Benchmarking to trigger cleaner production in small businesses: drycleaning case study

This paper reports on research that investigated and implemented benchmarking as a trigger for cleaner production in the drycleaning industry in Western Australia and applies this knowledge to the small business sector. The critical success factors for environmental benchmarking are: identifying cleaner production gaps in areas important to the long-term future of the businesses, promoting the drivers to close the performance gaps, and ensuring managers possess the correct skills to close these gaps. The participants accepted the benchmarks as suitable targets and committed their businesses to achieving these targets in their action plans. Economic benefits and maintaining their licence to operate were found to be the important drivers. Program participants on average reduced hazardous waste generation by 48%, perchlorethylene consumption by 30% and improved their energy efficiency by 9%. Furthermore, managers involved in the program had a significantly higher uptake of cleaner production than the general small business community in Western Australia.     

Awareness and adoption of cleaner production in small to medium-sized businesses in the Geelong region,Victoria, Australia

A survey was undertaken (August through November, 1998) to determine the extent of the awareness and implementation of cleaner production practices within small to medium-sized businesses in the Geelong region of Victoria, Australia. Information was also gleaned on improvements/benefits gained from the adoption of such practices, reasons for adopting or not adopting cleaner production methods and utilization of educational and assistance schemes. We conclude that the adoption of cleaner production by such businesses is still at a very early stage with much work to be done to raise levels of awareness and to convince these businesses of the potential benefits of cleaner production.     

Implementation of cleaner production in small and medium-sized enterprises

The aim of this article is to analyse whether it is possible for an external group to act as a catalyst when trying to make small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt a cleaner production concept. At Linköping University, Sweden, nine SMEs cooperated in a cleaner production project that uses the University and the County Administration as catalysts. This article is based on a survey that evaluated the project. The survey shows that the SMEs did modify their products and processes after taking part in the project. They were especially successful in changing their products. Why products were changed to a larger extent than processes is not fully understood. Maybe this was done as a part of introducing a preventive environmental care system. Most SMEs did, as a part of introducing an environmental care system, introduce an environmental policy and an educational programme. The SMEs also experienced lower costs and better cooperation with the authorities. A reason for this is the good cooperation between the three participants of the project. In general, the SMEs did not think that they had gained marketing benefits. This attitude could have been different if more SMEs from the same value chain (supplier-producer-wholesalers-customer) had been involved.     

Assessment of the potential of cleaner production implementation in Polish enterprises

The goal of this research was to learn about the level of knowledge in Polish industrial organizations about the principles of cleaner production and also to identify some barriers to implementation of cleaner production strategies. In order to gain this information, a special questionnaire with fundamental questions related to environmental attitudes was distributed to various Polish enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to characterize the state of cleaner production in Poland based on the results of this survey.     

From cleaner production to sustainable production and consumption in Australia and New Zealand: achievements,challenges, and opportunities

The objective of this special issue is to showcase what Cleaner Production (CP) practitioners and scholars in Australia and New Zealand have accomplished to date, and how they hope to progress in the coming decades. The contributions to this special issue have been grouped under three main categories: sectoral, regional, and CP methods and tools. These contributions suggest that the CP debate has moved on from anecdotal justification of CP through case studies to diffusing and broadening CP practices so that they fulfil their role as effective components of a viable, sustainable society. The continued evolution of CP methods and tools in Australia and New Zealand is a good indicator of such a trend. Papers in all three categories identify and present responses to the challenges faced in ensuring that CP activities are both linked to and informed by policy-making and that they support and enhance decisions made in pursuit of sustainable production.     

