19 hand out on cp concept and principles -samantha

Cleaner Production Concept and Principles

Background of Cleaner Production

Matter (either in solid, liquid or gaseous form) used, unwanted, valueless, expired, considered

a nuisance, generated due to physical association or dissociation of different matter or

produced from biological or chemical reaction is commonly referred to as waste. Waste arises

from most operations and processes in households, industries and even from commercial and

service organizations. The matter so discarded as waste into the surrounding environment

was originally extracted from the environment as raw material. For a manufacturing entity,

this can be shown as in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Material and energy flow from a manufacturing entity

This unidirectional material and energy flow results in two major issues of grave concern to

all. The increasing levels and continuous extraction of raw materials and fuels from the

environment to meet the needs of the present generation has severely depleted the resources

thereby depriving the future generation’s right to use such resources for their needs. The

rapid use of the resources, to meet the needs of the increasing human population and

excessive consumption of resources for unsustainable economic development, has exceeded

the generation capacity of the earth’s natural system and the finite resources are in short

supply. E.g. fossil fuel, water, metals etc. The second issue is the disruption caused to the

earth’s eco systems and human health from the waste discharged from human activity. The

waste matter that alters an eco system or affects human health is referred to as a pollutant.

A product of National Cleaner Production Centre Sri Lanka may be used for training

programmes by others with acknowledgement.

Smoke produced as a result of fossil fuel burning alters the composition of air thus affecting

vegetation and the biota leading to a change in the natural balance of an eco system. The

smoke also affects the human health by way of respiratory diseases. Untreated sewage

discharged into a fresh water body will deplete the dissolved oxygen in water. Lack of

oxygen will kill the fish in their natural habitat. Human consumption of such water can lead

to water borne diseases such as diarrhea. Therefore smoke and sewage are called pollutants

and the alterations and consequences of discharging pollutants to the environment are

referred to as environmental pollution.

The earth has the capacity to absorb and neutralize the pollutants with time. Since the

industrial revolution and with population increase, environmental pollution has increased in

magnitude and in severity and the levels of pollutants have exceeded the earth’s carrying

capacity. Thus means of pollution control were required to protect the environment and

human health. The approach to pollution control has evolved through three stages over the

last 50 years:

• Dilution• Treatment• Avoidance / Prevention

Many countries are still at the dilution and / or treatment stage. The dilution approach can

work if the amount of waste is small compared to the volume of the receiving environment

(e.g. sea discharge of untreated sewage). The treatment stage traditionally called “end-of-pipe

treatment”, has been used at the end of the production process to collect pollutants and then

to separate or neutralize them in various ways, usually in specially built treatment

installations. Treatment often merely separates and concentrates the pollutants from the waste

stream, but they still have to be disposed of somewhere. E.g. sludge from wastewater

treatment.

The costs of end-of-pipe treatment approach are creating a barrier to further industrial

development. Strengthened environmental regulations are putting pressure on industry to

increase its environmental performance. Pollution control does not improve the bottom line

but affect it. It is a cost and merely a regulatory requirement to the industry which is

unwilling to absorb the costs and thus more often than not, no control or inadequate control

results.



EMAS / REPORTING

1995 CERTIFICATION

1990 (BS 7750, ISO 14,000)

1985 ENV. MANAGEMENT : EMS & AUDITING

1975 PROCESS INTEGRATED APPROACH

1970 END OF PIPE APPROACH

1964 ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

Figure 2. The evolution of environmental management

The solution lies in a waste preventive strategy than a curative one. Pollution prevention is to

prevent environmental pollution by avoiding waste generation. If the generation of waste is

avoided or minimized, then the cost of controlling pollution can be eliminated or minimized.

