to RM 7.6 billion worth of annual exports. The industry has been built almost solely on sustainably grown raw material that does not deplete the earth's natural capital: rubberwood. Malaysia was the first country to successfully commercialize rubberwood, a by-product of the latex industry, which was previously considered as waste; however, due to structural changes in the forest based industries and international commodity prices; there is now a market shortage and price increase of rubberwood.

This study looked at the historical development of the industry and the current situation; examining alternative timber species and alternative materials. These two trends are highlighted in case studies looking at acacia and composite panels. To ensure long term wood security for the industry, commercial plantation forestry is necessary. This study traces the beginnings of plantation forestry, analyses the current state of the industry, and make recommendations to how it could be made more commercially viable.

Business plays an important role in the efforts to attain sustainable development. Its production and consumption activities must be able to work with (and not against) ecological systems where it extracts its raw materials and releases its wastes. To be effective in meeting the challenge of sustainable development, adopting a systems approach is recommended wherein all aspects of sustainability are considered. Underlying this systems approach is the need to develop measures to indicate progress towards or away from sustainable development. Many efforts have been made to develop indicators of sustainable development. These efforts adopted different frameworks and used various approaches and measures of sustainability. The lack of consensus in defining indicators may be attributed to the ambiguity of the concept of sustainable development. The limitations in understanding this concept only allow the use of indicators in relative terms. An example is efficiency in the use of resources. Comparisons between similar business units are conducted wherein the less efficient business unit is considered less sustainable due to its less efficient use of resources.

In this study, comparisons among fossil fuel-fired electricity generating utilities in the Philippines were conducted using the composite sustainable development index (I_CSD). The utilities were selected due to their resourceintensive operations. The I_CSD is based on a method that aggregates chosen indicators into a single measure of sustainability. Underlying this method is the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) developed to establish priorities among indicators.

Four environmental, six social, and four economic indicators were chosen for the case study. Results of the AHP using an expert survey revealed that the greatest importance was assigned to indicators on air emissions (m_SO2equiv), occupational health and safety (LWDII), and power plant reliability (EFOR). Aggregation to the I_CSD did not produce realistic results as 20 percent of the entire set of indicators for analysis were missing. Moreover, a set of indicators (LWDII) without minimum and maximum values resulted in errors in the computation. Despite these drawbacks, given suitable information, the ICSD can serve as a useful tool for decision makers to monitor trends over time and compare performance between similar business units. Other weaknesses of the I_CSD were the subjective selection of indicators and the expert survey. To gain acceptance, selection and weighting of indicators may take place through wider systems of consensus building such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This study also observed that power plant reliability indicators can result in conflict with other indicators, mainly because profits for the utilities are closely linked to reliability rather than efficiency. As a result, tradeoffs may occur between economic performance and other aspects of sustainability.

This chapter investigates the adequacy of the New Electricity Market of Singapore (NEMS) in internalizing the environmental costs of electricity generation, and proposes a green energy policy to achieve the least-cost technological development and market penetration of renewable energy sources in the NEMS. The findings of the chapter reveal that NEMS is inadequate in internalizing the environmental costs of electricity generation and the least-cost design of the liberalized electricity market may impede the promotion of Renewable Energy Sourced-Electricity (RES-E). However, with the implementation of appropriate policy instruments such as the RES-E support schemes, the liberalization of the electricity market can produce a positive effect of motivating RES-E power producers to be constantly in search of the most cost-effective RES-E technologies, and thereby stimulating technological advancements in RES-E. Electricity market liberalization also provides an opportunity for RES-E power producers to compete for a share of the electricity market, which was previously controlled by government-owned utilities. Following the findings, a Green Energy Policy is suggested to promote the least-cost technological development of renewables through the use of RES-E support schemes and eventually, to develop a national Tradable Green Certificates (TGC) System as part of the international TGC System. Besides environmental benefits, renewables can provide energy security to a resourcescarce Singapore. The RES-E support schemes would also attract investors to invest in Singapore, which would boost the economic development of Singapore and provide employment opportunities. Recommendations for future areas of research and implementation include the application of the RES-E schemes in other areas such as waste management and transport.

