Environmental and social impact considerations for sustainable project life cycle management in the process industry

Abstract

Project management, as a recognized core business competency, must incorporate planning, execution and implementation procedures within a broader sustainability framework, i.e. internalizing the externalities of a project. Current project life cycle management (LCM) methodologies do not efficiently address the objectives of sustainable development, especially in developing countries such as South Africa. Social aspects are rarely considered, while environmental factors are typically only addressed by means of environmental impact assessments (EIAs). A procedure to improve the consideration of environmental aspects in project LCM is subsequently introduced for South Africa. The procedure is demonstrated by means of a case study in the process industry. A framework is further proposed of social sustainability criteria that are relevant to projects within the process industry. The acceptability of the framework to decision-makers in petrochemical companies is discussed. Case studies are further suggested to evaluate the practicability of measurable social impact indicators for project LCM.

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