Cleaner Production, the preventive way, is a better approach to avoiding and minimizing

environmental problems. Avoiding pollution by preventive methods often solves the problem

rather than treating the symptoms. Cleaner Production (CP) is a process integrated approach

which has been tried, tested and proved. Waste minimization, Green Productivity, Pollution

Prevention, Source Reduction are some of the synonyms for Cleaner Production. Cleaner

Production approaches has been in existence since the 1970’s (Fig. 2) and are being widely

used in developed and developing countries as an effective environmental management tool.

Further, waste avoidance and minimization which is essentially what CP is all about, are the

most desirable options of environmental management as shown in Fig. 3.



Fig. 3. Environmental management hierarchy

The CP approach has been successful and being widely practiced due to two underlying

reasons. It directly addresses the two major issues referred to above; the resource depletion

and environmental pollution. By avoiding and minimizing waste generation, CP helps to

conserve resources there by contributing to sustainability. It is a voluntary approach that

helps the industry or the organizations to meet their concerns on quality, cost, safety,

sustainability, environmental compliance, competition, access to markets etc. CP is a natural

response to increasing concerns on environmental pollution and severe constraints in natural

resources in the drive towards sustainable development.

Cleaner Production carries great importance in the field of environmental policy and

management. Environmentally, Cleaner Production approaches provide a concrete and long-

term technique to eliminate and/or reduce such emissions as carbon dioxide and sulfur

dioxide. Consequently, Cleaner Production plays an important role in addressing global

environmental issues such as climate change, acid precipitation, and urban smog.

Economically, prior experiences with Cleaner Production programs have proven that further

environmental damage can be averted in a cost-effective manner. In a majority of the cases,

Cleaner Production programs have actually saved money. Finally, Cleaner Production

programs have been more successful than simple pollution control methods in providing

social benefits for the public. A long-term, comprehensive restoration of the natural

environment increases health and living standards, while creating a safer and more enjoyable

habitat for all species.

Objectives of Cleaner Production

The overarching objective of CP is to help enterprises contribute towards Sustainable

Development by judicious use of resources through creative and proactive strategies.

The term “Sustainable Development” is defined as development that meets the needs of the

present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their

own needs”. The primary objective of CP is thus to conserve resources and energy by

avoiding wasteful practices through innovative and integrated approaches considering future

constraints.



Guiding Principles

Cleaner Production is grounded on several principles that are well accepted as best practices

in different fields.

Precautionary Principle – The Precautionary Principle is used in the Chemical field when the

hazards posed by a chemical is not identified and proven, the chemical is treated as being

dangerous and the maximum precautions are taken for safety. In Cleaner Production also the

Precautionary Principle is adopted which literally means “it is better to be safe now than be

sorry later”. CP is founded on this proactive approach of playing safe even when the risks are

thought to be low.

Preventive Principle – The Preventive Principle is borrowed from the medical field which

means “prevention is better than cure”. Another proactive approach of CP based on this

principle is to avoid or prevent, for example waste prevention, rather than generate the waste

and treat it. Prevention is always advantageous and cost effective than treatment.

Integrated/Holistic Principle – CP adopts a holistic strategy in addressing environmental

issues. CP solutions should be process integrated, designed and executed by employees for

the benefit of the organization and therefore well suited for the enterprise.

Democratic Principle – The majority decision prevails. CP adopts a consensus approach

where all are consulted, represented and made aware of decisions. It is not an authoritarian

“top down” approach, but a top management driven approach with the participation and

consent of the majority in the enterprise.

Concept of Cleaner Production

In certain aspects, Cleaner Production is very similar to pollution prevention and the terms

can be used interchangeably when talking about pollution prevention in industry. Most

importantly, both pollution prevention and Cleaner Production emphasize environmental

management through source reduction, rather than pollution control methods. Similar to

pollution prevention, Cleaner Production should not be considered an absolute state, but

rather a process that continually evolves with the introduction of improved technology and

innovative ideas.



First definition of Cleaner Production

The conceptual and procedural approach to production that demands that all phases of the

life-cycle of a product or of a process should be addressed with the objective of prevention or

the minimization of short and long-term risks to humans and the environment.

