manu1381
INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS
& ENVIRONMENT
MODULE 3
Leaner – CLEANER -Greener PRODUCTION a pathway to sustainability
Module 3: Essentials of Cleaner Production
Introduction to the Module
This module of study is one of three modules, which together form the full course: manu1381 Industrial Systems & Environment.
The key purpose of this module is to introduce you to the history, philosophy and practice of Cleaner Production and related Eco-efficiency approaches while rationalising the situation that humanity is in and what it needs to do to achieve sustainability. These aims are specifically addressed in the context of a systems approach to defining and solving problems, particularly in relation to the management of engineering and technologically driven organisations from manufacturing to government.
The basic principles and concepts of sustainability are introduced and Cleaner Production is introduced as a component of the method of achieving resource efficiency that is required for sustainability. Cleaner Production methodologies and associated technologies are established in the context of industrial, commercial and community issues.
The teaching strategies used in the module are designed to encourage you to explore existing thinking on resource efficiency with emphasis on a systems approach to solving sustainability problems with the use of Cleaner Production approaches and to consider the strategic technological and Corporate Environmental Policy related aspects of such applications.
The module makes particular emphasis on Cleaner Production programs as presenting major challenges to technologists, corporate strategists and environmentalists alike, to work together to find viable solutions to pollutant problems and establish workable models for sustainable development.
Increasing levels of advanced technology in industry, government and commerce, coupled with growing expectations of industry in terms of meeting both implied and prescribed environmental standards, are generating an increasing demand for engineering leaders with high levels of knowledge, technical skill and competence in the deployment of advanced technology and technology based systems in environmentally responsible ways.
This module challenges students to demonstrate that they can meet the increasing demands by industry, government and the wider community for knowledgeable, creative and responsible leadership in this challenging area of achieving ecologically sustainable industrial development.
Module 3. is structured as having four core Topics of study as follows. It is recommended that you work through them. Please refer to the list of references for a selection of recommended readings for each topic.
The topics covered are:
8.1 Introduction to sustainability
8.2 Environmental issues
8.3 Eco-Footprint
8.4 Business – government – community and the environment
9.1 The Leaner-Cleaner-Greener Production solution
9.2 The concept of waste and resource efficiency
9.3 The cost of waste
9.4 Business development opportunities
10.1 Implementing a Cleaner Production system
10.2 Waste assessment
10.3 Energy Losses
10.4 Cleaner and Leaner
11.1 Environmental Management Systems
11.2 Continuous improvement
11.3 Conclusions on sustainable development
Topic 8: Introduction to “Sustainability”
Introduction to the Topic
The key purpose of this Topic is to introduce the history, philosophy and practice of sustainability and its context in the world of commerce, community and the physical environment.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this topic you will be able to:
- Determine the key requirements of sustainability
- Use the basic tool of “Eco-Footprint”
- Identify, analyse and differentiate the elements of sustainable development within our society.
Background Skills and Knowledge
Before proceeding with Module 3, you should have completed manu1381 Modules 1 and 2.
No other specific knowledge or skills are assumed apart from basic computer literacy and statistics.
References
The following are key references and web sites. Additional www addresses are to be found at the end of each Topic.
Diamond J. Collapse – How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive
Penguin – Allen Lane 2005
Hawken “The Ecology of Commerce”
some of it is available on the web.
Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1993
Dunphy, Griffiths and Benn
“Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability”
Routledge 2003
Lovins Lovins and von Weizsacker
“ Factor 4 Doubling Wealth-Halving Resource Use”
Allen Unwin 1997
Laszlo “The Sustainable Company – How to Create Lasting Value Through Social and Environmental Performance”
Island Press 2003
S.J.Hart “Strategies for a Sustainable World”
Harvard Business Review pp67-76 Jan-Feb 1997
M.E.Porter “Green and Competitive: Ending the Stalemate”
Harvard Business Review pp120-134 Sep-Oct 1995
Organisations:
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
Topic 8 Introduction to sustainability
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this section, you will be able to:
- Describe the major objectives of sustainability
- Provide the issues facing business regarding the environment and sustainability
- Show others the need for action to improve our resource efficiency
8.1 Sustainability and Business
Our basic instincts as individuals involve survival in a competitive world. This enables us to secure a safe position in our environment, a plentiful supply of food and physical comfort. Today, we are encouraged by government to save money and valuable possessions to ensure that we are able to maintain our standard of living and security in our later lives. Businesses, as groups of individuals, act in the same manner to secure their future.
Our free market philosophies in business have fostered a competitive system in which each business must strive for advantage so that it can grow and prosper. This has generated a culture of business competition in which growth is paramount. Thus, maximising output and increasing consumption has occurred as a result. Market driven growth relies on increasing market demand and this has been fed in the last century by rapid population growth.
We have been so successful as a species that our population has grown to dominate the earth (6.5 billion people in 2006). We now consume approximately 40% of the entire earth’s productive capacity, leaving less for the other “tertiary consumers” on the planet and reducing the potential for further growth.
Our communities have realised that, in order to continue to prosper, we have to learn how to develop sustainably in harmony with the earth’s natural environmental systems. If we continue to grow at the expense of the environment, we will end up destroying the very systems on which we depend (This is the fate of many other successful life forms in a natural environment – the boom and bust cycle).
Fig.8.1
Sustainable development, therefore, means establishing systems of development that bring about stability in our environmental and social systems so that the earth can continue to provide the resources we depend on.
Sustainable development for business means adopting strategies and activities that will meet the needs of the business and all of its stakeholders today, while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. – Prof. Don Huisingh (Erasmus University – Rotterdam)
The foundations for sustainable business activity are therefore financial, environmental and social performance for stakeholders.
Fig.8.2
The History of Sustainable Development
The concept of sustainability is as old as the human race, but only recently it has become a critical issue for us all. Up until the start of the modern environmental movement we collectively thought that nature could deal with all of our excesses. Not so any more!
1962- The realisation of our impact on the environment came into public focus with Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” in the early sixties.
1972- The environment movement gathered momentum with the oil crisis starting in 1972. The Club of Rome published its “Limits to Growth” report in the same year. The United Nations conference on Human Environment was held in Stockholm (1972) which highlighted environmental issues such as acid rain and which cohesively argued the concept of sustainable development. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was formed.
1974- Rowland and Molina published an article in Nature magazine, predicting the degradation of the ozone layer through CFC emissions. This was subsequently proven by scientific measurement and lead to the banning of CFC’s worldwide.
1970’s- A string of community movements are launched around the early seventies, such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Earthwatch, the Worldwatch Institute, WWF, ACF.
1980- The World Conservation Strategy was released in 1980 by IUCN. This identified sustainable development issues of habitat destruction and poverty, population pressure and social inequity.
1985- The Antarctic Ozone Hole was discovered.
1987- The Brutland Commission published “Our Common Future”. This publication popularised the term sustainable development and for the first time developed a global strategy for environmental stability. The UN adopted the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Layer protection in 1987.
1992- The UN conference on the Environment and Development was held at Rio de Janeiro resulting in the publication of the Agenda 21 statement endorsed by heads of governments around the world. This conference also produced the Convention on Biological Diversity and a Framework Convention on Climate Change.
1997- The Kyoto Summit in which agreed targets for Greenhouse Gas emission reductions were negotiated and governments of developed countries produced targets for Greenhouse gases from 1990 to 2012.
August 2002- The largest environmental conference ever held at Cape Town in South Africa in which business (most noticeably represented by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) and green advocate groups have come together with national governments to ratify global actions for environmental protection and sustainable development.
February 2006-The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (AP6) is a climate change approach bringing together key developed and developing countries on practical, pro-growth, technology-driven efforts. The Partnership was established by Ministers from Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States at the Inaugural Ministerial Meeting in Sydney, January 2006. Ministers agreed to a Charter, Communiqué, Work Plan and the establishment of eight public-private Task Forces to implement the AP6 agenda.
The federal and state governments have embarked on a wide range of initiatives to drive industry toward sustainable practices. These were focussed on modifications to existing technologies, such as clean coal research and carbon sequestration. More recently the Australian governments at all tiers have recognised the critical nature of these issues and have provided monies for the development of more renewable energy resources and low polluting technologies like nuclear power generation.
2007 – The federal government endorses the Kyoto targets for Greenhouse Gas reductions (Australia’s target is an 8% increase in emissions from 1990 to 2012.) The government policy is to reduce Greenhouse emissions from 2000 levels by 60% by the year 2050.
