THE ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS IN THE FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

In the most recent assessment of the Sustainability Solution Exchange (2022), the Global Hunger
Index for the Philippines received 20.2 and is starting to decline sharply after years of decline. The
Philippines is in the higher half of its surrounding nations when compared to the year 2018. This
index score for the Philippines shows how often undernourishment, childhood wasting, child
stunting, and infant mortality are there. It was scored on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being the least
amount of hunger and 100 representing the most.

Differing businesses consider different environmental protection criteria to be the standard. This
standard therefore outlines what every corporation should strive towards to avoid being the
subject of pressure groups and boycotts owing to a lack of environmental sensitivity. Customers
who are equipped with an interest and knowledge, choose to do business with firms it considers to
be more ethical, particularly in relation to the environment in the aftermath of global warming. The
factors they may have significant impact to the environment is the following:

 The current weather conditions may have a substantial influence on our capacity to manage
the delivery of both supplies and completed potato chips. This, in turn, would influence final
product delivery schedules in the event of an unexpected rainfall.
 Certain items would also become obsolete because of climate change. The potato chips for
example needs a regular checking if the packaging handles the humidity and other changes
in weather can still hold the crispiness of the potato chips.
 Companies that generate enormous volumes of garbage may be forced by law to regulate
their environmental practices. This might include environmental penalties and limits, which
could put a financial pressure on businesses.
 Intentionally or unintentionally contributing to the extinction of an already endangered
species, may face not only legal repercussions, but also a reaction from the general
population, who may boycott the product.
 Although depending on renewable energy in any percentages may be pricey, it frequently
receives support not only from the government but also from its customer base, who may
be ready to pay a premium price for the items that it produces.
 In terms of environmental impact, the company is committed to operating in an
environmentally sustainable environment while preserving natural reserves and energy. Because of
the increased quantity of goods produced, there is a risk that the materials used are not recyclable.

PESTEL Analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental Factors) 

Political forces  Must serve customers with high-quality potato chip snacks;
FDA regulations must be followed.
 Labor, financial, and internal marketing regulations must be
adhered properly.

Economical forces
 Understands the likes and preferences of the customers such as
the taste of the potato chips snacks.
 Most of the revenue comes from the sale of small pieces of
potato chips.
 Must concentrate on launching economical, nutritious, and tasty
potato chip snacks.

Social forces  Launched potato chips snacks that are both inexpensive and
delicious in the local and national markets.

Technological forces  Using cutting-edge technology, freshly cut potatoes are

produced batch by batch.
 Promotes effectively using social media.

Legal forces  The company must secure all the rights of the business
including barangay registration, business permit, mayor’s
permit and Department of Trades and Industry’s (DTI) permit.
 The company understands the laws and regulations under the
potato chips. Must follow the laws and regulations that needs to
comply according to the law is the Republic No.10611, also
known as The Food Safety Act of 2013.
 Must have strict regulations regarding to the health and safety
of the employees at the plant of the workplace.

Environmental forces  Must operate in an area where there is no shortage of water.

 Must conduct a proper waste management system in the plant
 Must practice disposing of solid and liquid waste at all times.
 Expand focus on environmental sustainability and recycling.
 In accordance with legislation, maintain inspections, and avoid
future difficulties, the organization must collaborate with waste
management authorities and institutions.
 Expansion of awareness for the environmental sustainability to
increase a green lifestyle.
Table 1. Table of PESTEL Analysis for the societal analysis of potato chips. (PC)
 The table shows the PESTEL or PESTLE analysis before considering the business and the
plantation of potato chips. The PESTEL Analysis of the potato chips will guide the company to
create a strategic decision properly while keeping the perspective on external trends and factors of
the external environment. It discusses and summarizes the actions that need to consider especially
the important aspects of the external environment's impact on the plant. The external factors
include the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal aspects. 