Cleaner Production looks at input resources used in an organization, how it flows through the

process, and eliminates/mitigates waste and toxicity of all the emissions. It also motivates

you beyond the boundaries and therefore is a “Cradle to Grave” approach.

Definition by Business Directory. Com

Manufacturing in which waste minimization and prevention practices are continuously

applied. These practices include (1) conservation of raw materials and energy, (2) elimination

of toxic inputs, and (3) reduction in toxic outputs.

Definition by Dr Rene Van Berkel

Cleaner Production is interpreted as continuous improvement of industrial processes,

products and services to reduce the use of natural resources to prevent - at the source - the

pollution of air, water and land to reduce waste generation in order to minimize risks to the

human population and the environment.

Definition by Indian National Cleaner Production Centre

Cleaner Production is the new and creative way of thinking about products and processes that

make them. It is achieved by the continuous application of strategies to minimize the

generation of wastes and emissions.

Definition by Global Development Research Centre

Cleaner Production (CP) is a preventative approach to managing the environmental impacts

of business processes and products. CP uses changes in technology, processes, resources or

practices to reduce waste, environmental and health risks; minimize environmental damage;

use energy and resources more efficiently; increase business profitability and

competitiveness; and increase the efficiency of production processes. Cleaner Production is

applicable to all businesses, regardless of size or type.



Official Definition of Cleaner Production (UNEP)

The continuous application of an integrated, preventive environmental strategy applied to

processes, products and services to increase overall efficiency and reduce risks to humans and

the environment.

Cleaner Production for Processes:

o Conserving raw materials and energy

o Eliminating toxic materials

o Reducing quantity and toxicity of all emissions and wastes

Cleaner Production for Products:

o Reducing environmental impact of a product in its entire life cycle from raw

material extraction to disposal

o Lowers costs and improves environmental performance

Cleaner Production for Services:

o Incorporating environmental concerns into designing and delivering a service

o Focus on product use

Cleaner Production is achieved by:

Applying know how

Improving technology

Changing attitude

Cleaner Production looks at input resources to any process, then how it flows

through the process end. What is discharged as waste /emissions and

hazardous materials and to take actions to mitigate the negative impacts.

Cleaner Production is a preventative approach to environmental management. It is a broad

term encompassing what some countries/institutions call eco-efficiency, waste minimization,

pollution prevention or green productivity. It can also be stated as a mentality of how to

produce goods and services with minimum environmental impact under present technological

and economic limits. Cleaner Production DOES NOT DENY GROWTH, it merely insists

that growth be ecologically sustainable. It is not only an environmental strategy, but a sound

A product of National Cleaner Production Centre Sri Lanka may be used for training programmes by others with acknowledgement.

business strategy as it relates to economic considerations (WIN-WIN Strategy). It can also be

referred to as an approach to optimize the usage of resources by minimizing waste of

resources at the point of generation.

Some of the ways by which the above is achieved is by converting unavoidable wastes to

products with economic value and by innovation and creativity. Cleaner Production practice

requires “out of the box” thinking.

Benefits from Cleaner Production

The practice of Cleaner Production improves the triple bottom line of an enterprise. It brings

along economic, environmental and social benefits. Some of them can be listed as below.

Cost savings and better quality products.

Reduce waste treatment and disposal costs

Make input resource supply more dependable

Meet regulatory requirements at less cost

Increase competitiveness in domestic and global markets

Gain access to markets with environmental requirements

Avoid or minimizes impacts on human health thus lowering risks to the

workers community, consumers of products and future generation

Make natural resources more sustainable

Help make national economic growth sustainable

Improves process efficiency

As stated above, the environmental benefits of Cleaner Production directly coincide with

economic interests. More specifically, there are numerous benefits, which result from Cleaner

Production activities. Table 1 provides a list of some of these benefits.