2008 – The Garnaut report provides a recommendation to government that a “cape and trade” scheme is used to regulate Greenhouse emissions. The government presents a green paper on the cape and trade scheme with a flexible target for Greenhouse emission reductions of between 5 and 15% from 2000 to 2020.
The government also commits to a renewable energy target of 20% renewable energy by 2020.
Water has also become a pressure point for the environment. The federal government developed a program to tackle some of the major water saving initiatives that cross state boundaries and has bought back water rights in order to return some of the environmental river flows, particularly in the Murray River.. In Victoria the state government has faced significant local water shortages with plans to make irrigation more water efficient and to reduce water consumption by industry (15% reduction by 2010) and 40% waste water reuse by 2012. It has driven forward a water program that includes a pipeline from the north of Victoria to supply water to Melbourne and a desalination plant in the south of the state with a capacity to supply 150 b litres of water to Melbourne per year.
Industry must play a role in the development of a sustainable future for the human population on the earth. What is that role and how can industry lead us into a secure future are the burning questions we face.
What do businesses need to do to become sustainable?
Fig.8.3
The current trends in business management are cost cutting and risk management. Profit = Sales – Costs, so a cost cutting exercise will yield immediate profit improvements to a business
Are these compatible with sustainable development?
A.
Management has seen both occupational health & safety and the environment as cost centres. Is this correct thinking?
A.
| Business goals for sustainable development | Business actions |
Sustainable business development equals development in which environmental impacts are lowered and social impacts are positive rather than negative. This in turn means lowering energy and resource usage – not impacting negatively on community uses of the environment while maintaining a competitive business position.
There is a rapid change in business structure as globalisation takes hold and business performance is open to media scrutiny cross the world. The demands on management are increasing from both ends of sustainability Short-term profits may come at the expense of longer-term strategic development. The community wants both immediate returns on its investment and improved environmental and social outcomes from its business management. Management has to manage the expectation of its shareholders and its stakeholders.
Fig.8.4
8.2 Environmental issues
It is not the intent of this module to discuss environmental issues in depth. However, it is useful for anyone proposing sustainable strategies to be able to provide basic information on the major environmental issues affecting business.
Much of the environmental influence on business is due to government regulation on business rather than the environmental impact itself. Issues such as the Greenhouse effect and Ozone depletion are not obvious to the casual observer, making them difficult to use as reasons for environmental performance improvement. More apparent are the effects of deforestation and soil degradation. Most people are familiar with some of the worse cases of logging that has lead to deforestation and areas in which the land has been poorly treated leading to erosion of top soil and poor fertility. Areas in Australia where poor farming practices have lead to erosion and land degradation in which salinity of soils has lead to tree dye back are also prevalent.
The consumption of resources and loss of biodiversity are also important environmental issues to consider.
The global environmental issues that are commonly cited include:
-greenhouse effect, CO2 levels plus other atmospheric pollutants
-population stress leading to poverty
-food and resource outlooks
-acid rain
-deforestation
-ozone depletion
-pollution of the sea
-depletion of fish stocks world wide
-loss of biodiversity
What are the possible outcomes?
-famine,
-water wars and wars over other resources (peak oil),
-global warming leading to rising sea level and major weather changes,
– loss of biodiversity as animal species die out,
-soil degradation from deforestation,
-the build up of toxins in our ecosystem,
-loss of fish stocks and
-disease
Discussion of local environmental issues:
These are generally more obvious to a business and can lend themselves to visualisation of outcomes and the costs to the environment and the community.
In order to develop a position regarding environmental issues a business needs to prioritise and decide what action to take. The argument that one business cannot make a significant impact on any environmental issue can be countered by the understanding that performance improvement requires a mass movement by business and communities to conserve resources and reduce wastes.
In discussion with the group, each participant can make up a list of environmental issues of immediate importance to business.
These priorities can be chosen from the list below:
water pollution (high priority)
-water conservation (overuse, environmental flows etc.)
-salinity and the prevention of waste water reuse
-nutrients and their effects on aquatic life (algal blooms)
-toxins in water ways (heavy metals, insecticides, chlorine)
-temperature
-silt and suspended solids loadings
-ground water contamination
air pollution (low priority in regional areas)
-odours (problems with local residents)
-smog (traffic and local industry)
-greenhouse gas emissions (global contributions)
land pollution (medium with possible hot spots)
-pesticide contamination (organochlorines DDT, Dieldrin)
-oil spills (in local areas)
-soil degradation
-rising water table and salinity increase
noise (localised problems)
hazardous wastes (high)
-storage and destruction of hazardous wastes
-spillage during transportation / storage
Local environmental issues:
The environment is complex and consequently is a difficult topic for small and medium sized businesses to manage.
Greenhouse and Climate Change
The Greenhouse impact leading to global warming and other climate changes is the overwhelming issue that our society is facing at present. This impact is one cause of the other environmental impacts previously mentioned. However, all of the environmental issues we face are driven by the force of our population growth.
Greenhouse gases are many, but the primary Greenhouse gas is Carbon Dioxide that accounts for most of the anthropogenic Greenhouse effect.
Fig.8.5
Carbon Dioxide levels have been rising steeply in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial world. CO2 levels have continued to rise despite United Nations efforts to bring industrialised nations together and averaged 386 ppm (0.04%) by 2009. This represents a 55% increase in atmospheric CO2 levels from pre-industrialisation times (approx 250 ppm).
Source: Climate Interactive1
BAU = Business As Usual
FF = most ambitious proposals implemented by developed countries giving 95% emission reduction by 2050.
Fig.8.6
Increases in CO2 emissions are mirrored by increases in global mean temperature, for all scenarios, even for the most ambitious proposals for emission reductions.
Source: IPCC
Fig.8.7
The temperature increase has compromised the future of almost all biological systems on the planet. This can be linked to habitat changes, the most obvious of which is sea level rise that will wipe out many communities living in low lying areas.
Source: IPCC
Fig.8.8
Source: IPCC
Fig.8.9
The various analyses of future sources of Greenhouse emission reductions fall in the next 25 years firmly to into two categories: conservation and resource efficiency (1) and renewable energy (2).
By the end of the century, resource efficiency and renewable energy are still the top two strategies, with CCS (carbon capture and sequestration) and nuclear building a significant presence.
The only “no regrets” strategy of these options is resource efficiency or cleaner production as any reduction in resource consumption wins while using a technology to produce lower Greenhouse emissions could fail due to economics, especially of it relies on government subsidies to succeed.
The cost effectiveness of delocalised small renewable energy installations is highly dependent on government subsidies. While a 750 W solar panel array may cost around $13,000 to install giving a cost per rated watt of $17.50 per rated watt, a 1,000 W wind generator can be installed for $10,000 giving a cost per rated watt of $10.00. However a government subsidy for the solar system may overturn the wind power advantage as may a generational improvement in solar cell efficiency or cost.
The common cause of environmental impacts:
Each of the local environmental issues mentioned above relates to one fundamental cause – the discharge of waste materials and energy from a site.
8.3 Sustainability Analysis – Eco-Footprint
A good way of examining our sustainability as a society is to examine the ”Eco-Footprint” we have on the earth. An eco-footprint is a measure of the amount of productive land on the earth that is required to support our activities.
How do we define the amount of land required to support us? It can be determined by splitting the land needed for the following productive activities:
land for growing crops for food and textiles
land for grazing animals for our meat, leather, wool and milk
land for trees for timber, fuels and fibre
water used for fishing
land used for infrastructure
land and vegetation required to sequester carbon dioxide.
Depending on your consumption, a greater, or smaller amount of land is required to provide material benefits such as food, housing, transport, clothing etc.
People in developed countries have a much larger eco-footprint than those in the developing economies.
Fig.8.10
The Australian average eco-footprint per head of population is 7.6 Ha, compared to the USA just over 10 Ha, while Italy has a footprint of 3.8 Ha. The world average of about 2.0 Ha when multiplied by the total population represented about 1.2 earths in the year 19992.
Fig.8.11
This graph was generated from Wackeragnel et.al. data and shows that humanity started to live off non-renewable natural capital nearly twenty years ago.
Source: World Bank online database 2004 – Carbon Footprint
Fig.8.12
Greenhouse emissions per head of population show the same story and the situation is much worse if we all raise our living standards to those of Australia, or the USA, in which cases we need some 4.3 to 5.6 earths to be sustainable.
The author examined his own eco-footprint, which came out at a total of 5.9 Ha requiring a total of 3.3 earths if everyone lived to the same standard.
