In the context of environmental protection, the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) is the purposed best practice in terms of sustainability. A BPEO is meant to minimize environmental damage in a cost-effective manner, in both the short- and long-term. Production and disposal of wastes are major concerns wherein the Best Practicable Environmental Option are expected to be applied.
Definition
According to the 12th Report of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP), the BPEO is defined as "the outcome of a systematic and consultative decision- making procedure which emphasizes the protection and conservation of the environment across land, air and water." The BPEO goal, curated by the United Kingdom's RCEP, identifies and evaluates proposed disposal methods using environmental and economic auditing tools that ultimately aim to provide environmentally and economically viable solutions; solutions that may be easily coordinated with the laws, institutions and policies governing the control of pollution.
Philosophically, the BPEO concept is similar to the practice of sustainable development. The rationale behind the BPEO is "polluter-orientated—not policy-, planning-, or environmentally-, directed" From a criterion standpoint, the BPEO must meet certain standards of practicality for successful implementation in legislative and social aspects—otherwise, the BPEO would only be the best 'environmental' option.
Although the BPEO is determined by the previously defined criteria, the concept emphasizes that the waste hierarchy—reduce, reuse, recycle, recovery and disposal—cannot be applied without taking into consideration the environmental, economic and social impacts associated with the options considered, given that the BPEO must be economically and socially sustainable as well.
Development
History
Early derivatives of BPEO formed due to the notable concern and focus on environmental auditing—as such, to understand the development of BPEO, it is critical to understand the origins of environmental auditing. Environmental auditing was originally developed as a business management tool to address concerns about compliance with legislation and regulations. Prior to the development of the BPEO, "separate and effectively independent controls over the disposals of waste to air, water and land" In this particular instance, the current BPEO at the time of review was determined to remain the BPEO, as all other options considered were determined to be less viable options.