Eco-Efficiency Analysis of Existing Industrial Wastewater Treatment: How to Include the External Costs to the Environment

Many industries are required to treat their own wastewater before discharging to the environment directly or to a publicly-owned treatment plant. It is of interest for them to quantify all costs involved to aid in planning and operation decisions. Costs of treatment chemicals are often the only costs regularly tabulated. The inclusion of all costs may be sometimes calculated, but it is rare that external environmental costs are included in decisions, principally due to cost considerations. Making an environmentally-conscience decision, however, can actually increase profit if the product is advertised in such a way as to highlight its low environmental burden. Sales may increase if the potential buyers value the environment enough to alter their spending habits accordingly. Eco-efficiency analysis is a tool used that allows the inclusion of not only internal life cycle costs, but also the cost to the environment, such as air and water pollution, energy used, and impact on humans and other living things. The method is demonstrated here on a typical wastewater treatment plant for an automobile manufacturer. The results show how the conversion from conventional treatment to ultrafiltration may reduce total treatment costs.