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Publications
Griffith University and the Department of the Environment, Sport & Territories, 1997
ISBN 0 868 57655 7
Today, industry operates in an environment in which resources are becoming scarce, competition is fierce and restrictions are being placed on environmental pollution. There is increasing pressure to achieve improved environmental performance. Industries are increasingly looking to the environment and the community's interest in the environment for ways to gain a competitive advantage.
The goal of cleaner production is essentially the same as the goal of sustainable development: production processes, product cycles and consumption patterns which allow for human development and the provision of basic needs without degrading and disrupting the ecosystems within which that development must occur. (Jackson, 1993, p.10)
This workshop introduces the basic concepts of cleaner production with particular reference to process redesign, resource management, and best available technologies and practice, as tools in achieving cleaner production.
During this workshop participants will:
A video presentation introduces participants to the concepts of cleaner production. (The Clean Australia 2001 information kit is available from the Environment Protection Agency.)
A mini-lecture on Cleaner Production reinforces cleaner production concepts introduced in the video and clarifies commonly used terms and definitions.
Cleaner production principles are applied to a case study to identify where redesign, new technologies and improved management and maintenance principles have been adopted.
Life cycle analysis and its application to product design are explained in a mini-lecture. Participants undertake a life cycle analysis on a common item.
A case study of industrial processes identifies redesign, new technologies and improved management and maintenance practice options.
Participants consider the use of a life cycle analysis activity in the classroom as a strategy to introduce the concepts of cleaner production.
Overhead Transparency Masters
OHT 1: Matching Cleaner Production Terms and Definitions
OHT 2: Principles of Cleaner Production
OHT 3: Life Cycle Analysis of Milk Bottle
OHT 4: Life Cycle Analysis of Photocopier
OHT 5: Common Items at School/Home
Resources
Resource 1: Cleaner Production
Resource 2: Matched Cleaner Production Terms and Definitions
Resource 3: Case Study for Mercury
Resource 4: Life Cycle Analysis
Resource 5: The Basic Principles of A Life Cycle Inventory.
Resource 6: Cleaner Production: An Industrial Example
Activity 1: Obtain a copy of the video Clean Australia 2001 from the Environment Protection Agency.
Activity 5: One blank OHT for each group of participants.
Chiras, D.P. (1985) Environmental Science: A Framework for Decision Making (2nd ed) Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company.
Environmental Protection Agency Australia (1995) Cleaner Production Demonstration Project.
Jackson, T. (1993) Clean Production Strategies: Developing Preventive Environmental Management in the Industrial Economy, Lewis Publishers, USA.
Riggs, J.L. (1976) Production Systems: Planning, Analysis and Control, John Wiley and Sons, Canada.
Stilwell, E.J., Canty, R.C., Kopf, P.W. and Montrone, A.M. (1991) Packaging for the Environment: A Partnership for Progress, Arthur D. Little, USA.
Show the video Clean Australia 2001 and introduce participants to the concepts of cleaner production.
Deliver a mini-lecture using Resource 1. Ask if the concepts of the lecture reflect those in the video?
Show OHT 1 and ask participants to match the terms with their definitions. Conclude by distributing Resource 2, the correct answers.
Distribute copies of Resource 3, the case study for mercury to all participants. Ask participants to read the study.
Display OHT 2 and ask participants to categorise actions outlined in the case study as to how they 'fit' under the principles of cleaner production listed on OHT 2.
Ask some participants to share their lists.
Present a mini-lecture using Resource 4 and OHT 3 and OHT 4.
Distribute copies of Resource 5 to all participants. Working in small groups, ask participants to conduct a life cycle analysis on a common item, e.g. a cotton T-shirt or a steel knife.
Debrief by asking participants: What was difficult about the process? What else might they need to know for their analysis and how might they find this information?
Break participants into small groups, and distribute copies of Resource 6.
Ask groups to read the case study, assess the overall process and identify where in the process redesign, new technologies and improved management and maintenance practices have been adopted.
Ask each group to brainstorm potential ways to improve the process and list these on an OHT.
A spokesperson from each group then reports back to the whole group outlining their main points/findings on an OHT. At the conclusion of each report, ask the whole group if they have any improvements to add.
Display OHT 5. Ask participants to consider the appropriateness of using an activity on life cycle analysis in their classrooms to introduce the concept of cleaner production. How would they amend or adapt the activity?