Cleaner production and eco-efficiency initiatives in Western Australia 1996–2004

This paper summarises developments in the promotion and implementation of cleaner production (CP) and eco-efficiency (EE) in Western Australia (WA), in four stages: groundwork (1996–1999), experimentation (1999–2002), roll out (2002–2004) and reorientation (2004 onward). The remoteness of WA and the dominance of the minerals, energy and agribusiness industries, contributed to the late interest in CP and relatively slow start. Pioneers in government, industry and academia started to come together in 1998–1999. Subsequent clarification of concepts and design of programs resulted in a two-pronged strategy to create both a supply and demand for CP services. This enabled a rapid increase in interest in CP, which started to level in 2004. Although this is partially due to external circumstances, it also appears that the limits of current CP and EE theory and practice have been reached. These limits appear to be at least two fold. First, current policies and program designs appear not yet able to achieve a step-increase in the number of businesses involved in CP. Insights from innovation and social marketing theory and practice are now being incorporated in the design and delivery of the next generation of CP programs. Second, it appears that mainstream CP tools are insufficiently catered to the technological and organisational complexity of many industries. Greater engineering and management depth in CP tools might be required to mainstream CP in routine process design, continuous improvement and change management practices.     

Fostering pollution prevention in small businesses: the Enviroclub initiative

The Enviroclub initiative was developed by three federal government agencies (Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, Environment Canada and the National Research Council Canada) to assist small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in improving their profitability and competitiveness through enhanced environmental performance. An Enviroclub consists of a group of 10–15 SMEs, each of which carries out one profitable pollution prevention project. To support this practical experience, business participants attend 4 days of workshops on various themes related to environmental performance, spread out over a period of about 6 months. Enviroclubs have been undertaken in several regions of Quebec, and are delivered by not-for-profit organisations, mainly Enviro-Access and the Centre québécois de développement durable. Projects implemented in seven Enviroclubs brought annual savings of CAD$5.1 million and multiple environmental benefits including annual reductions in resource use, such as water (536,000 m³), petroleum products (225,000 litres), wood (11,300 m³) and emissions, such as greenhouse gases (17,100 tonnes equivalent CO₂), hazardous wastes (708 tonnes) and toxic substances (53 tonnes).     

Promotion of cleaner production investments: international experience

Cleaner Production (CP) should be an essential part of any comprehensive environmental management system at an enterprise or national level. In many cases the adoption of CP improvements can reduce or even eliminate the need for end-of-pipe investments and therefore can have both environmental and economic benefits. Experience shows, that often companies having identified cost-effective and technically-feasible CP options, may still not be able to make necessary CP investment to realise the financial benefits and environmental advantages. Financing of CP projects varies among countries and types of the projects. Domestic and international efforts to strengthen environmental financing still face a number of serious obstacles, many of which are related to profound economic, political and social problems. The detailed evaluation of revolving fund establishment possibilities based on personal experience of the authors in Lithuania, Zimbabwe and Vietnam is presented in the paper.     

Assessment of cleaner production options for alcohol industry of China: a study in the Shouguang Alcohol Factory

The alcohol industry in China makes an important contribution to the national economy. However, the associated pollution problems cause gradual deterioration of the ambient environment and adverse impacts on the local community. Cleaner production (CP) technology, as an effective way to reduce waste emission and save resources, has been widely employed in the alcohol industry across the developed countries. In China, although such technologies have been applied in a number of factories, an integrated assessment and implementation procedure is lacking for proceeding with practical CP technologies for alcohol factories in China. To solve such problems, a series of cleaner production options are proposed and assessed in this study. Five groups of CP options were screened, on factory survey, expert questionnaires, and integrated assessment. With the consideration of environmental impacts and economic efficiency, four CP options combined with various advanced CP technologies, such as high-concentration wort fermenting, CO₂ reuse, different pressure distilling, methane and fertilizer production, were proposed. To verify the proposed options, a case study was carried out in the Shouguang Alcohol Factory (SAF), East China. The characteristics of resources consumption and waste emission during the production process were identified. A comprehensive evaluation of the proposed options was conducted from different aspects. An integrated cleaner production system based on the proposed options was formed and then implemented in the factory. Through the four years of practice, the productivity/quality of alcohol product were improved, but and the reduction of waste and pollution were achieved as well as a marked increase in water/energy savings. This study provides theoretical and practical support for extensive application of cleaner production technologies and sustainable development in the alcohol industry of China.     