USING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO MANAGE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

OF POTATO CHIPS

The feasibility study for production and environmental sustainability for potato chips is focused
on small enterprises that produce and market thin slices of potato. To have continuous
improvement of managing tools for the plant, understanding the sources of the environmental
aspects and impacts are important. Environmental Management System or EMS is a set of processes
and practices that enables an organization to reduce its environmental impacts to increase the
operating efficiency. The environmental management system that will be applied in the production
plant will be according to the ISO 14001 which gives the guide of continuous improvement cycle of
the process plant.

Organizing the Environmental Management System development process

The way a corporation organized to finish its EMS is critical to the EMS's long-term
performance. The best outcomes are obtained when a diverse range of employees participate in the
process and a champion is chosen to keep it on track. The projected potato chip plantation's first
step is to form an environmental management system committee. It is critical to address an EMS for
the general overview of the potato chip plantation to avoid repeating queries and instructions. For a
better grasp of the environmental factors and to ensure that the EMS development is on track, the
division should have one specific person within every process. One member of the EMS committee
will take the lead in focusing on the environmental evaluation of all processes. The team should
meet once a week to get the EMS committee's process map. Due to an overflow of tasks in the
production area, the company must engage an EMS consultant for the conference.

Developing the Environmental Policy

 One of the first stages in building an EMS is to create an Environmental Policy statement
that demonstrates the company's commitment to environmental betterment. Over four
conferences, the environmental management team must draft a company's environmental policy
with the consent of the President or the plantation's owner. The policy must be made public.

Identifying Environmental Aspects of the potato chips production plant

The environment (ISO 14001:2004 3.5) refers to an organization's surroundings, which
include air, water, land, natural resources, humans, and their interactions. Environmental Aspect
(ISO 14001:2004 3.6) refers to the aspect of an organization's operations, goods, or services that
interact with the environment. The environmental impact (ISO 14001:2004 3.7) refers to any
alteration to the environment. Whether negative or positive, originating entirely or largely from an
organization's environmental elements.

Table 2
The environmental aspects and the corresponding environmental impacts of the potato
chips

Environmental Aspects Environmental Impacts

Release of SO2 from the plantation Air Pollution
Disposal of Untreated Waste waster Water Pollution
Unplanned disposal of Hazardous waste Land Pollution
Generation coming from the equipment used in Noise Pollution
the plant
Excessive use of electricity Wastage of Resources

The Table 2 shows the general environmental aspects its corresponding impacts that can
help distinguish and identify certain dilemma in potato chips processing plant. An environmental
aspect is any way in which a process plant interacts with and impacts the environment; one of the
first steps in building an EMS to identify the environmental aspects of the potato chips plant. A
process map depicts all the operational activities, processes, and products, as well as the inputs and
outputs of those activities, processes, and products. It is critical to create a process map to
determine the environmental components of the potato chip processing facility. The EMS Team
must begin by analyzing the existing processed map created for quality checking purposes, and
then identify potential environmental elements. The potato chips processing plant has numerous
environmental characteristics, but not all of them are equally important. The organization must
prioritize and pick critical environmental factors to identify which areas require improvement
which will be discuss on the table 4.

Developing programs to achieve environmental goals

The next stage is to create programs to reduce the potato chips processing plant's
environmental impact in accordance with the process plant's goals and the established
environmental policy. This might be the first step in determining the underlying source of each
significant environmental aspect (SEA). When the SEA has been defined, the debate of the
development and correction must go seamlessly. To address the SEA, operational controls must be
developed, as well as improvements made to the process and activities of the potato chip
processing factory to limit environmental impact.

Evaluating the Environmental Management System

After the process plant has implemented its EMS programs, it should be evaluated on a
regular basis to determine the difference it made over previous programs. Changes in procedures,
technology, and learning from experience may all offer more opportunities to enhance the bottom
line's environmental effect. The EMS team will continue to meet on a regular basis to coordinate
assessment and documentation activities. The table 3 shows the documented life cycle of the
potato chips where in the basis of critical control points that to be assess before implementing an
action. Proper planning of the plant will determine on the sources of the environmental impacts.