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In order to study the environmental impact generated
by industry it is necessary to look at the whole life cycle of the
product, starting with the raw material, the production process and
including its final disposal. The
product life cycle analysis is changing the linear vision of industrial
processes. In the past,
attention was only paid to the impact of a given industry relative to its
production processes and, therefore, the manufacturer was responsible for
the raw material once it arrived at his plant; however, his responsibility
ended when the product was launched into the market.
The new approach is leading industries to change their raw
materials and to favour those that derive from renewable
natural resources, that are bio-degradable, avoid the use of
hazardous substances and use those that cause the least negative impact.
Production processes have undergone technological
changes in order to minimize, reuse and recycle waste instead of dealing
with it in treatment systems, as they did in the past.
The old-fashioned systems were comcerned with just a transformation
of the waste and the reduction of its impact, although this rarely
constituted a definite solution. Finally,
products are also being substituted by those that can be reused, recycled,
are bio-degradable or can later on be disposed of safely at the end of
their shelf-life: products that pose no threats to the environment.
This approach has been called Eco-Efficiency and has
been defined as the efficiency in the use of resources throughout the
whole productive process, one of the basic requirements to secure
sustainable development.
When we take a look at the reality of the industrial
and urban sector of the El Alto city, the above-mentioned approach could
be compared to an illusion. The
conditions for the development of industry and manufacturers in this city
completely disregard citizens and their environmental rights.
Naturally, this sector should not get all the blame as national and
local authorities share this attitude.
In the El Alto city, only 30% of the population have
access to sewage systems. The
percentage is lower in the industrial sector (around 20%), and companies
that do some kind of residual water treatment represent only 12%.
Environmental degradation is rapidly taking over the city.
As long as there is no political will to solve jurisdictional and
legal problems among local, regional and state authorities, the prospects
for El Alto city are bleak.
Research conducted has revealed the El Alto reality;
it was possible thanks to the cooperation of the Environmental Management
Secretariat of the International Development Research Centre (Ottawa,
Canada) with the participation of the Educational Research and Promotion
Centre, the Municipal Company for Urban Maintenance and the support of the
Pan-American Health Organization.
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