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.