Small-scale mining and cleaner production issues in Zambia

Small-scale mining (SSM) has had unprecedented growth in Zambia during the past decade. The sector now produces a variety of commodities, especially gemstones, building and industrial minerals. From a structural and technical perspective, SSM is conducted on a very rudimentary level using basic tools such as picks and shovel, and occasionally, mechanized equipment. The environmental degradation caused by SSM is also growing with the intensification of activities in the country. Meanwhile, institutions responsible for managing the environment are unable to effectively carry out regulatory and monitoring mandates due to inadequate resources. Although current legislation appears to be adequate in many respects, time has now come to amend the Mines and Minerals Act (1995) so that it becomes mandatory for all mining activities, including small-scale mines, to submit environmental impact assessment reports before a license to mine or explore can be granted. Strategies to eliminate illegal mining, enhancement of miners’ technical skills, and mine responsibly must also be placed high on the agenda. This paper focuses on the major issues affecting cleaner production in the Zambian SSM sector including, environmental complications, pertinent mining environmental legislation, and the institutions involved. It concludes by suggesting possible interventions to minimize environmental impacts in the sector.     

Sustainable tourism destinations: the importance of cleaner production

“Sustainable tourism destination” is an emerging term used in recognition schemes to promote sustainable development at destinations. This concept, which is still being developed, has the potential to stimulate the implementation of sustainable development through an interdisciplinary, holistic and integrative approach which combines different aspects of existing tools. This article will discuss the following:

• •conceptual definitions for sustainable tourism destinations
• •the need to integrate different approaches and tools for developing sustainable tourism destinations
• •the role which Cleaner Production plays in terms of developing sustainable tourism destinations

Cleaner production has an important role, to ensure that “prevention” is built into the concept of sustainable tourism destinations. It contributes by providing both a general strategy and specific experiences which may enhance other existing tools, concepts and policies. These can be integrated in a synergistic manner to achieve sustainable tourism destinations.     

Toward cleaner production of hydrogen peroxide in China

Industrial production of hydrogen peroxide by anthraquinone (AO) process in China was briefly introduced. The pathways for cleaner production of hydrogen peroxide were discussed in detail from the viewpoint of process development and design, these included the replacement of Raney-Ni catalyst by highly active and highly selective Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst, the reduction of raw materials, steam and power consumption, the usage of high boiling point, low water-soluble and low toxic solvents, the regeneration of degradations, the proper treatment of waste gas, water and solids. Because of these innovations and improvements, the AO process with Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst for producing hydrogen peroxide was certified as a cleaner production technology by the Chinese government.     

城镇污水处理厂清洁生产等级评价二元语义模型与方法

为解决城镇污水处理厂清洁生产等级评价问题,采用定性分析与定量计算相结合的方法,着重构建了城镇污水处理厂清洁生产等级评价指标体系及其权重确定方法;利用线性加权综合评价方法、模糊数学和二元语义概念,建立了城镇污水处理厂清洁生产等级评价模糊综合模型,并据此提出级别特征值概念,进而建立城镇污水处理厂清洁生产等级评价的二元语义模型与方法.实例计算分析说明,文中建立的清洁生产等级评价二元语义模型与方法可操作性强,等级评定结果比采用隶属度最大原则更直观、更便于解释,具有很好的应用与推广价值.     

The roles of cleaner production in the sustainable development of modern societies: an introduction to this special issue

This issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production is based upon papers presented at the 1st International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production (CP) held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2007. The conference had the short-term purpose of deepening the Brazilian discussion on “The Roles of Cleaner Production in the Sustainable Development of Modern Societies”, and it had the long-term objective of providing an on-going interdisciplinary forum for knowledge development and exchange on Cleaner Production (CP) and Sustainable Development. This issue is devoted to papers covering a broad range of perspectives of CP practices and strategies. A special focus is placed upon methodological tools designed to support effective decision-making pertaining to quantitative benefits from CP.The ten papers provide insights from research designed to holistically integrate CP to help society make effective progress to sustainability. Papers cover the importance of informal knowledge, as complementary to formal knowledge, in performing effective ‘Environmental Impact Assessments.’ One paper explores the roles of radical and incremental innovation in the context of alternative automotive technologies. Benefits of Ecodesign are explored in two papers; one concerning its integration with remanufacturing to extend the life of used products and one focusing the adoption of ‘Emergy Environmental Accounting,’ as a complementary decision-making tool. The development of the Brazilian LCI database for ‘hydroelectric power generation’ and its contribution to support regionally relevant LCA studies is highlighted in one paper. The complete production chains of biodiesel and bioethanol are evaluated by using global methodologies, which help in the development of more objective and effective solutions. A “compensatory area”, calculated in terms of emergy, is proposed in order to work in a sustainable way for bamboo production. Finally, a paper about a novel approach for recycling used PET is also included.     

