Methods to Abate Pollution

Introduction:

Economic activity has a direct bearing on natural and environmental resources. Excessive and indiscriminate use of natural resources and energy leads to pollution and environmental degradation. Activities involving processes like extraction, manufacture, transport, consumption, and disposal add some stress to the environment and affect its assimilative capacity. When such activities are carried out inefficiently, the impact is much higher. This has brought about a need for environmental planning and management to prevent other exploitation and for optimum use of natural resources available to us.

The government is the supreme manager of the environment and it is the duty of the government to manage the security and sovereignty of air, water and land. Today the magnitude of the pollution problem due to the rapid growth of population, urbanization, industrialization and motorization especially since the 1960s proved to be serious. This requires public action to tackle the problem. The reason for this is the failure of the market system to allocate environmental resources efficiently due to externalities. Environmental quality is a public good and economic efficiency in environmental resource allocation necessities and intervention of the government. Generally, four methods have been proposed for the control of activities that damage the environment.

1. Moral Suasion:

Moral Suasion refers to voluntary programmes such as non-mandatory investment in pollution control equipment’s by firms to meet their social responsibilities. The successes of these programmes depend on the participation of the citizens. It is said that only around 5% of the population is willing to participate in such programmes. Hence, where the problem of pollution is high and substantial improvement in environmental quality is posing a problem, direct control and price incentives are more efficient. Also, the majority of the low and middle-income group countries fails to generate enough funds for the maintenance of voluntary cleanup programmes. A voluntary programme like afforestation, avoiding the use of plastic bags and carry bags, arranging environmental awareness campaigns and classes, following energy conservation programmes garbage/ trash disposal, launching of environmental movements etc, are highly helpful to bring down the degree of pollution.

2. Direct Methods:

Another method of pollution abatement is direct control. Direct control is not an economic tool of environmental protection, instead, it is a policy initiated by the government. Direct government is of two types:

a) Fixation of pollution emission standards: This implies the imposition of logical ceilings on the amount any polluter is permitted to emit or discharge. If the emissions or effluents are beyond the prescribed limit, such firms will be prosecuted as per the existing laws. In India, Minimum National Standards (MINAS) for wastewater discharges and emission standards have been fixed by the Central Board for prevention and control of water pollution and air pollution.  One drawback of this method is that it permits a certain level of pollution.

b) Specification of method and technologies to be followed: This instructs the firms to use a particulars pollution control device. For example, all the chemical-based industries are directed to install an electrostatic precipitator to capture some of the emissions of the polluting firms. But in several instances, due to weak environmental laws and regulations, the polluting firms try to follow old and conventional technologies of production. Direct control is particularly significant in the case of pollution involving highly hazardous pollutants.

3. Economic Methods or Pricing Techniques:

These techniques help to internalise the external cost of pollution through a variety of steps like taxes, subsidies, pollution permits and refundable deposits.

a) Pollution Tax (charges):

A pollution charge is a payment or fee charged to the polluter, which varies with the quantity of pollutants being emitted. It provides financial incentives that will induce the polluter to reduce the damage to maintain an acceptable level of environmental quality. Pollution charges are implemented through various methods like:

1) Efficient or emission charges

2) Product charges

3) Use charges

4) Administrative charges.

A charge is a fee levied on the user of environmental resources. The impact of these charges is the rise in the price of commodities which in turn will reduce the level of pollution. In the early 20th century, the English Economist Arthur C. Pigou argued for the imposition of taxes on the generators of pollution. Hence pollution tax is also known as Pigouvian Tax.

b) Subsidies:

Subsidies can be viewed as financial assistance to bring down the level of pollution by enhancing pollution abatement activities. A subsidy is just the opposite of pollution charges; subsidy is an intensive for pollution abatement, whereas pollution a charge is aimed to bring down the level of pollution. Subsidies may be in the form of:

a) Partial payment of the cost of installation of pollution control equipment.

b) Offer a fixed reward for every reduction in emission from some basic level.

Pollution abatement equipment is executed through the use of grant aid, zero or low-interest loans or tax benefits etc. If a subsidy is offered for a pollution abatement good, then its price in the market would come down to be equal to the marginal external benefits associated with the pollution abating good. This type of subsidy is known as Pigouvian Subsidy since it is analogous to that of a Pigouvian tax.

c) Pollution Permits:

The public authorities determine the maximum amount of specific type of pollution per unit of time with safe limits and its price is determined by the forces of supply and demand. A pollution permit trading system is implemented through the use of ‘credits’ or ‘allowances’. Pollution credits mean tradable permits issued to polluters for emitting below an established standard. For example, if a tradable permit in the form of permission to pollute (air pollution, water pollution etc) is allowed to a firm, and if the firm actually produces pollution below the assigned level, that firm becomes eligible to receive ‘credits’ or ‘allowances’. The main philosophy of tradable pollution permits is to allocate rights to the polluters and make their pollution a tradable commodity. This will result in a market for the right to pollute and consequently a market for this ‘right to pollute’. If a polluter crosses the limits or standards fixed by the competent authorities like pollution control boards, he will be penalized.

d) Refundable deposits:

Robert Solow and Edwin Mills have suggested this method to control pollution in the case where it is not possible to monitor, observe and detect environmental damage. In this method, the parties concerned are detected to deposit a sum for the ‘potential’ occurrence of environmental damage. If such an occurrence does not happen, the entire amount will be refunded to the concerned parties. For example, oil tankers are always requested to deposit a sum with the government, since any leakage in the transit, accounts for pollution offshore and onshore. If any damage occurs, the deposit amount will be used for the cleaning up process. This technique has been found to be very useful in handling hazardous goods and in the encouragement of recycling or re-use.

e) Allocation of Property Rights:

According to Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase, an effort is internalised environmental externalize requires an effective scheme for assigning property rights. Property rights are essential to the sound functioning of the market system. Allocation of property rights is a method that protects the environmental resources by putting them into the hands of private individuals who consequently have a financial stake in their preservation.

4. Government Investment Programme:

These include industrialization of waste plants, slum-clearance, management of wildlife refuges, reforestation and afforestation etc. Besides these, the research programmes and programmes to create environmental awareness also are part of government investment programmes to create environmental resources also are part of government investment programmes. The public good character of the environmental resources necessities government’s investment and participation to maintain and preserve environmental quality.

5. Other Methods:

Other methods of abating pollution include ecological marketing, eco-labelling, voluntary standards. Ecological marketing or Green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus Green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Nowadays, firms are using eco-labelling to indicate to their customers that their products have certain environmentally friendly benefits. Another step towards sustainable development is the use of voluntary standards to integrate environmental responsibility into corporate management.

Conclusion:

These are the various policy instruments to control pollution and preserve environmental quality. New methods are also being developed along with new technologies to control pollution. None of these policies would be exclusively applicable. For efficient management of the environment, various combinations of the different tools are required.