Author’s Eco-Footprint
| Activity | Footprint (Ha) | Comment |
| Food | 3.1 | Meat eater |
| Transport | 0.8 | Own car, often with a passenger, but little air travel |
| Shelter | 0.8 | Large house, but with six occupants |
| Goods and Services | 1.2 | Typical of a city dweller |
| TOTAL | 5.9 Ha | 78% of the average Australian |
The solution to environmental problems lies in the reduction of environmental impacts through:
Waste reduction
Resource conservation (biodiversity protection)
These two aspects of the solution relate to business in terms of the efficiency of processes to use less resources and generate less wastes. The Holy Grail for environmental performance is zero waste, at which point all materials are accounted for and used to their maximum benefit.
As Arthur C. Clarke’s stated:
Wastes are materials that we are simply too stupid to use.
8.4 Business – Government – Community
The target for us in the developed countries is a footprint that meets that which the world can readily deliver. If our life styles require 4 earths at present we simply have to reduce resource consumption to one quarter of current levels. That presents a product requirement for industry to use 25% of current resources, not just in production, but across the full life cycle of the goods produced.
At the outset this appears to be an impossible task. Most manufactured goods are produced at efficiencies that are well above 25%. A car may be manufactured with a raw material efficiency of 85 to 90%. The solution may lie in the way the car is used: the number of passengers it carries, its fuel consumption and its disposal or recycling of component raw materials.
Source: IPCC
Fig.8.13
Australia’s performance in reducing Greenhouse gas emissions has been poor in terms of actual chemical emissions. The only saving has been in reduced land clearing that has saved emissions that would otherwise have been generated. As individuals we have not altered our consumption habits over the last two decades.
Fig.8.14
The German community has been more proactive in reducing actual per capita emissions and is well ahead of its Kyoto target.
It is obvious that the solution to global sustainability rests with everyone, but especially those of us who consume the most resources, that is the developed world communities. Leadership in the development of sustainability is the responsibility of government, Large and multinational industries have a high level of responsibility and some are taking leading roles in sustainability.
The local communities are where major change has to come from. It is perfectly possible for all of us in the developed world to use 25% of the resources we currently consume. This does not necessarily require the development of revolutionary new technologies, but it does require a significant change in community values from goals of personal wealth to one of global concern and conservation. Government and commerce play major roles in this cultural change.
| Activity 8 Sustainability |
| Visit the referenced web sites to gather and confirm information relating to the current level of resource depletion and pollution leading to critical global environmental issues. http://www.ipcc.ch http://www.greenpeace.org.au/climate/ |
| Activity 8 Groups |
| Using information gathered about sustainability, discuss how to: Convince other engineers about the need to act now Debating points for a general audience who are sceptical about Greenhouse impacts and Global Warming |
Recommended Web Sites
Disclaimer notice:
While the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (‘RMIT University’) endeavours to provide accurate material on its website, it gives no warranty concerning the accuracy of the material provided by this service. Users should refer to the originating bodies or departments sourcing the documents for confirmation of the accuracy of the material. RMIT University provides hypertext links to a number of external sites, but does not accept responsibility for material on these external sites
WWW Addresses
The following are URLs for accessing World Wide Web based reference materials related to starting points for sustainable development:. Note that they represent only a small proportion of the many sites available.
Best www starting points for sustainable development:
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) http://www.unep.org
Environment Australia
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation
Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Bibiliography
[1] World Business Council for Sustainable Development (2009) Towards a Low Carbon Economy – a business contribution to the international energy and climate debate, WBCSD.
[2] Barlow, Maude (2008) Blue Covenant The Global Water Crisis and the coming Battle for the Right to Water (Black Inc.)
[3] Diamond, Jared (2005) Collapse – How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, (Penguin – Allen Lane)
[4] US Environmental Protection Agency (2000) An Organisational Guide to Pollution Prevention
[5] Hawken, Paul (1993) Natural Capitalism,
[6] World Business Council for Sustainable Development (2008) Sustainable Consumption Facts and Trends – From a Business Perspective
Topic 9 Leaner – Greener – Cleaner Production
Introduction to the Topic
The key purpose of this Topic is to introduce the concepts surrounding cleaner production as a way forward in the search for sustainability solutions. These concepts apply equally to a business, an industry, communities and countries attempting to meet the challenges of sustainability.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this topic you will be able to:
- Define cleaner production
- Understand how to use this concept in industrial applications
- Use the waste hierarchy
- Apply the cost of waste.
Background Skills and Knowledge
Before proceeding with Section 9, you should have completed section 8.
No other specific knowledge or skills are assumed apart from basic computer literacy and statistics.
9.1 Cleaner Production as a solution
Cleaner Production is a term coined by the UNEP in 1989, and was inter-woven throughout Agenda 21 (1992). Their definition follows:
Cleaner Production is the continuous application of an integrated preventative environmental strategy to processes and products to reduce risk to humans and the environment.
For production purposes, Cleaner Production includes conserving raw materials and energy, eliminating toxic raw materials and reducing the quantity and toxicity of all emissions and wastes before they leave a process.
For products, the strategy focuses on reducing impacts along the entire life cycle of the product, from raw material extraction to the ultimate disposal of the product.
Cleaner Production is achieved by applying know-how, improving technology and changing attitudes.
Fig.9.1
If a business can reduce wastes by process improvement it can save money on waste costs as well as improving environmental outcomes. These improvements are truly strategies for sustainable business development.
The concept of Cleaner Production as a specific approach for managing production environments initially evolved within the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) circa 1988/89 in preparatory developments for the Rio Earth Summit 1992. It has since developed and broadened its application to incorporate the continuous application of an integrated preventative environmental strategy to be applied to processes, products and services. It embodies the more efficient use of natural resources and thereby minimises waste and pollution in order to reduce risks to both humans and the environment.
For Production Processes: Cleaner Production includes conserving raw materials, water and energy, eliminating toxic raw materials and reducing the quantity and toxicity of all emissions and wastes.
For Products: Cleaner Production focuses on reducing negative environmental impacts during the entire life cycle of the product, from raw material extraction to the ultimate disposal of the product at end-of-life.
For Services: Cleaner Production focuses on incorporating environmental concerns into designing and delivering services.
Cleaner production requires:
- the application of know-how,
- improvement of technology, and
- the changing of attitudes.
It encourages industry to tackle problems at their ‘source’ rather than at the end of a process; in other words it avoids the ‘end-of-pipe’ approach.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the United Nations Environment Program have given clear definitions and explanations of the two terms in their publication titled: ‘Cleaner Production and Eco-efficiency; Complementary Approaches to Sustainable Development’.
In particular the WBCSD describes eco-efficiency as follows:
“Eco-efficiency is reached by the delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life cycle, to a level at least in line with the earth’s estimated carrying capacity.”
The WBCSD has identified seven components of Eco-efficiency:
- Reduce material intensity of goods and services
- Reduce energy intensity of goods and services
- Reduce toxic dispersion
- Enhance material recyclability
- Maximise sustainable use of renewable resources
- Extend product durability
- Increase the service intensity of goods and services
Both cleaner production and eco-efficiency are effective methodologies for addressing such concepts as “environmental accounting” and the “triple bottom line” approach to developing environmentally sustainable businesses. The ‘triple bottom line’ approach for example, requires that organisations address their operations as having essentially three dimensions:
- Economic dimension
- Environmental dimension
- Social or Ethical dimension.
The challenge is to bring these together to a point of confluence such that each is supported by the other, rather than being seen to be in conflict.
Interestingly, the development over recent years of such concepts as:
- cleaner production;
- eco-efficiency;
- pollution prevention;
- resource efficiency and
- triple bottom line;
also reflects much earlier attempts at positioning of environmental responsibility associated with industrial development.
Cleaner Production: A Definition
The general concept of ‘Cleaner Production’ was first proposed at a UNEP/UNIDO workshop (circa 1989) preparatory to the Rio Earth Summit (1992) and has been a key driving force for change in many industrial organisations around the world.
The language commonly used in describing the many strategies and approaches used to implement cleaner production principles provides an interesting insight into the general construct and philosophy of cleaner production and related areas or concern:
- Waste minimisation
- Cradle-to-grave studies
- Life-cycle analyses
- Pollution prevention strategies
- Waste minimisation assessments
- Sustainable development strategies
- Ecological design processes
- Eco-efficiency
- Incentive schemes
- Regulatory schema
- World Best Practice
- Source reduction
- Resource Audits
- Energy Audits
- Pro-active responsibility versus compliance.
All these and many more are common expressions used in describing the functions associated with cleaner production systems. Implicit in all however, is an obvious interest in improvement from a current situation to a new ‘improved’ regime of attitude and action.