Source: USEPA (1993) Life Cycle Design Guidelines Manual, US Environment Protection Agency, Washington D.C.
Match the following terms with their correct definitions
1. Throughput
2. Pollution prevention
3. Product cycle
4. Downcycle
5. Inventory analysis
6. Postconsumer material
7. Useful life
a. In recycling, material that has served its intended use and been discarded before recovery.
b. The life cycle of a product system begins with the acquisition of raw materials and includes bulk material processing, engineering materials production, manufacture and assembly, use, retirement, and disposal of residuals produced in each stage.
c. To recycle for a less demanding use.
d. A method of solving an environmental problem by recycling and reuse.
e. Measures how long a system will operate safely and meet performance standards when maintained properly and not subject to stresses beyond stated limits.
f. Identifies and quantifies all inputs and outputs associated with product systems including materials, energy and residuals.
g. Any practice that reduces the amount of environmental and health impacts of any pollutant released into the environment prior to recycling, treatment or disposal.
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Cleaner production is an initiative that attempts to improve resource management and reduce pollution through environmentally-sensitive design and planning, management systems and activities, better operational maintenance and practices and more appropriate technologies.
The United Nations Environment Programme's Industry and Environment Office defines 'cleaner production' as:
A 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 minimisation of short- and long-term risks to human health and to the environment.
There are three principles which are the basis of the cleaner production approach; these are:
Precaution
The precautionary principle calls for the reduction of inputs into the environment through redesign of industrial systems of production and consumption which rely at present on extensive throughput of materials.
From industry and government perspectives, consumption or 'sustainable consumption' means the provision of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life. Sustainable consumption is achieved by minimising the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as the emission of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the services or the products.
Prevention
The prevention principle looks to changes upstream in the system of production and consumption. The focus is not so much on environmental endpoints (i.e. points at which waste and contaminants are released into the environment), but on the production processes themselves. By reducing the generation of potentially polluting emissions from those processes, the risk of environmental damage at the source (i.e. the point of generation of wastes, contaminants, etc) is reduced.
Integration
The integration principle is a realisation of the need for integration across economic, social, political and environmental boundaries to achieve cleaner production. The goals of integrated pollution control are:
In short, rather than seeing design, manufacture and disposal as discrete phases these must be considered in an integrated way. In particular, product design becomes crucial, as it is at this stage that decisions on materials and components can be taken that minimise later waste and energy consumption and maximise scope for reuse and recycling of parts or whole products. It is also at this stage in production that design factors can influence the whole production process for the new product (Christie and Rolfe, 1995, p. 43).
Achieving Cleaner Production
The two main operational pathways of cleaner production, considering precaution, prevention and integration, are:
In production processes, improving material efficiency means avoiding leaks and spills, better materials handling, closing internal loops for auxiliary materials (recycling acid streams, cleaning baths, catalysts), and designing and redesigning processes for improved material and energy efficiency.
Source: USEPA (1993) Life Cycle Design Guidelines Manual, US Environment Protection Agency, Washington D.C.
Throughput: A method of solving an environmental problem by recycling and reuse.
Pollution prevention: Any practice that reduces the amount of environmental and health impacts of any pollutant released into the environment prior to recycling, treatment or disposal.
Product cycle: The life cycle of a product begins with the acquisition of raw materials and includes bulk material processing, engineering materials production, manufacture and assembly, use, retirement, and disposal of residuals produced in each stage.
Downcycle: To recycle for a less demanding use.
Inventory analysis: Identifies and quantifies all inputs and outputs associated with product systems including materials, energy and residuals.
Postconsumer material: In recycling, material that has served its intended use and been discarded before recovery.
Useful life: Measures how long a system will operate safely and meet performance standards when maintained properly and not subject to stresses beyond stated limits
Source: Jackson, T. (1993) Clean Production Strategies: Developing Preventative Environmental Management in the Industrial Economy, Lewis Publishers, p. 155.
The implications of the discussions in this chapter are that clean production offers a distinctly different methodology of environmental protection than previous effects-oriented, end-of-pipe management strategies. The essence of this difference lies in transferring attention away from the point of entry of emissions into the environment towards the processes and consumption patterns that give rise to those emissions, the aim being to reduce all emissions and in particular those emissions with specific hazard potential. This will lead us, in particular, to reduce or eliminate dissipative uses of certain substances. One such substance is mercury.
