Industrial effluent control and waste minimisation: Case studies by UK regulators

Most current discussion on the techniques for effluent control emphasise th e sophisticated approach most appropriate to advanced industrial operations in prosperous environments. This paper aims to demonstrate that a more bas ic approach still has a valuable role to play. A series of case studies fro m the United Kingdom examine how the application of simple techniques were able to provide significant environmental benefits at minimal net cost to t he discharger. The examples ranged from raw materials recovery and waste re cycling, to lateral thinking and the development of non polluting processes . The consequent reductions in effluent load to receiving waters have been found to be highly significant for the environment. (C) 1999 Published by E lsevier Science Ltd on behalf of the IAWQ. All rights reserved.