Fundamental to the general concept of cleaner production is the distinction drawn between ‘pollution control’ and that of ‘pollution prevention’. It is the latter that epitomises a cleaner production modality. The following table provides a simple set of examples/comparisons between pollution control and cleaner production attitudes and approaches for achieving improved environmental quality and sustainability of industrial development.
In general terms cleaner production may be seen as the development of a conceptual and procedural approach to production which demands practical measures with objectives of prevention or minimisation of any risks to human and environmental health.
As such, cleaner production methodologies have the capacity to impact directly on enterprise productivity and profitability.
Again, fundamental to the concept of cleaner production is the distinction between a focus on specific technological solutions and an essential shift in corporate and community culture and attitudes towards pollution prevention.
Fig. 9.2 Pollution Control versus Cleaner Production
From these albeit simple examples of alternate approaches, the underlying differences begin to emerge. Historically the approach to managing pollutant activity has most commonly followed a standard ‘End-of-Pipe’ modality. Typically, this has meant collect (the offending pollutant) treat it (to minimise impact) and dispose of it (using wherever possible standard waste management practices).
The corporate mentality set towards ‘Pollution Control’ has generally followed the line that such end-of-pipe approaches are well known and understood, widespread and accepted, enable compliance with regulatory schema and as such are of ‘low-risk’.
It is in this environment of complacent compliance that cleaner production presents its challenge, that ‘POLLUTION PREVENTION PAYS’. In addressing the bottom line of improving profitability, cleaner production focuses on developing ‘win-win’ solutions.
A cleaner production approach is commonly characterised by a search for alternative approaches in design leading to improved or alternative production methods, systems and technologies where appropriate, reduced wastes and associated post-processing costs, potentially additional commercialisable by-products and a significant reduction in undesirable impacts on the environment.
Thus we can derive a meaningful ‘working definition’ for cleaner production as follows (and as commonly used by UNEP, UNIDO, WBCSD):
Fig.9.3 Working Definition for Cleaner Production
9.2 Waste and Resource Efficiency
Fi Fig 9.4
Defining waste
Initially it is important to define what we mean with the term “waste”. It can be applied to almost any activity as an outcome that is not desired by the process. So that waste can be raw materials that are not transformed into product, but they can also be formed from auxiliary materials used in a process such as water, or air used for cooling or as a conveying medium.
Fig.9.6
It is also instructive to think about waste as potentially avoidable, or unavoidable in the activity undertaken. Inherent, or unavoidable waste, is something that is a necessary part of the process. To remove process inherent waste it is necessary to rethink the process and often the raw materials used. On the other hand non-inherent waste is waste that can be avoided by process improvement and is a prime target for Cleaner Production.
9.3 The cost of waste
The most obvious benefit to business in achieving Cleaner Production waste reduction targets is limiting waste disposal costs. However, waste disposal costs may only be 0.5 to 1.0% of total business costs. Thus, a saving of 50% of this means very little to the bottom line.
Fig.9.7
A more careful examination of the cost of wastes shows that there is an array of cost centres associated with the production of waste (on top of the disposal cost). If waste is reduced by process improvement the waste is saved and so is the cost of the raw material that becomes waste. There are also reductions in the cost of the energy that was put into the waste (and also the value added that may have been put into materials that eventually turn into the waste.
A rule of thumb that can be used for the invisible costs of waste is $10 for every $1 spent in disposal. So a waste disposal bill of $20,000 per year for a medium small business may actually be costing a business $200,000 per year. This may be 5 to 10% of business costs, which is certainly significant and therefore presents a good opportunity for improvement.
Fig.9.8
The actual cost of waste can be a smaller, or higher multiple of the disposal cost, depending on the processes and the inherent wastes involved.
Waste Hierarchy
In tackling the waste problem there are a number of strategies that can be employed. Elimination of waste or waste reduction forms the best “no regrets” strategy for waste management as there is no downside other than failure of the plan itself.
Forms of waste management in which waste is diverted from disposal and reused in some way are also valid strategies for waste cost reduction. Re-smelting of metal dross from foundries is widely undertaken to recover the valuable metals for reuse. A recycled metal may contain impurities that render it unsuitable for high grade applications, so the recycled material is used in lower spec end products. This is termed DOWNCYCLING and the materials eventually end up in a form that cannot be recycled at all.
Packaging is often downcycled: a white paper envelope can be recycled into paper pulp that is rebleached and used in recycled printer paper. This in turn can be recycled into a lower grade of paper pulp that may be used for newsprint and then for cardboard. In the end the fibres are not long and strong enough and the original fibre is either composted or incinerated to recover the embodied energy.
Each of the recycling steps costs energy and money until the materials are returned to their lowest energy form back into the environment. This mimicks the natural environment where one specie’s waste is another’s food source until the waste is returned to the biosphere.
Waste Management Hierarchy
- Avoidance
- Reduction
- Reuse
- Recycling
- Waste to Energy
- Treatment
- Disposal
Fig.9.9
The more work that has to be put into the process the greater the cost and the greater the energy consumed, so the best results in terms of cost and environmental outcomes is at the top of the hierarchy and the worst at the bottom.
9.4 Business development opportunities
Waste and environmental impacts of business operations represent a very good indicator of business performance. Wasteful businesses are generally poorly run and not as profitable. Studies from the UK and more recently the US show that good economic performance mirrors good environmental performance for a range of industries (See the World Business Sustainability Council web site – www.wbsc.com – for details).
A business that has demonstrated improvements in environmental performance is in a more competitive position. It can qualify for environmentally sensitive export markets; it can improve its corporate image and often has new opportunities for product and service development.
Fig.9.10
Business development opportunities include:
– Treating wastes as products
Geelong Wool Combing operates a wool scour that generates large amounts of solid wastes from the dirty wool. Instead of disposing of these at a considerable cost, the business decided to make them into a product. By composting the solid wastes with other organic materials the business now produces and retails a product called “Top Soil” as a potting mix.
Original Juice has extracted d-Limonene, a biodegradable surfactant, from orange peel wastes with a greater value than the juice from the same oranges.
Other wastes have been concentrated into very valuable by-products: tomato skins contain Lycopene, a red coloured anti-oxidant that is added to tomato sauces. Apple skins contain polyphenol anti oxidants and can be transformed from wastes into fruit straps with high nutrition value.
– Take-back opportunities
Packaging wastes can cause extensive problems with disposal. Pallecon containers have changed their business from packaging and using non-returnable containers, to a system of collapsible, reusable containers for liquid chemical goods. Disposal costs are almost eliminated and transport of returned containers is more efficient than the transport of un-reusable containers to land fill.
– Textile recycling
Bradmill initiated a recovery scheme for denim fabric off-cuts from its customers. The off-cuts were returned in the same vehicles that made deliveries and the fabric was opened up into a floc, from which a recycled yarn was spun. This did not have the strength of new yarns, but had a unique flecked appearance and was considered to have good market potential.
A win for the environment
Every time wastes are reduced the load that the environment has to assimilate is reduced. More efficient processes lead to less resource usage. Energy reduction also provides a boost for environment protection.
A discussion of environmental impacts should go beyond the disposal of the wastes and look at ‘down stream’ effects.
| Activity 9 Solutions to sustainability issues |
| Read the following and discuss the concepts with others regarding what actions can be taken to reduce per capita resource consumption and waste / environmental impacts. http://www.cleanerproduction.com Determine how waste reduction principles can apply to process efficiency and time as in “Lean Manufacturing” http://www.lean.org/ |
| Activity 9 Groups |
| With a business in mind list the major waste streams and determine the costs associated with these waste streams. Establish a program to identify wastes within this business Consider how this may work at an industry level |
Section 10 Cleaner Production principles
Introduction to the Topic
The key purpose of this Topic is to build on the concept of cleaner production and provide a basic plan for the implementation of cleaner production to meet the goals of sustainability.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this topic you will be able to:
- Identify and assess wastes
- Use the mass balance checking technique
- Understand the basics of energy and risk analysis for cleaner production.
Background Skills and Knowledge
Before proceeding with Section 10 you should have completed section 9.
No other specific knowledge or skills are assumed apart from basic computer literacy and statistics.
10.1 Implementing Cleaner Production
Cleaner Production outcomes have been described, however, we have not discussed the process of achieving those outcomes. Process improvement is a generalised activity. Strategic planning is practiced throughout human endeavour. Cleaner Production examines one major aspect of process improvement through the investigation of wastes and environmental risks.
Fig.10.1
As with other process improvement systems, such as TQM, Quality Circles etc. Cleaner Production involves gathering facts about wastes and then relating them to the process problems causing wastes. These form the basis of the opportunities to improve the processes and reduce wastes and energy consumption, as is the general objective of the program.
