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Copyright
© 2001 FleetWatch magazine and FleetWatch On-Line.
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part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior written
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Businesses need to act ethically with regard to
the manufacture
of goods, how
they are transported
and how they dispose
of them
As we roll inexorably into the 21st Century, the pressure to conserve our natural environment becomes increasingly important. Governments around the world are putting legislation in place to force businesses to act ethically and responsibly with regards to how they manufacture their products, how they transport them and how they dispose of them. There is a new way of looking at 'product lifecycle' as a whole; a 'green' mindset driving an environmentally friendly 'cradle-to-grave' philosophy across all industry sectors.
The transport industry is a vital link in any product lifecycle. Vehicles themselves have to be manufactured with 'green', recyclable materials and from an energy point of view, need to consume as little fuel as possible while still undertaking demanding haulage work. These are big challenges and South Africa, perhaps contrary to common belief, does not lag too far behind the leading nations of the world when it comes to real effort to conserve our natural resources.
The recently promulgated Air Quality Act will make it mandatory for transporters to ensure their new trucks run to Euro 2 standards with limited Nox emissions from their exhaust pipes as of January 1st 2006. Tyres are also being targeted as harmful products to the environment. Pending legislation in the form of the Waste Tyre Regulation Act will introduce a new 'rubber economy' (rebates, incentives, recycling plants opening up, used tyre transporters etc), which will change the way we buy, use and dispose of the 'road rubber' we use.
Dangerous Goods transport is also an area of concern as far as conservation is concerned. Hazardous chemicals spilled on our roads seep into the soil and poison our ground water, killing flora, fauna and even people. Overloading of vehicles also impacts negatively on the environment. Our road paving not only costs billions of Rands to replace but the energy used to make the tarmac consumes natural resources and pollutes our air.
Environmental conservation is a huge subject and one FleetWatch will continue to report on. In this special interest report, Paul Collings looks at four major contributors to environmental damage within the trucking business. Preserving our natural heritage for future generations is a global imperative so how can transporters do their bit for future generations? What do they have to do to ensure their trucks are bona fide 'Eco-chariots'?
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