First, Cleaner Production programs are beneficial because they reduce operating costs. For

example, the costs involved with waste treatment, storage, and disposal are often reduced

through Cleaner Production programs and the savings can be used to offset the development

and implementation costs of the program. Material, energy, and facility cleanup costs can

also be reduced through Cleaner Production programs.



Table 1. Benefits of Cleaner Production Programs

Reduction of Operating Costs. Cleaner production programs can reduce material costs by adopting production and packaging procedures that consume fewer resources. Waste management and disposal costs are an obvious and readily measured potential savings to be realized from pollution prevention. Many government regulations, for example, mandate costly procedures and methods for the handling of certain wastes. These costs can be avoided through a Cleaner Production program. Efficiency measures, such as production scheduling and equipment maintenance, can decrease overall production costs. Energy costs, as well as facility cleanup costs are also reduced through Cleaner Production programs.

Reduction of Ecological Damage. Cleaner Production programs provide obvious benefits for the natural environment. Air quality will increase as a result of the reduction of pollutants entering the air. Also, water and land will not be contaminated with pollutants which may potentially leak from waste generating, transporting, storage, and disposal activities.

Improved Company Image. Cleaner Production programs can improve company image, both within and outside of its walls. Undoubtedly, employees react more positively toward management which places a priority on providing a safe working environment. Employees also react positively when they are included in the planning and implementation of Cleaner Production programs. Surrounding communities and potential customers will also react favorably toward the establishment of a Cleaner Production program because they are concerned with the health, safety, and sustainability of their neighborhoods.

Reduction of Civil and Criminal Liability. Implementing a Cleaner Production program decreases liability because the total volume of waste generated is reduced. Even if the waste generated is not currently defined as toxic or hazardous, it is still in the producer’s best interest to adopt a Cleaner Production program. Government regulations often threaten to impose heavy fines, and in some cases imprisonment, upon producers of high volumes of waste. Producers also face potential civil litigation if the waste generated threatens the public. Also, worker’s compensation costs and risks are directly related to the volume of waste produced.

Second, Cleaner Production programs reduce ecological damage from raw material extraction

and refining operations, and the risk of emissions during the production process and during

recycling, treatment, and disposal operations.

Third, Cleaner Production programs improve company image. For example, employees,

regulators, and local residents are likely to feel more positive toward a company when they



recognize that management is committed to providing a safe working environment and to

minimizing pollution.

Finally, participation in Cleaner Production activities can reduce risk of both civil and

criminal liability by minimizing the amount of waste generated. This benefit is particularly

important if the waste products are hazardous or toxic in nature. Cleaner Production makes

compliance with national, provincial, and local regulations easier. A Cleaner Production

program can also lessen the exposure of employees to harmful substances, thus decreasing

risk and saving money.

Prerequisites to Cleaner Production

Successful implementation of a CP program requires the following attributes:

Top management commitment – a vital ingredient, without which the financial

support, operational changes, personnel requirements, technological

improvements would not happen

Total involvement of employees – suggestions for improvement and

implementation is carried out by employees

Organized approach – CP is a systematic methodology where the PDCA cycle

is followed. Without an organized approach, the benefits of CP would not be

visible and the program may fail

Be open minded and flexible to change – an attitudinal change is essential and

tolerance of views and continuous change are the corner stones of success

Be creative and innovative – an “out of the box” thinking striving for

creativity and innovation and promotion of such a culture is essential

Barriers to Cleaner Production.

Despite the known benefits of Cleaner Production, there are still several categories of barriers

to successful development and implementation of these programs. These can be attitudinal,

systemic, organizational, technical, economic and governmental.

Attitudinal barriers are more dependent on personal attributes such as indifference towards

housekeeping, resistance to change, fear of making mistakes etc. Certain attitudinal barriers

are common among societies with specific cultural habits.



Systemic barriers such as lack of professional management skills, poor production records,

inadequate and ineffective management systems are common to certain sectors, especially in

small and medium scale enterprises.