Fig.10.2
The main task within Cleaner Production is to map out the material flows that occur during a representative period of business operation. The more detail there is in the flows the more easily opportunities for improvement can be identified.
The stages outlined for Cleaner Production are as follows:
organisation
scoping
preliminary waste assessment
targets and objectives
detailed waste assessment
charting processes and identifying waste streams
energy assessment
characterising waste streams
identification of improvement opportunities
planning improvements
implementing improvements
monitoring and reviewing implementation
At the outset it is important to realise that a Cleaner Production program does require some resources and, if these are not available, a poor result will be assured. Management must be committed to the process and be aware of the benefits, then they will see the return on any resources invested into the program.
From this point of view it is important to set some preliminary targets and objectives for the program. If there is no knowledge of the amount of wastes, nor the potential improvements that can be made, then an arbitrary figure can be used. Targets and objectives can be changed at any time during the process of Cleaner Production.
Setting up a Cleaner Production program involves developing a program that will gather data effectively about material flows and wastes produced. This requires people with knowledge about the processes undertaken, people with knowledge of materials and energy purchased and costs of wastes. Waste monitoring may have to be undertaken, so the program should include technical staff and others who can put the data together and communicate and report on the outcomes.
Material flow measurement requires knowledge of all inputs and outputs and the application of the basic scientific principle that “what goes in must come out somewhere, if it doesn’t accumulate within the system”.
At the first point a total mass flow of materials in and out of the business can be developed. This will show the gross levels of wastes and any mistakes in the figures can be determined by balancing the outputs with the inputs.
The Cleaner Production program is only as strong as its weakest link. All elements require adequate resourcing and attention to get the most from a program.
Teamwork is considered critical so as to gain the maximum input to improvements and to provide ownership of the outcomes.
Fig.10.3
10.2 Waste assessment
Identification of waste streams
Sources of wastes
While waste can be seen and normally measured at the point of departure from the site, these are predominantly the result of a combination of various different waste streams that come from a range of waste sources.
All wastes come from an activity performed; therefore, it is imperative to check through these activities so that all wastes and sources of waste can be identified.
At first, wastes leaving the site can be identified by a physical waste inspection (by the team). The inspectors should be careful to include consideration of all possible types of waste, such as:
Fig.10.4
- air emissions
- odours
- noise
- discharges to water ways (storm water, ground water)
- discharges to land (leaks to land)
- wastes piped away from the site
- hazardous wastes collected on site for disposal
- wastes leaving with the product (packaging, fillers etc.)
OTHER HIDDEN WASTES
Identifying sources of waste (checklists)
Establish the basic classifications of wastes and sources (waste type – source) these may be determined from the following sources:
process operations (normal and out of spec.)
cleaning and maintenance
product change over
starting and stopping (shut down, sift changeover and accidents)
raw materials (packaging, out of spec., surplus.)
storage, transport loading & off loading
products (out of spec., packaging, surplus, contaminated)
Identifying inputs (checklists)
Establish a list of inputs which can be used a cross reference to inputs from process flow charts. In this way inputs purchased can be checked and the completeness of the flow charts can also be tested.
Inputs include:
raw materials (purchasing accounts, MSDS, orders…)
cleaning materials (ditto)
additives (ditto)
maintenance materials (ditto)
water (water bills)
fuels (accounts, metering)
power (power bills, metering)
refrigerants
cryogenic materials
stationery and office supplies
computer supplies
How to flow chart processes leading to waste
Flow charting the processes undertaken is the most comprehensive way to isolate waste streams emanating from these processes and the sources of these wastes.
Processes can be complex and materials may move in a variety of ways making flow charting a complex operation. It is important for the sake of clarity of information that flow charts are simple, not complex.
Each waste stream emitted from a process will have its own unique characteristics and physiochemical properties. These “waste streams” need to be initially segregated and examined for importance to the Cleaner Production program.
Fig.10.5
Streaming wastes
Wastes may be streamed:
by process
by product category
by raw material type
by time (shift, day of the week, season…)
Waste streams may be combined if there is little differentiating them from each other, or if they cannot be practically segregated and monitored. This can simplify the streaming process considerably.
Characterisation of waste streams enables priority wastes with high levels of contamination, high volumes, or conversely clean wastes that can be reused, to be identified and the cost benefit in waste reduction to be quantified.
A poor understanding of the nature of waste sources, streams and stream character will inevitably lead to difficult decisions when it comes to planning improvements.
Segregation by types
Wastes and waste streams have previously been confirmed by examination of inputs and outputs and by flow charting processes.
Waste streams have been rationalised to ensure ability to quantify and characterise each of them.
From an examination of outputs (the waste inspection) and confirmation from records, a series of waste types can be developed which may include some of the following categories.
Waste Types
| Solids | Water based | Gases | Other | Energy |
| Products off spec | Process water | Steam | Oils and greases | Heat content of water wastes |
| Packaging | Wash down | Boiler emissions | Tank sludges | stack emission heat |
| Equipment | Cooling water | Compressed air leaks | Hazardous wastes | Heat in product |
| Raw Materials | Cooking water | Process emissions | Prescribed wastes | Heat in solid wastes |
| Scraps | Steam condensate | Cryogenic liquid evaporation | Down time | Heat loss from air-conditioning |
| Product contaminated | Storm water | Odour emissions | Noise (?) | Heat/Power loss from lighting |
| Office wastes | Atmospheric condensate | Refrigerant / gas leaks | Compressed air energy losses | |
| Rags and clothing | Cleaning wastes | Solvent / fuel evaporation | Heat in solid wastes | |
| Computer consumables | Leaks to ground water | Emissions from forklifts and engines on site | Fuel loss in transport | |
| Fly ash | Domestic sewer | Emissions from transport systems | Fuel loss on site |
There is some degree of cross over especially between energy and physical waste streams. Energy can be considered as a part of the physical waste streams where they are counted in their own right.
Segregation by process
The types of wastes can then be split into a matrix of waste streams by splitting them into the processes that cause them. In many cases a physical, or energy waste, will be generated by a number of different processes. In which case it should be split into a series of different streams.
Waste types are combined in a matrix with the processes generating these wastes and each resulting waste stream is identified and given a label.
Characterisation
Characterisation of waste streams as well as quantification is an important part of the Cleaner Production program. The areas of characterisation will be dependant on the scope of the Cleaner Production program and the priorities for waste reduction, or contamination reduction.
The type of characterisation undertaken may include the following:
waste water streams (COD, BOD, SS, TDS, Colour, N, P, pH, Acidity/Alkalinity, temperature, heavy metals, toxicity…)
solid waste streams (heavy metals, toxic materials, oils, solvents)
sludges (toxic materials, metals, leachable materials, stability…)
gases (odour, TOC, NH3, Particulates, NOx, CO2…)
These contaminating materials may come under licensing restrictions, or maximum levels under the various environmental protection regulations.
Characterisation of waste streams can be undertaken by measurement, or by estimation (or a combination of the two).
Characterisation of waste water streams for pH, acidity, sugar content (BOD) Characterisation of waste water and gas streams for energy content
Fig.10.6
Quantification of waste streams
(Mass and Energy Balances, monitoring and measurement)
Quantification of inputs (physical and energy)
Once waste streams have been prioritised for quantification of inputs it is necessary to establish what sources of knowledge there are to determine the rate of consumption of material inputs.
The sources of information for inputs should then be reviewed for data on rates of material and energy inputs.
Sources of information for the quantification of inputs include:
raw material purchase records
material inventories
emission inventories
equipment cleaning and validation procedures
batch make-up records
product specifications
design material balances
production records
operating logs
operating procedures
waste manifests
records of flow measurements, analyses data etc.
If material input rates are not available they can be monitored and/or estimated.
Consumption of raw materials will generally be available from purchasing data, but the same raw materials may be used a series of processes and generate a series of products. In some cases the consumption of a raw material can be calculated by subtracting consumption in other processes.
Recipes and process specifications can be used to determine inputs from a knowledge of the time the process was operated and the production of product from the process.
10.3 Energy Assessment
Energy consumption assessment is an integral component of a Cleaner Production program. It is one of the prime costs of wastes, both material and time wastes.
Fig.10.7
Energy consumption together with direct Grennhouse gas emissions from production processes and indirect emissions from waste water and solid waste breakdown can provide a complete analysis of the Greenhouse emissions of the facility. This is required for accumulation into Australia’s Greenhouse emissions inventory and may also be a requirement of an EPA licence.