As a toxic heavy metal, mercury presents a clear 'hazard potential' to human health and to the environment, but is nevertheless dissipated widely in the environment through industrial processes.
What is the clean production approach to the problem of mercury in the environment?
The preventive approach calls for process and system-integrated measures to reduce dissipation of mercury in the environment. The operational pathways of clean production are efficiency improvements this would include reducing leaks and wastage and the creation of closed cycles for mercury and substitution. Since mercury is a substance which is acutely toxic and therefore represents a very specific hazard potential to human health, the more preventive pathway is to seek substitutes for mercury usage.
When it comes to implementing such reductions in practice, we are immediately drawn to the complex functional relationships which exist between chemicals and society. As the table illustrates, one single, toxic heavy metal might be used for many rather different functions in society. Mercury is variously substituted according to the different functions it fulfils. This replacement is determined by two factors: on the one hand, the availability of other materials, processes, or activities to fulfil the same service to society and, on the other, the value of that service in society.
In addition to the different functions fulfilled by mercury, the flow of mercury through the economic system will vary according to different end-uses and so will the fate of mercury in the environment. For instance, mercury emissions from dentistry are primarily (1) emissions into municipal wastewaters from dental surgeries and (2) atmospheric emissions from crematoria. Emissions from the chloralkali industry will be mainly (a) atmospheric emissions in the factory, (b) emissions into wastewaters from brine purification, or (c) disposal of mercury-contaminated sludges from purification and filtration plants.
Historical attempts to solve the mercury problem from chloralkali plants illustrate a wide spectrum of responses to environmental impacts of industrial processes. To start with, mercury-contaminated wastewaters and sludges from such processes were discharged into rivers and oceans or dumped in landfill sites, and it was assumed that the receiving medium would assimilate these wastes without jeopardising human health. Indeed, mercury discharges have been the focus of specific justifications of the supposed assimilative capacity of the environment (Preston and Portmann, 1981). In some cases there is still no other control of mercury emissions from chloralkali plants. Regulation of wastewater discharges led to the increased application of end-of-pipe treatments such as the sulphide purification process, but the problem of disposal or treatment and purification of sludges persisted.
A process solution to mercury contamination in the chloralkali industry emerged with the development of mercury-free electrolysis. New membrane technology has been developed (e.g. ICI, 1988) which eliminates the need for mercury altogether. This technology is certainly preventive at the process level. On the other hand, significant capital replacement costs are implied by a wide-scale replacement programme, and given this requirement, it is as well to ask whether we are pursuing the optimal solution in preventive terms.
| End-use | Annual use (tonnes) | % |
| Chloralkali industry | 9.2 | 46 |
| Batteries | 4.0 | 20 |
| Dentistry | 3-5 | 15-22 |
| Thermometers | 1.4 | 7 |
| Electrical apparatus and instrument industry | 2-2.5 | 10 |
| Fluorescent lighting | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| Laboratories | 0.1 | 0.5 |
| Total | 20-20.5 | 100% |
Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a management tool which can be used to determine if a change in a product, package or process is an environmentally beneficial move through the use of quantitative and factual information. LCA helps organisations to:
LCA is a method to:
LCA is a holistic environmental accounting procedure which quantifies and evaluates all wastes discharged to the environment and energy and raw materials consumed throughout the entire life cycle, beginning with sourcing raw materials from the earth, through manufacturing and distribution to consumer use and disposal. (Jackson, 1993, p. 209)
LCA can also include costings (i.e. life cycle costing). The concepts are the same as analysis, and attention is directed to all funds expected to be expended during the useful life of a production asset, including associated activities directly linked to the employment of the asset. In other words, life cycle costing evaluates the total cost between the time the asset becomes recognisable and the time it is phased out of operation.
Source: Jackson, T. (1993) Clean Production Strategies: Developing Preventative Environmental Clean Production Strategies: Developing Preventative Environmental Management in the Industrial Economy, Lewis Publishers, p. 210.
An LCA study can only start once the goal has been clearly described. The goal description not only determines what needs to be included in the assessment itself, but also the use that can legitimately be made of the outcome. The goal statement must also be included in the final report of the LCA.
A life-cycle inventory examines the major stages of the 'life' of a product quantitatively.
Raw materials acquisition
All industrial systems require a supply of raw materials, ultimately extracted from the earth. Examples include petroleum drilling, growing and harvesting of trees, mining of minerals, and livestock production.