Institutional barriers are seen in most organizations run by family entities where there are

concentration of decision making powers among the top management, emphasis on

production, non involvement of and tolerance of employees views etc. Some of the other such

barriers are: managers consider that expansion of production capacity and market share is

more important than implementing CP, adoption of CP often incurs additional costs and

undermines enterprises' competitiveness in the marketplace, managers worry about the risks

in changing the current production processes and technologies, managers and staff are

unaware of CP's economic and environmental benefits, managers lack the basic managerial

and technical capacity to implement CP

Technical barriers are common to most enterprises operating in SME category with few or no

technical personnel. Limited technical capabilities, limited access to technical information,

technology limitations, limited in-plant expertise/capability, difficulty to access information

on CP, additional infrastructure requirements, lack of technical training on the workshop

floor etc. are listed as technical and information barriers to CP.

Economic barriers are the most commonly cited reasons for non implementation of CP.

Prevalence of production quantity over production costs, resource pricing and availability,

ad-hoc investment policy, capital availability and costs, high initial capital cost, difficulty in

accessing financial capital, poor financial performance of CP, lack of effective evaluation

measures for CP, lack of financing service for SMEs are among the economic and financial

barriers

Governmental barriers can be a serious disincentive for the practice of CP. Lack of adequate

industrial policies, lack of adequate environmental policies, lax environmental enforcement,

absence of economic incentive policies, lack of market preference/demands - customers do

not demand or prefer products produced in a more environmentally sound manner-,

inadequate industrial self-regulation, weak public awareness and pressure can be identified as

governmental barriers.

However, these barriers can be overcome by appropriate enabling measures.



Introduction to Resource Efficient Cleaner Production (RECP)

Figure 4 illustrates waste generation from an industrial facility where the different forms of

wastes are produced out of the raw materials that are used for production. Therefore waste is

due to wasteful use of resources (raw material) as a result of poor conversion efficiencies in

the production process. If high efficiencies can be achieved, then most of the raw materials

should end up as the desired product instead of unwanted waste that requires additional costs

for treatment. Due to poor efficiencies at each and every stage of resource handling in

services or in production, considerably more resources are being used than required for

consumption. Sustainable consumption and production dictates that this mismatch be

minimized so that resources are conserved and waste is minimized. Resource efficiency

requires Cleaner Production and Cleaner Production require efficient use of resources

(RECP). Moreover, there is greater recognition that the inefficient and at times wasteful use

of natural resources, including energy, water and materials, lies at the heart of the key

environmental challenges, including climate change.

Emissions Avoidance /Minimisation

RawMaterials

IndustrialProcess

WasteAvoidance /Minimisation

WastewaterAvoidance /Minimisation

Waste

SEG

REG

ATIO

N

Wastewater

Hazardous Waste

Products

Emissions

©DNA 1996

Fig. 4. Industrial waste generation

RECP recognizes that CP methods and practices generate multiple benefits that are relevant to many of today’s most pressing global challenges, including:

• Mitigation of GHG emissions and adapting to climate change;

• Responding to increasing scarcity of water, fuels and other materials;

• Providing decent jobs; and

• Halting environmental degradation.



RECP, therefore, builds upon CP in accelerating the application of preventive environmental strategies to processes, products and services to increase efficiency and reduce risks to humans and the environment. RECP addresses the three sustainability dimensions individually and synergistically:

• Production Efficiency: optimization of the productive use of natural resources (materials, energy and water);

• Environmental management: minimization of impacts on environment and nature through reduction of wastes and emissions; and

•Human Development: minimization of risks to people and communities and support for their development.

Enterprises and other organizations that adopt RECP “do more with less”; they increase the

efficiency with which they use materials and energy, they improve their productivity and thus

their competitiveness. At the same time, through greater efficiency, enterprises reduce the

amount of pollution and waste they generate, thus lowering their impact on the environment,

including their carbon footprint. As waste and emissions reduce, and hazardous substances

are eliminated, the risks of industrial operations to workers, communities and consumers

reduce.

