home | contact us
links | references & further reading
glossary | environmental management matrix | download the whole training manual (pdf)

Environmental legislation

Air emissions

Waste management and minimisation

Water and land management

• Introduction
• Water Resources Act
• Water Industry Act
• Contaminated Land
• Control of Pollution

Energy and transport management

Introduction

Many furniture manufacturers will produce “trade effluent”. This is defined as "any liquid, either with or without suspended particles, which is wholly or partly produced in the course of any trade or industry carried on at trade premises." Therefore, it includes liquids such as:

• Boiler blowdown: liquid from water based heating systems containing corrosion inhibitors
• Compressor condensate: oil / water mixture produced by air compressors
• Vehicle wash-down: water from washing vehicle exteriors
• Veneer press wash down water and water back booth effluent

In fact, the only two liquid waste streams likely to escape such classification are rainwater and domestic sewage. Depending on effluent volume and concentration, the cheapest option is often to dispose of effluent under consent to drain. Most sites have two types of drain:

• Surface water drain: principally used to carry rainwater to controlled waters
• Foul sewer: carries domestic sewage & trade effluent to sewage treatment works

The main alternative to disposal via drain is to consign effluent to a registered waste carrier for off site treatment and disposal.

The aqueous environment and the organisms supported therein are particularly susceptible to pollution. Spillages on site have swift pathways in the form of drains - which channel pollutants to potential receptors. In the case of surface water drains, such pollutants receive no form of treatment prior to discharge into controlled waters. The latter include:

• Rivers and streams
• Ditches and ponds
• Territorial waters (within 3 miles of national boundary)
• Groundwater