Manufacturing, processing, formulation, distribution, transportation
These are the processes and sub-processes required to transform a raw material into a usable consumer product and to get it to the consumer.
Use, re-use and/or maintenance
Use of the product may result in energy consumption and/or waste discharge. For example, a re-usable glass bottle needs to be cleaned before it can be refilled. The cleaning process requires energy and results in detergents disposed down the drain to sewage treatment facilities.
Waste management
At the end of its useful life, the product will be disposed of by the consumer. Materials entering the solid waste stream will either be recycled, incinerated, or landfilled. Products which are disposed of down the drain require a knowledge of their biodegradability to determine actual amounts discharged to the environment.
The two key pieces of quantitative information from a life-cycle inventory are energy consumption and waste generation.
Energy sources can be petroleum, coal, natural gas, water, wood or nuclear. This energy is accounted for in three different categories:
Energy requirements are allocated in proportion to the product and coproducts generated in the process, usually on the basis of product weight. In some cases, it may be more appropriate to base the calculations on chemical or thermal equivalents rather than weight. It is important to allocate energy requirements objectively and consistently. For example, energy associated with livestock production must be allocated consistently among meat, milk, leather, tallow, bonemeal, and possible other products, regardless of which is the principal product of interest.
The comments also apply to the calculation of the waste generated. Waste needs to be distinguished from coproducts. Waste is defined as material which, usually following treatment, has no market value or alternative use and is disposed of to the environment. Coproducts are defined as materials that do have some alternative function or re-use, as well as an existing infrastructure to make such re-use feasible.
Recycling of materials needs proper accounting methods. There are two different recycling cases: closed and open loop recycling. In closed loop recycling, all credits are given to the product . In open loop cycling, the credits need to be shared between the two processes. An example would be the use of old milk bottles to manufacture detergent bottles.
In the case of open loop recycling, it is generally recommended to divide the impacts added to the system equally between the two products.
Manufacturers of consumer goods have always had economic incentives to reduce the amount of material used for their packages. Saving on the amount of material means saving on raw material as well as transportation costs. However, they also have to make certain that the product reaches the consumer undamaged and in the desired hygienic condition. There may also be other restrictions. For example, the Ultra High Temperature or UHT process to sterilise milk and fruit juices best preserves the taste of the product but cannot be applied to product in glass bottles.
The steps analysed in a life-cycle assessment are shown in.
Three packaging options for fabric softeners have been compared: a 4-litre bottle for the conventional product, a 1-litre bottle for a concentrated version, and a refill pouch. For each case, the outer container, used to ship the product from the factory to the shop, was included in the inventory because the container changes with the consumer package.
The 4-litre bottle was the usual package for fabric softener in many European countries. The body of the bottle is high density polyethylene; the closure is polypropylene. Each bottle has two paper labels. Four bottles are packed in one corrugated container.
The 1-litre bottle contains a concentrated fabric softener. The basis for the calculation is that the concentrated product has been formulated for 1 litre of concentrate to provide the same performance as a 4-litre conventional product. Unchanged is that the bottle is made of polyethylene, the closure of polypropylene, and that there are two paper labels. However, in this case 16 bottles are packed in one corrugated container.
The 1-litre pouch is a refill package. The contents of the pouch have to be added to 3 litres of water in a conventional
4-litre bottle. The pouch is essentially made of low-density polyethylene and has a thin layer of PET to provide the necessary barrier. Ten refill pouches are packed in a case of corrugated cardboard.
The inventory then uses local data for the amount of solid waste disposed of in landfill and the amount incinerated. It also requires data for the amount of corrugated board that will be recycled. In this case, 40% recycle was used; currently, actual figures are considerably higher. Similarly, the best available figures were used for all data required in the inventory. The inaccuracies introduced by the availability and reliability of data introduces an uncertainty in the answer. Our best estimate is that a relative difference of at least 20% in a life-cycle assessment is required to indicate a significant difference.
The results of the inventory for the three packaging options show that the improvements have been obtained through a combination of product and package innovations. Product innovation (i.e. product concentration) reduced the wastes and energy demands by about a factor of 2 to 3. Note that in this case the emissions did not change in kind, only in quantity. Hence, aggregation to kilograms was justified. The combination of product and package innovation, the refill pouch, improved reduced waste and energy by a factor of 5. Here, the nature of wastes changed (i.e. aggregation into kilograms is an oversimplification). Currently, over 70% of Procter and Gamble's fabric softeners in Germany are sold as either the concentrated or the pouch version.