One of the most important global environmental toxicants is arsenic. High concentrations have been reported in groundwater in several countries including Bangladesh. It is the largest known mass poisoning in history, with approximately 35–77 million people being exposed to arsenic-contaminated drinking water throughout Bangladesh. Serious diseases are caused by chronic arsenic poisoning; these include cancers, melanosis, hyperkeratosis, restrictive lung disease, Blackfoot disease, gangrene, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and ischemic heart disease. People are directly exposed to arsenic through underground drinking water and indirectly through the food chain. Vegetables and edible crops grown in arsenic contaminated soil may uptake and accumulate significant amount of arsenic in their tissue which is harmful for growth.

Since scarce evidence was found regarding human risk of arsenic poisoning through the food chain, the current investigation aims at reporting the level of arsenic in some common vegetables grown in Sitakund upazila in Chittagong district, Bangladesh. The vegetables studied were tomato, chili, potato, brinjal, bean, spinach, ladies finger, red amaranth, cucumber and cowpea. Mean arsenic concentration in vegetables was 0.133 ppm.

Like many other elements in soil, arsenic is subject to transformations by microorganisms including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These are associations between fungi and the roots of vascular plants. Part of this study is devoted to analyze the role of mycorrhiza on the bioremediation of arsenic in agricultural crops. The result showed that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have their most significant effect on phosphorous uptake and it could protect plant against high accumulation of toxic elements through their root system. The study also examined the single and interactive effect of arsenic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on plant physical growth, arsenic/phosphorous concentration/uptake and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi mediated effect on arsenic toxicity. Growing tomato with compatible symbionts (mycorrhiza) minimized arsenic toxicity and increased phosphorus concentration.

Solid waste is a significant and growing problem in many urban areas in India. Organic fraction constitutes about 50% of the total urban solid waste. The current systems of waste management are rudimentary and grossly inefficient, ineffective and environmentally damaging. Biomethanation technology has emerged as a viable option for managing the organic solid waste generated in the urban areas. Besides reducing the waste load by about 50%, biomethanation generates biogas, energy derivative, compost derivative, and nutrient recovery. Three different technological approaches have been adopted in three cities of India for managing organic wastes. This research analyses the technical feasibility and operational stability of the three ventures from a longterm sustainability perspective. The research also assesses the incorporation of biomethanation of organic solid-agricultural residues as a technological intervention in rural energy demand and suggests strategies for the utilization of biomethanation technology from a sustainable outlook.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with 12 industrial zones and export processing zones and an annual growth rate of 15% in the manufacturing sector, produces large amounts of industrial waste, including hazardous wastes. Due to their nature and characteristics, it is particularly important that hazardous wastes are managed in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner. To investigate the current hazardous waste management system in industrial zones in the city, this study focuses on the practice of hazardous waste handling, including all facets of a management system from generation to final disposal. Several problems in this system have been identified. The poor awareness of the hazardous waste generators has led to lack of segregation between hazardous and non-hazardous wastes in their premises. These wastes are then usually collected and transported by non-licenced collectors to be disposed of in a landfill only suitable for domestic wastes. Furthermore, there is currently an absence of incineration facilities and dedicated landfills for hazardous wastes in Ho Chi Minh City. As these problems have been identified and understood, recommendations are made, including development of planning and administrative, legal, financial, and engineering infrastructures. They are proposed for the purpose of moving the current hazardous waste management practice in Ho Chi Minh City towards an integrated system.

As a result of a growing dependence on information technology and coupled with rapid product obsolescence, electronic waste (e-waste) is generated at an increasing rate in many developed and developing countries. E-waste contains a variety of hazardous substances which pose both an environmental and human health threat, and therefore requires an environmentally sound waste management system.

In Singapore, the issue of e-waste is a fairly new phenomenon and the management options available are rather limited. The state regulates the collection and handling of toxic industrial waste originating from trade premises and industries but provides no requirements for consumer e-waste. The state, being a party to the Basel Convention, also regulates the transboundary movement of e-waste. At present, e-waste is disposed of together with general waste into incinerators. Recycling of e-waste is uncommon as only few voluntary recycling programmes are available. By and large, there is lack of monitoring on the generation, collection, treatment and disposal of e-waste in the country.

This paper assesses the present management system of e-waste in Singapore in light of the global trend towards regulating e-waste, greater producer responsibility and more consumer participation. It also provides recommendations for overcoming the inadequacies and shortcomings identified in the current management system.