An energy audit conducted in compliance with the Australian Standard AS/NZS 3598:2000 requires examination of energy consumption over a period of two previous years, an energy demand analysis and the development of options for energy consumption reduction. These are related to Greenhouse CO2 (equivalent) emissions for the facility.
Inventory of Equipment and Energy Consumption
An inventory of equipment consuming power can be produced by inspecting processes and confirming energy inputs identified in process flow charts.
Energy use checklist
The following pieces of equipment and process steps should be investigated as part of any energy balance.
electric motors
electric heaters
compressed air management
boilers
combustion performance
feed water treatment
control and maintenance
utilisation of steam
ovens
refrigeration
air conditioning
process heat recovery
factory heating and cooling
lighting management
computers and IT equipment
transport
The energy consumption of each piece of electrical equipment can be estimated for the period of monitoring by multiplying the time by the power rating of the equipment.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Fluorescent lighting bank 50 of 40 watt tubes operating for 60 hours per week
Energy = 50 x 40 watt x 60 hrs = 120,000 WHr = 120 KWHr/week
Compressor motors 2 x 5KW compressors operating for ave. 20 hours per week (timed)
Energy = 2 x 5 KW x 20 hrs = 200 KWHr/week
Balancing Energy Consumption with Metered Input:
The sum of all sources of electrical energy consumption = the total electrical energy consumed (as per the metered consumption)
SUM (Lighting Energy + Compressors + Motors + Heaters) = Total Energy consumed
A similar consumption vs. demand analysis can be tackled for natural gas, LPG and other fuels used within the scope of the assessment.
Fig.10.8
A weekly electrical power consumption profile can provide information about the variation in power demand, peak demand and overhead demand additional to production equipment. This data can be decisive in determining the major sources of power consumption and energy waste from power “overheads” driving non-productive equipment to demand driven by productive equipment over the period of operation.
Fig.10.9
A history of electrical power consumption over a year will show the seasonal variation of demand and enable target setting.
Checking systems
The fundamental principles on which Cleaner Production programs are founded are
The Mass Balance
Fig10.10
Energy Conservation
Effectively these principles state “what comes in must go out”, so it is possible to check waste measurements and estimates against purchases of raw materials.
The sum of INPUTS = The sum of OUTPUTS + net material ACCUMULATION
This conservation of material can be extended in various forms that enable checking of specific materials such as:
Total WATER inputs (water+water in raw materials+..) = Total WATER outputs (wastes + products + atmospheric emissions) + ACCUMULATED water
or
Total SULPHUR inputs = Total SULPHUR outputs + net SULPHUR accumulation
Energy can be treated in a similar way, although it is generally harder to measure energy content of outputs. Usually a modification is employed as follows:
Total ELECTRICAL POWER USED = SUM of (POWER RATING of equipment x OPERATING TIME)
The same approach can be used for fuels.
Mass balancing a process
If a single process can be isolated, with its inputs and outputs determined over a particular period, it should be possible to confirm the validity of these measurements by balancing inputs against outputs.
Care should be taken with most processes to cover all inputs and outputs. Water can convert from the liquid to the gas phase and in some cases, such as combustion, air can be used as a raw material.
Mass balancing a material / energy system
It may only be necessary to consider the fate of the raw materials and restrict consideration to these materials, so long as they are not chemically converted into new materials. Again, water content should be carefully considered and water inputs and outputs balanced along with the raw materials (and their moisture contents).
Additives can also be mass balanced. This is particularly useful when these contribute to waste contamination levels.
Mass Balance – Usage map
The most common way to use mass balance is with usage maps. The total input or waste is usually fairly easily established. What is more difficult to establish is the breakdown of this total figure on the other side of the usage map. Of course, the total of each side must be equal (mass cannot disappear!). If it does not balance, then data validation techniques can be used to investigate the differences.
Example:
In an electroplating plant the following data of average weekly results were recorded.
Nickel anodes added: 4 kg
Nickel deposited onto steel shafts: 7 kg
Loss of nickel from 2000 litre solution: 2 g/l (= 4 kg).
(This was added each week as nickel salts concentrate)
How much nickel was lost per week as drag-out from the nickel tank? A quantitative usage map is constructed, as shown in the table below and the mass balance calculation provides the answer.
Material Usage Map
| 4 kg anodes | ||||
| plus 2g/l x 2000 l = 4 kg | à | Deposited onto steel shafts | 7 kg | |
| Total of 8 kg per week nickel added | à | Dragout losses | unknown | |
| Therefore | Dragout losses = | 1 kg (12.5 litre of 80g/l nickel solution | ||
| 8 kg in | Total quantity of nickel per week | 8 kg out |
10.4 Risk Assessment
Definitions:
-A “Hazard” is a source, or a potential source of harm
-An “Environmental Risk” is a function of:
the existence of a hazard
the likelihood of its occurrence
the environmental consequences
Fig.10.11
Companies world wide are moving toward more comprehensive management of environmental risks – why?
Is it due to the increasing amount of regulation that surrounds business operations these days and the fear of prosecution? Are business leaders becoming more aware of the significant environmental risks that are facing our species on the earth today? Are business managers driven by the pursuit of profits and are these finally being tied to environmental (and health/safety/social) performance.
Consider these points:
Environmental prosecutions for tier 3 offences in Australia can lead to a company fine of $1m.,
a personal fine of $250,000 and a goal term of up to 7 years.
Environmental clean up costs can amount to $500 per tonne of soil treated, $10 per kilolitre of water cleaned up.
Common law claims against firms have run into the $b realm.
Mandatory company reporting on environmental aspects of business
Ozone layer hole has resulted in a significant increase in skin cancer incidence in Australia.
Global warming has been predicted to cause potentially catastrophic effects on our ecosystem.
The best performing companies are also the most protective of the environment
(See David Edwards “The Link Between Company Environmental and Financial Performance” Earthscan Pub. London 1998)
Fig.10.12
The latter point deserves further investigation, as the correlation of two outcomes does not establish a cause and effect relationship between them. Take the correlation between CO2 levels and global atmospheric temperature. Although this correlation is very good going back 160,000 years, does it infer that increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere due to the internal combustion engine mean that global warming is to be a result?
Penalties are now considerable in financial terms and may have an even greater impact in commercial terms, especially for major organisations.
Consider the following:
Shell fined over $200,000 for breaches of safety requirements at its Geelong Refinery in 2000.
A cyanide spill from a gold mine cost the Australian joint owner its existence in 2000.
Esso battled a multiple million dollar law suits for its Longford explosion in 1999.
BHP suffered a multi million dollar class action for its pollution of the Fly River due to a tailings dam burst and had to stop operations.
Monsanto has suffered by the closure of European markets for its Genetically Modified Seeds due to public criticism of GM foods and the Mad Cow disease in the UK.
One litre of oil is valued at $2-3, if spilt into a river or the sea it can cost the polluter $880 in clean up costs and fines.
One thousand litres of Formic acid spilt on the road cost the transporter $15,500 in clean up costs on the Geelong Road in 2003.
Identification of Environmental Risks
Review purchased materials for environmental impacts
Examine flow charts for wastes
Check records for spills, leaks and other incidents
Examine histories of accidents
Discuss near misses
Examine literature on hazards in similar industries
How to quantify the level of Risk
probability (likelihood, or expected frequency) of the event
severity (or cost of the outcome)
Cost of risk ($/y) = Outcome cost ($) x Frequency of outcome (/y)
Probability (Frequency) of Occurrence
1. Determine the events leading up to the environmental discharge
2. Establish the sequence and redundancy in these events
3. Draw a fault tree to analyse the sequence
4. Quantify the probability of each event occurring
5. Determine the overall probability of the environmental spill
| Activity 10 Implementing Cleaner Production |
| Scan some of the cleaner production examples that you can find through Google and other sites such as that given. See if you can find examples that mix energy, waste and risk reduction. http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=o4545 See if China has a significant Cleaner Production program and list the barriers to establishing sustainable practices in China, or another country. http://www.chinacp.com/ |
| Activity 10 Group |
| Using the business example you previously had, define a program that will examine all aspects of cleaner production (wastes, risk, energy and opportunities). Build up a set of waste, energy, risk and opportunity streams for further examination Examine what data sources there are for this business |
Section 11 Environmental Management for sustainability
Introduction to the Topic
The key purpose of this Topic is to integrate the concepts of cleaner production with the goals of our society and the responsibilities of the professional engineer in designing products and systems that include the interests of sustainable principles.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this topic you will be able to:
- Use and apply the concepts of environmental management and continuous improvement,
- Understand the role that professional engineers have in the future directions of our society,
- Construct plans to meet these requirements,
- Identify, list and discuss the key strategies associated with the introduction of cleaner production approaches around the globe.
