Environmental Technologies

Environmental Technology has been best described by the US-EPA as an all-inclusive term used to describe pollution control devices and systems, waste treatment processes and storage facilities, and site remediation technologies and their components that may be utilized to remove pollutants or contaminants from, or to prevent them from entering, the environment. Usually applied to hardware based systems the term can be extended to include methods or techniques used for pollution prevention, pollutant reduction or containment. The US-NSTC has further categorized Environmental Technology under the following headings:

AVOIDANCE: Avoidance technologies avoid the production of environmentally hazardous substances or alter human activities in ways that minimize damage to the environment.
MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT: Monitoring and assessment technologies are used to establish and monitor the condition of the environment, including releases of pollutants and other natural or anthropogenic materials of a harmful nature.
CONTROL: Control technologies render hazardous substances harmless before they enter the environment.
REMEDIATION AND RESTORATION: Remediation technologies are those that render harmful or hazardous substances harmless after they enter the environment. Restoration technologies embody methods designed to improve ecosystems that have declined due to naturally induced or anthropogenic effects. Ottawa based Quantum Environmental Group is a national leader in this area.