Ngăn ngừa ô nhiễm và đánh giá chu kỳ sống Trong 20 năm qua, chiến lược quản lý môi trường tại Hoa Kỳ, cũng như ở nhiều nước khác, đã phát triển thông qua sự phát triển của pháp luật và các quy định hạn chế giải phóng chất gây ô nhiễm môi trường. Ví dụ, kể từ khi thành lập vào năm 1970, Cơ quan Bảo vệ Môi trường Hoa Kỳ (EPA) đã đạt được những tiến bộ quan trọng hướng tới cải thiện môi trường ở tất cả các hạng mục chính của tác động môi trường gây. | 15 Pollution Prevention and Life Cycle Assessment Mary Ann Curran . Environmental Protection Agency Cincinnati Ohio Rita C. Schenck Institute for Environmental Research and Education Vashon Washington 1 INTRODUCTION Over the past 20 years environmental management strategies in the United States as well as in many other countries have evolved through the development of laws and regulations that limit pollutant releases to the environment. For example since its inception in 1970 the . Environmental Protection Agency EPA has made important progress toward improving the environment in every major category of environmental impact caused by pollutant releases. Levels of emissions across the nation have stayed constant or declined hundreds of primary and secondary wastewater treatment facilities have been built land disposal of untreated hazardous waste has largely stopped hundreds of hazardous waste sites have been identified and targeted for cleanup and the use of many toxic substances has been banned. Together these actions have had a positive effect on the nation s environmental quality and have set an example for nations every Copyright 2002 by Marcel Dekker Inc. All Rights Reserved. where. However despite the combined achievements of the federal government states and industry in controlling waste emissions which have resulted in a healthier environment the further improvement of the environment has slowed. This led to the realization that a new paradigm was needed for environmental protection. Starting in the mid-1980s pollution prevention was seen by visionaries as the way to go beyond such command and control approaches. Pollution prevention has received widespread emphasis internationally within multinational organizations and within the governments of both developing as well as developed nations. The European Union has designed some of its rules and programs based on the concepts behind pollution prevention. The United Nations Environmental Programme UNEP
