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TOP
TEN MOST POLLUTING BUSINESSES »
Top
ten most polluting businesses rated by the LoveToKnow editors. |
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Top 10 List how we choose |
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Chemical Manufacturing
Chemical industries put a lot of pollution into the atmosphere.
The chemical industry takes raw materials and converts them into
products, like plastic. About 80 percent of chemical manufacturing
is put into making some type of plastic product. You'll find many
different
action strategies at this EPA website to help you understand how
to reduce some of the pollution from this industry. |
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Fertilizer Industry
Fertilizers are used on crops, water washes part of the
fertilizer into streams and water ways, and it then reaches
rivers where it can impact fish and local wildlife. Fertilizer
manufacturers are located around the world and many of these
factories also release pollution into the environment. This means
that the industry pollutes twice, once during manufacture and again
when it enters the waterways. |
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Pharmaceutical Industry
Pollution from the pharmaceutical industry is a hard one to
control because much of the pollution comes from human consumption.
Thinking about flushing that old bottle of medication down the
toilet? Remember that the water could wind up in spillways and on
into streams and rivers. Hormones in particular are found in sewage
treatment facilities. There is also waste produced in the chemical
processes of creating medicines and the water runoff for cleaning. |
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Pesticide Manufacturing
The pesticide manufacturing industry is another area where both
the process of creating the produce and use of the product can
pollute the environment. Pesticides can include insecticides,
nematocides, fungicides and rodenticides. You'll also find related
information about how other products are made. Learn more about
gasoline, how it is made and the pollution issues. You'll also
find a searchable, alphabetized list of other industries. |
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Oil Refineries
The process used to refine oil can lead to pollution. Not to
mention that products that use refined fuel, such as automobiles,
can put even more pollution into the air. Learn the details on
how natural gas is processed to prepare it for market. The
process used to refine oil actually releases various chemicals into
the air. There have also been issues with wastewater pollution. |
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Iron and Steel Industry
The iron and steel industry is one that is in production around
the world. Not all countries are as careful about preventing
pollution as others, leading to serious wastewater issues in some
cases. One of the biggest causes of pollution from this industry is
from the water used for cooling and also in the leftover slag or by
products from refining the metal into something useable.
Aluminum smelting and refining can also create pollution. |
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Cement Production Industry
Those who live near
cement production facilities can tell you that the fine powder
released into the atmosphere is at the very least a nuisance.
However, there are also some concerns with pollution. The production
of cement also releases CO2 into the air. Although it depends on
materials uses and processes utilized by a facility, there can also
be metals and gases released into the air as well. |
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Pulp and Paper Industry
Pulp mills have a hand in many different types of pollution. They
contribute detrimentally to the air, water and land. On the consumer
end of things, many landfills are full of paper that has been thrown
out instead of recycled. The US Environmental Protection Agency
estimates that 35 percent of trash is made up of paper products. The
industry also uses a lot of energy in creating paper products. It is
estimated that paper manufacturing is the fifth biggest energy
consumer. You can change things by buying and contributing to
recycled paper. |
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Leather Industry
The tanning of animal rawhide creates pollutants. Again, some
countries use processes that create more pollution. For example,
there are not many
regulations on chemicals used in industry in India and that
country is the third largest maker of leather. There are also
different processes that can be used to prepare leather. Some are
heavily industrial and use more chemicals than others. |
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Sugar Refining
Although food might not be what you immediately think of when
considering businesses that pollute the environment, sugar is put
through a refining process. Like other types of refineries, sugar
refineries release chemical pollutants into the air and from
wastewater. There are different processes that can be used to turn
sugar cane or beet sugar into granulated sugar and some create
more pollution than others. |
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