- Understand the key strategies and range of approaches being taken around the globe.
Background Skills and Knowledge
Before proceeding with section 11, you should have completed sections 8 through 10.
No other specific knowledge or skills are assumed apart from basic computer literacy and statistics.
11.1 Environmental Management Systems
Environmental performance management is the most recent addition to business management requirements. It has followed occupational health and safety into the daily management issues for all businesses with significant environmental aspects (and that is most businesses – retailers and transport organisations share significant environmental issues with other service organisations, the building and construction industries, manufacturers and farmers).
Cleaner Production as an environmental management tool sits within a series of ongoing management requirements that require continual revision and updating. As management consultants put it: The manager must juggle all of the balls at once, if one is dropped it will threaten the future of the business.
The heart of environmental management is the policy to which it relates. For organisations to have policies compatible with Cleaner Production and sustainable development principles the following policy elements are required:
a commitment to legal compliance
understanding all environmental issues relating to the business
continuous performance improvement
the establishment of environmental targets and objectives
openness in communication of environmental issues
These are basically the same policy elements that contain an environmental management system in conformance with the international standard ISO14001.
Fig.11.1
The commitment to continuous improvement is important in travelling down the pathway toward sustainable business operations. The targets for environmental compliance, competitive position and sustainable business will always be moving so an improvement cycle is appropriate to develop.
The TQM (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle is directly analogous to the Cleaner Production improvement cycle (assess wastes-plan improvements-implement plans-monitor and reset objectives).
How is the impetus for continuous improvement maintained? Most businesses run Cleaner Production as a tool under their environmental management systems (EMS).
The EMS provides the documentation, procedures, scheduling and checking mechanisms to ensure adequate resources are placed behind the Cleaner Production program. It is not necessary for a business to run a full EMS to use Cleaner Production, but it requires management discipline to follow up the implementation of the program and to keep it aligned with business objectives.
Fig 11.2
ISO14001
This is the standard to which business is conforming. ISO14001 is a non prescriptive standard that sets a series of outcomes and does not prescribe how an organisation should achieve these outcomes.
Cleaner Production can sit as a major performance improvement mechanism inside an ISO14001 EMS. (See EMS specification for details).
The five core principles embodied in ISO14001 can be outlined as follows:
- The Policy Principle requires an organisation to focus on commitment to prevention of pollution, compliance with regulations, voluntary initiatives and continual improvement.
- The Planning Principle incorporates the steps necessary to develop and implement an effective Environmental Management system.
- The Implementation Principle requires that an organisation put in place the necessary capabilities and infrastructure to achieve an effective Environmental Management System.
- The Checking and Corrective Action Principle requires that organisations measure, monitor and evaluate their environmental performance.
- The Review and Improvement Principle requires that executive management regularly review the overall performance of the Environmental Management System.
The introduction of such principles and management processes lead inexorably towards a Cleaner Production focussed corporate and industrial environment.
11.2 Continuous improvement and lifecycle thinking
There is a management adage that “what can’t be measured can’t be managed”. This also applies to improvement, if you want to improve continuously you must measure performance continuously too.
As the key to sustainability is optimal resource utilisation at all aspects of resource use it is mandatory to examine the full life cycle of manufactured goods from raw materials to end of life and apply Cleaner Production thinking to these aspects.
It is generally found that one or two life cycle stages are responsible for most of the environmental impact and resource usage. For example an automobile may require 150GJ to produce the raw materials, a further 50GJ to produce the car and then 1000 or more GJ during use in fuels during the car’s useful life. So effort needs to be placed in making the car be more fuel efficient first before attention is placed on reducing the energy content of the raw materials and finally looking to reduce energy in the assembly of the various parts which make up the car. Of course the most critical factor in all of the above is the design of the car and the systems of use to maximise occupant miles for each car.
The practice of lifecycle assessment is simply the application of cleaner production principles top each lifecycle stage of the product or service.
See: http://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/Policy/EHSC/EHSCnotesonLifeCycleAssessment.asp
For an introduction to the topic.
Fig.11.3
The inventory stage of life cycle analysis provides the data that can be used in a cleaner production analysis.
Fig.11.4
Life cycle analysis systems generally go further to determine the extent of various environmental impacts over the full life cycle which can then be judged as to the degree of full environmental impact, or left at the various aspects of the impacts.
11.3 Conclusions on sustainable development
Roles of stakeholders in sustainability
There are many stakeholders associated with the introduction of a Cleaner Production approach into an organisation. Each with their own particular interest and needs.
“One reason pollution prevention programs have not been as effective as they could be is that too often a human behavioural problem has been confused with a technical problem. Pollution prevention will only be successful if people’s behaviour changes.” (Jamieson, 1993)
Certainly, it is essential that the needs of the people in an organisation implementing new Cleaner Production approaches are addressed and that all the participants are involved and kept informed.
A fundamental characteristic of the Union movement worldwide has been it’s pro-active role in addressing the need for safe working conditions for it’s members, for example through ensuring implementation of Occupational Health and Safety schemas. Similarly, the Union movement at large has addressed issues related to the improvement in standards of living and the well being of communities. In this regard, Cleaner Production approaches and methodologies are clearly aligned with the above concerns. Accordingly, the introduction of Cleaner Production potentially provides significant opportunities for the Union movement to ensure continued focus on these issues.
Education and training of its members in new techniques and methods will clearly be a significant issue for the Union movement. Similarly, the success of introducing new Cleaner Production methodologies and approaches hinges very much on the support and effective commitment of staff throughout the whole organisation, from management through to the ‘shop floor’. Additional potential benefits may also flow through to the Union movement through a focus on a ‘cleaner and greener’ wage bargaining system. For example, advantages to both employee and employer can be derived through increased productivity and improved creativity in new product design.
A key role for the many Conservation and ‘Lobby’ groups with an active interest in seeing industry move towards a commitment to sustainable development through Cleaner Production methods and approaches, is that of establishing an active presence in the education process. Corporate planning, whilst necessarily focused on corporate objectives and the needs of corporate stakeholders, can be influenced through effective representation of new ideas, directions, potentials and mechanisms for implementation.
Increasingly, the general ethos of the conservation movement per se is being strongly represented in the corporate boardroom, with strong representation of new and demonstrably cost effective techniques for production, manufacturing and industrial management getting a hearing.
The focus of Cleaner Production on Source Reduction clearly provides a basis for a strong alliance with those concerned with the future of renewable and non-renewable resources. A key feature of the role of Conservation and Lobby groups is that of encouraging society and consumers to act in ways which will result in reduced pollution and thus reduced impact on the environment.
Consumer behaviour must surely be one of the most potent factors in the introduction of Cleaner Production. After all, it is consumers who eventually vote with their purchasing power in the market place. The right product at the right price, at the right time, in the right place, is a sure thing unless of course it also happens to be shown as the source and cause of misery, destruction and disaster!
The role of the media and its influence on consumers in such an instance becomes very powerful indeed. Just as a there is growing awareness throughout society of the risks to our environment of continued unfettered industrial development, so also is there a ready market for new ‘cleaner and greener’ products and processes. The marketing of such concepts, products and processes to societies at large requires access to and the support of the mass media.
Governments across the world are formed through various mechanisms and with widely varying views and rationales for action. However, in recent years, particularly over the past decade, many governments have agreed on mutual action to encourage new approaches in industry that are most focused on achieving ecologically and economically sustainable development. These determinations have progressively moved on from the voluble expressions of political rhetoric, through the introduction of international treaties, to the introduction of specific industry-wide strategies focused on reducing toxic wastes, managing resources more efficiently and developing more environmentally friendly products and services.
Given the responsibilities of government for the health and welfare of its peoples, the introduction of Cleaner Production methodologies and approaches provides an obvious mechanism to facilitate further implementation of environmentally responsible and economically sustainable industrial development. A key feature of government action is, and must continue to be, that of establishing realistic and implementable legislative and regulatory schema affecting environmental impact regimes through industrial activities. The encouragement of progressive introduction of effective Environmental Management Systems and practices and the management of tough compliance procedures is an essential role for government.
