Siemens has developed an energy management system to help plant operators in the iron and steel industry to monitor and optimize their energy flows, Steel Guru reports. The Simetal Energy Management System is a modularly structured solution that can be expanded flexibly, the company said. The system helps make efficiency levels and losses transparent throughout the entire production plant, generating consumption forecasts and minimizing peak loads, Siemens said. Energy costs account for between 20 percent and 30 percent of total costs for the industry, Siemens said, and are on the rise. The company said its Energy Management System provides the basis for the detailed recording and analysis of data to meet standard EN 16001 (ISO 50001)
At the Cannes Film Festival, the UK film industry unveiled a standard designed to improve its environmental, social and economic impact. BS 8909 is a specification for sustainability management, from production through to cinema exhibition and home entertainment. Eco Age, an ethical retail organization founded by Oscar winner Colin Firth, ran three pilot schemes for the new standard. Organizations that have already adopted BS 8909 include Ealing Studios, Dogwoof and the British Film Institute. Other supporters include the Association of British Certification Bodies, Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph, Cinema Exhibitors Association, Film Export UK, Production Managers Association and UK Screen Association. The now-defunct UK Film Council worked with the British Standards Institution (BSI) to create the certification after seeing how standard BS 8901 helped the events sector lessen environmental impacts and save money ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games, the two organizations said. In London alone, screen production accounted for 125,000 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2009, 40 percent of which came from studios and 28 percent from TV and film production, BSI said.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) assistant secretary David Michaels has said that his agency will issue a Globally Harmonized System (GHS) proposed standard for silica in August, OHS Online reports. He said OSHA is making progress on a related Injury and Illness Prevention Programs standard, known as I2P2. Michaels asked for industry comment on the proposal, which he said will solve conflicting Permissible Exposure Limits for silica. The substance is associated with silicosis, a potentially fatal disease, and regulators have been trying to curb exposure as far back as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, he said. Recent research also indicates that silica is linked with lung cancer, Michaels said.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Russian Federation's Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology (GOST-R) last week signed a memorandum of understanding in support of greater U.S.-Russian cooperation, according to Thomas Net News. The MOU seeks cooperation between the two organizations and recognizes the role that standards and conformance play in safeguarding consumer health and safety, protecting the environment, and promoting fair trade, economic growth, and innovation.
Pall Corporation has expanded its environmental and emissions monitoring offer by adding systems using X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) technology to identify airborne metallic particles. Xact* systems, developed in partnership with metals monitor company Cooper Environmental Services LLC, monitor single or multiple metals in on-stack and ambient applications such as incinerators, coal-fired power plants, smelters, cement kilns, and air quality monitoring units. The systems are designed to generate precise data to allow power producers and other industries to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements including planned Environmental Protection Agency measures on mercury.
QuickLabel Systems, a brand of Astro-Med, Inc., has introduced the Plexo! family of two-color label printers, developed for printing labels that comply with GHS labeling requirements for chemical products. GHS will require chemical manufacturers around the world to change their product labels, the company said. To meet these requirements, each Plexo! prints labels in two colors using two rolls of colored thermal transfer ribbon inks, with an on-board ribbon saver that provides economy and efficiency in the use of ink.
Surfactant company Colonial Chemical selected SiteHawk to author Material Safety Data Sheets under GHS. SiteHawk provided research, classification, and preparation of the final documents.
A study by Bio Intelligence Service for the European Union says that including photovoltaic panels in the WEEE directive will help to avoid lead and cadmium leaching, RecyclingPortal.eu reports. One of the study’s scenarios estimated the costs of collecting, pre-treating and recycling of residential PV panels at over £2 billion a year by 2050, but said that by that year, recovering 100 percent of aluminum, 95 percent of glass and 30 percent of rare metals from such panels could create revenues of about £17.5 billion. The full report can be downloaded from ec.europa.eu.