Education and training for cleaner production: a flexible learning approach

Successful implementation of cleaner production concepts at the government and industry level requires that professionals in those institutions receive adequate education and training in this field. In the recent past, most of the higher learning institutions around the world have incorporated cleaner production as a subject in their curricula. In order to satisfy the specific needs of busy professionals, higher learning institutions need to use new technologies to facilitate cleaner production training. The flexible learning approach used at Griffith University is one of these valuable tools. This paper introduces some of the key concepts of flexible learning and investigates how they can be effectively used in education and training for cleaner production.     

基于改进支持向量机的石煤提钒行业清洁生产评价研究

采用遗传算法(GA)对支持向量机(SVM)进行改进,并将其应用于石煤提钒行业清洁生产评价.在系统研究石煤提钒工艺类型的基础上,根据前期已建立的石煤提钒行业清洁生产评价指标体系,提出GA改进SVM的应用思路,通过对3种工艺类型企业的现场数据采集,形成训练和测试样本,并利用GA算法确定出各类参数(惩罚参数C和核函数参数g),分别为强酸浸工艺C=2.1049,g=5.2184;弱酸浸工艺C=0.0035286,g=1.9947;水浸工艺C=0.39587,g=1.4105.GA-SVM模型测试结果表明,分类精度达到100%.通过与其他评价方法对比表明,训练好的GA-SVM方法针对小样本数据在分类精度和可操作性上都较其他方法有明显优势,实现了对石煤提钒行业清洁生产水平的定量评价.     

浅谈非重点企业的清洁生产审核验收工作

重点企业与非重点企业由于其参与清洁生产审核的背景及初衷方面的本质差别,使其与二者相对应的审核验收也存在着较大的不同。相对于重点企业,目前对非重点企业审核验收的相关管理制度建设方面尚存在一定的空白。探索性地通过对非重点企业清洁生产审核验收工作的特点、验收管理工作原则及验收形式的分析描述,为非重点企业的审核验收工作提供参考与借鉴。     

阜新地区铁矿清洁生产水平分析及改进措施

根据阜新地区铁矿特点,从工艺装备水平、资源能源利用指标、废物回收利用指标、环境管理等方面分析得出该地区铁矿清洁生产水平较低,尚未达至国内清洁生产基本水平,并有针对性地提出了清洁生产改进措施。     

Application of cleaner production technology in chemical industry: a near zero emission

The main objective of this study is to investigate and evaluate opportunities for implementation of pollution prevention and waste minimization in a chemical industrial company producing poly sulfonated naphthalene formaldehyde which is used as a super plasticizer for concrete. Environmental problems encountered were mainly the highly polluted wastewater and a semi-solid cake containing considerable amount of the final product. Possible modules for remedial measures and their cost estimation were investigated. The proposed remedial modules included recycling of retained water discharge in filter press, recycling of washing water of reaction vessels (reactors), closed circuit cooling system for high-pressure pump, good housekeeping through control of leakage of raw material, products and water and finally utilization of retained residual product from the solid waste. The implemented pollution control measures proved to be cost effective and have short payback periods. Also, minimization of the hydraulic and organic loads in the final effluent was achieved.     

Implementation of cleaner production practices with the support of a diploma course

This paper describes the initial proposal of a cleaner technologies network in the state of Bahia, in the northeast section of Brazil. This network intends to bring together industry, universities, and government to discuss the relationship between production and the environment. Its main objective is to support a change in the way this relationship is nowadays perceived, in order to make preventive practices a priority and improve eco-efficiency. Implementation of the network was preceded by a diploma course on environmental technologies and management directed at professionals in the workforce. The results of the course are helping to create an atmosphere that is beneficial for the start-up of the network.