A Table of ‘Players’ in Cleaner Production
Understanding the role of each group of stakeholders helps to direct appropriate action and information. The following table outlines in point form some of the different arenas of activity and areas of interest that can arise.
| STAKE-HOLDERS | TOPIC |
| 1. The Company | Problem Analysis & Solution |
| • Employers | Responsibility and internal control Prevention teams and organisation |
| • Employees | Change in work routines Participation and influence Individually and in teams |
| 2. The Company Network | Reduction of Aspect Blindness |
| • Consultants | Cleaner working procedures Cleaner process technologies Help to question existing practices |
| • Suppliers | Changes in product & materials design Clean technologies |
| • Industry associations | Lobbying government and community Industry training Industry sustainability strategies |
| • Education Institutions | Teach prevention strategies New courses & further training Critical & creative attitude |
| • Trade Unions | Working conditions and outside, environmental conditions ‘Cleaner’ wage-bargaining system |
| • Trade organisations | Diffusion of knowledge about prevention |
| 3. Government | Dynamic Regulation |
| • Municipality | Green waste water plan Health & safety |
| • State | Environmental certification External prevention campaign |
| • Federal | Trade agreements Initiate the innovation of clean technologies |
| 4. The Public | Enlightenment & Democratic Debate |
| • Citizen | Motivation to prevention Change in consumer behaviour |
| • Media | Information and debate |
| 5. NGOs | Investigation and Exposure of Practices |
| • Environmental Activists | Exposure of pollution Exposure of discriminatory behaviour Exposure of resource misuse |
| • Caring Groups | Information about issues Assistance to consumers Training on issues |
| Activity 11 Group |
| With due examination of the materials presented and data from the various sources of information: Construct a Cleaner Production approach to a particular issue such as the business that you have already examined as a group Ensure that the approach contains a solution to the issue of sustainability by providing a full life cycle stages Cleaner Production analysis. |
Summary and Outcome Checklist
In this topic we have introduced a range of strategies for facilitating the introduction of Cleaner Production approaches.
Tick the box for each statement with which you agree:
I can
- Produce a rationale for the need to develop a sustainability plan
- Design a waste assessment
- design a Cleaner Production Plan that meets sustainability requirements.
If you can not tick all of the above, you need to revise the relevant sections and/or contact your tutor for clarification.
Post script – principles to follow
Principles from the Earth Summit 1992
The following excerpts from the 27 Principles enunciated in the Rio Declaration highlight some of the essential areas of concern to be addressed by industrial organisations and engineering managers and indicate the level of commitment agreed to and signed by 150 Heads of State and Government at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Implementation of strategies targeted at meeting the spirit of these principles has involved widespread policy development around the globe.
“Principle 2.
States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do nor cause damage to the environment of other states or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
Principle 3.
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.
Principle 4.
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.
Principle 8.
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.
Principle 9.
States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for sustainable development by improving scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and technological knowledge, and by enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer of technologies, including new and innovative technologies.
Principle 16
National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalisation of environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting international trade and investment.
Principle 25.
Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisable.” (UNEP, 1992)
Ten Steps Towards a Corporate Cleaner Production Environment
The following discussion addresses ten steps that can be taken towards establishing a Corporate Cleaner Production Environment in industry. They reflect the common underlying commercial philosophy of Cleaner Production proponents and supporters of the principles of pollution prevention, namely: that ‘Pollution Prevention Pays‘.
- Develop and implement comprehensive Corporate Policies on the Environment, Sustainable Development & the role of Cleaner Production, based on prevention and minimisation of wastes and reduced emissions and risks from all corporate activities.
- Regularly undertake a comprehensive Resource and Emission Reduction Audit.
- Develop and implement a systematic Waste Reduction Plan that contains specific waste reduction goals with definite timetables for achieving these goals.
- Educate & involve employees, at all levels within the corporation, in identifying and quantifying the problems and in seeking creative solutions to those problems. Solutions should he sought by seeking to eliminate or to minimise the problems at their sources.
- Allocate specific employee Responsibility for achieving the waste and emission reduction goals. This requires management to allocate sufficient employee time and financial support to ensure that the work can be accomplished. The position of Cleaner Production Coordinator should be at the level of Vice-President within the company.
- Obtain the best Management and Technical Information possible in order to help the company take advantage of the Cleaner Production waste and emission reduction opportunities.
- Continuously Monitor & Evaluate performance and progress in achieving the waste and emission reduction goals.
- Regularly inform employees, shareholders and the public, of waste and emission reduction progress being made. This information should be provided to employees on a monthly or bimonthly basis and to the public and the shareholders on an annual basis.
- Establish and utilise special ‘Waste and Emission Reduction Incentives and Award Programs’ designed to foster and reward creative problem solving activities in the part of all employees.
- Regularly Review & Update waste and emission goals and timetables, being fully aware that ‘Success in Cleaner Production is a Journey not a Destination’.
(Derived from Australian Workshop Core Cleaner Production Materials, presented by Prof. D. Huisingh, 1995, RMIT University)
THE VALDEZ PRINCIPLES
- Protection of the Biosphere
We will minimise the release of any pollutant that may cause environmental damage to the air, water or earth. We will safeguard habitats in rivers, lakes, wetlands, coastal zones and oceans and will avoid contributing to the greenhouse effect, depletion of the ozone layer, acid rain or smog.
- Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
We will make sustainable use of renewable resources such as water, soils and forests. We will conserve non renewable natural resources through efficient use and careful planning. We will protect wildlife, habitat, open spaces and wilderness, while preserving bio-diversity.
- Reduction and Disposal of Waste
We will minimise waste, especially hazardous waste, and wherever possible recycle materials. We will dispose of all waste through safe and responsible methods.
- Wise Use of Energy
We will use environmentally safe and sustainable energy sources to meet our needs. We will invest in improved energy efficiency and conservation in our operations. We will maximise the energy efficiency of products we use or sell.
- Risk Reduction
We will minimise the environmental, health and safety risks to our employees and the communities in which we operate by employing safe technologies and operating procedures and by being constantly prepared for emergencies.
- Marketing of Safe Products and Services
We will sell products that minimise environmental impacts and are safe as consumers commonly use them. We will inform consumers of the environmental impacts of our products and services.
- Damage Compensation
We will take responsibility for any harm we cause to the environment by making every effort to restore the environment and to compensate those persons who are adversely affected.
- Disclosure
We will disclose to our employees and to the public, incidents relating to our operations that cause environmental harm or pose health or safety hazards. We will disclose potential environmental health or safety hazards posed by our operations.
- Environmental Directors and Managers
At least one seat on our Board of Directors will be designated for an environmental advocate. We will commit management resources to implement these principles, including the funding of Vice President for environmental affairs or an equivalent executive position to monitor and report on our implementation efforts.
- Assessment and Annual Audit
We will conduct and make public an annual self-evaluation of our progress in implementing these principles and in complying with all applicable laws and regulations. We will work towards the creation of independent environmental audit procedures to which we will adhere.
(Derived from Australian Workshop Core Cleaner Production Materials, presented by Prof. D. Huisingh, 1995, RMIT University)
CODE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS FOR ENGINEERS
The World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFOE) Committee on Engineering and Environment, with a strong and clear belief that human enjoyment and permanence on this planet will depend on the care and protection man provides to the environment, states the following principles.
TO ALL ENGINEERS
When you develop any professional activity:
- Try the best of your ability, courage, enthusiasm and dedication to obtain a superior technical achievement, which will contribute to and promote a healthy surrounding for all people, in open spaces as well as indoors.
- Strive to accomplish the beneficial objectives of your work with the lowest possible consumption of raw materials and energy and the lowest production of wastes and any kind of pollution.
- Discuss, in particular, the consequences of your proposals and actions, direct or indirect, immediate or long term, upon the health of people, social equity and the local system of values.
- Study thoroughly the environment that will be affected, assess all the impacts that might arise in the state, dynamics and aesthetics of the ecosystems involved, urbanised or natural, as well as in the pertinent socio-economic systems, and select the best alternative for an environmentally sound and sustainable development.
- Promote a clear understanding of the actions required to restore and, if possible, to improve the environment that may be disturbed, and include them in your proposals.
- Reject any kind of commitment that involves unfair damages for human surroundings and nature, and manage the best social and political solution.
- Be aware that the principles of ecosystemic interdependence, diversity maintenance, resource recovery and interrelational harmony form the bases of our continued existence and that each of those bases poses a threshold of sustainability that should not be exceeded.
Always remember that war, greed, misery and ignorance, plus natural disasters and human induced pollution and destruction of resources, are the main causes of the progressive impairment of the environment and that you, as an active member of the engineering profession, deeply involved in the promotion of development, must use your talent, knowledge and imagination to assist society in removing those evils and improving the quality of life for all people.
(Derived from Australian Workshop Core Cleaner Production Materials, presented by Prof. D. Huisingh, 1995, RMIT University)
1 Climate Interactive at http://climate interactive.org
2 Wackernagel et.al., 9266-9271, NPAS, July 9, 2002, Vol 99 no.14
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