Effect of Business Activities on the Environment
Senior 3 · Entrepreneurship
Effect of Business Activities on the Environment
Lesson 4 of 4
25 min
Rwanda banned plastic carry bags in 2008. In 2019, Law N° 17 of 2019 widened the ban to single-use plastic items, with exceptions only by special authorisation. Businesses that had packed goods in plastic had to change: shops turned to paper bags, woven baskets and cloth bags, and some entrepreneurs built businesses making them. The law also places an environmental levy on imported goods packed in plastic. One measure reduced a negative effect, plastic litter, and at the same time created new business opportunities. This lesson looks at the full range of measures, from laws to the choices a single business can make.
Definition
Sustainable development: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, 1987).
Polluter pays principle: whoever damages the environment must pay to repair it or be punished; Article 5 of Law N° 48 of 2018 on environment states it. Precautionary principle: an activity suspected of harming the environment must not go ahead until it has been scientifically assessed (Article 3).
Environmental impact assessment (EIA): a study of the likely effects of a planned project on the environment, with measures to reduce them, carried out before the project is authorised.
| Measure | What the business does |
|---|---|
| Cleaner production | changes its process to use fewer materials, less water and energy, and produce less waste |
| The waste hierarchy (3Rs and more) | prevents and reduces waste first, then reuses, recycles and recovers energy; disposes of what is left safely |
| Treating wastewater and waste | settles, filters or treats water before it leaves the site; hands waste to licensed collectors |
| Clean and efficient energy | uses efficient stoves, kilns and machines, solar power or biogas |
| Restoring damage | replants trees, refills and replants quarry pits, builds terraces and drains |
| Eco-friendly products and packaging | chooses paper, cloth or reusable packaging; designs products that last and can be repaired |
| Following the law | does an EIA when required, gets permits, respects buffer zones |
| Training and community work | trains workers; joins clean-ups and tree planting; listens to neighbours’ complaints |
The best waste is waste that is never made: a shop that sells refills reduces packaging before anything needs recycling. Recycling is good, but it still uses energy and transport, so it comes after reducing and reusing. Throwing away, even safely, is the last choice.
Tip
Exam technique: match each measure to an effect. A strong answer pairs them: “Dust from the quarry is reduced by spraying water on roads and stockpiles.” A list of measures that do not match the effects in the question earns few marks.
Worked example
Worked example 1: does an efficient stove pay? (illustrative figures)
A restaurant uses 12 sacks of charcoal a month at Frw 15,000 a sack. An improved stove costing Frw 250,000 would cut its charcoal use by 40%. How long does the stove take to pay for itself, and what does it save in the first year?
Monthly charcoal cost: .
Monthly saving: .
Payback period:
First-year net saving: , so Frw 614,000.
Interpret. The restaurant burns less charcoal, so fewer trees are cut and there is less smoke, and it saves money. Many environmental measures are investments, not just costs.
Worked example 2: a plan for the quarry
Lesson 3 found the effects of a stone quarry. Match a measure to each effect.
| Effect | Measure |
|---|---|
| Dust | spray water on roads and stone piles; cover loaded lorries |
| Muddy runoff into streams | dig drains and settling ponds so mud settles before water leaves the site |
| Scar on the hill, loss of trees | refill worked-out areas and replant them, step by step |
| Noise and blasting | work only in agreed hours; warn neighbours before blasting |
| Damaged village road | limit lorry loads; help pay for repairs |
| Accidents in the pit | fence the pit; put up warning signs; train and equip workers |
Before opening, a quarry of this kind may need an approved EIA, which would set out such measures in advance. The quarry is illustrative.
Rwanda’s plastic bags ban helps make it one of the cleanest countries in Africa, a report from CGTN Africa. Watch for how businesses and shoppers changed their packaging, and which measures from this lesson you can see.
Warning
Common mistakes. (1) Thinking only the government must act: Article 40 of the environment law gives everyone a duty to protect the environment. (2) Putting recycling first: preventing and reducing waste come before recycling. (3) Treating environmental measures as pure costs: many save money, as the stove example shows, or open new markets.
Practice
Further reading
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the waste-hierarchy diagram, the tables, the worked examples and the practice items. The restaurant, quarry and hotel are illustrative (2026).
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