Source: Solid Waste Research Group, (1992) People's Food Cooperative, Ann Arbor, School of Natural Resources, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Consumer education, social responsibility and environmental issues are important considerations at the People's Food Cooperative (PFC) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It has been diverting approximately 43 tons per year from the state's solid waste stream as a result of their broadly based waste reduction practices.
While many large grocery store chains have just recently made bulk foods available in their retail line -the PFC has been successfully selling bulk foods for 2O years. Its experience demonstrates how bulk food sales coupled with other practices can reduce waste in the retail food business. Food distribution creates a lot of solid waste. The food products that people (and their pets) consume are of many types and grades. Some are fragile and perishable - and all must be packaged. Waste is created in bringing the products to retail outlets, more waste results from in-store operations, and still more waste is generated as customers use or consume products and discard the packaging. The food distribution industry is responsible for at least 3O percent of our national garbage volume.
Many individuals and businesses in the food distribution chain are concerned about the wasteful way that food is made available to consumers. The PFC has channelled its concern into several "Stop Waste Generation" actions. Through waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting, PFC's Packard Street store has reduced the amount of waste disposed by 86 percent. Additionally, the store promotes food products that are designed for minimum waste generation when used or consumed, helping customers to further reduce waste.
Bulk sales of both dry and liquid food staples have allowed the PFC to significantly reduce its waste. Bulk sales can be even more profitable than the sale of prepackaged items: data collected at the PFC's Packard Street store on two randomly selected items illustrates the desirability of bulk sales
The study shows that the packaging weight for pre-packaged olive oil is almost 10 times (100%) the weight of bulk olive oil. A less dramatic difference is in pre-packaged shampoo -which has about 60 percent more packaging than bulk-packaged shampoo. Of course, the packaging for bulk goods -including corrugated cardboard boxes, glass bottles and plastic containers can be recycled. If customers recycle the bottles containing their bulk purchases, the waste generation figures for bulk sales will be somewhat lower.
Cost-wise, bulk sales often pay dividends to stores. Wholesale prices of bulk foods are less expensive than those of prepackaged foods, and as shown by the cost calculations in the illustration, in-store costs for selling bulk foods are also lower. Check-out costs are somewhat higher for bulk foods, as an investment in bulk dispensing equipment is required. However, ordering, storing and stocking costs are much lower, and the customers provide the labour that is needed to prepare individual sales. The end result is that bulk foods pros vide a wider potential profit margin than prepackaged foods.
Packaging is a very large part of the waste that food retailers must dispose of from store operations. Reduction of packaging on incoming products is a high priority at PFC. Suppliers are urged to send goods in containers that can be returned to the suppliers for reuse in future shipments. This does not require added shipping costs: empty containers are simply loaded onto the supplier's truck after delivery.
Boxes and other containers that cannot be returned to suppliers are offered to local produce growers, customers and employees. Some are reused within the store. The Packard Street store even reuses the large plastic bags in which tortilla chips are delivered for any remaining waste that must go to the landfill.
Efforts are made to recycle all containers that cannot be reused, including kraft paper bags, corrugated cardboard boxes, plastic bags and drums. Cans and bottles, both deposit and nondeposit, are carefully collected and are either recycled or returned to the distributor.
The PFC thinks of its customer's waste disposal problems too. Foodstuffs are purchased whenever possible with the least amount of packaging. Customers are encouraged to use refillable milk bottles and used paper or plastic bags at the check-out counter. The store keeps a supply of clean used bags donated from a local newspaper recycling collection centre next to the cash registers for customer use.
Unsalable food, particularly produce, can be a significant contributor to a retail food store's volume of solid waste. Virtually all food items that are suitable for human consumption that cannot be sold are donated by PFC to a local charitable organisation. Wilted and damaged produce and packaged goods that have passed expiration dates are either donated to charities or given to local farmers for composting. Usually, the farmers are suppliers of new produce and pick up the unsalable food materials after delivering new products to the store.
The PFC understands that the recycling loop is not completed until products containing recycled materials are purchased by consumers. Strong efforts are made to stock and prominently display recycled products in the Packard Street store. The PFC also provides literature to its customers that emphasises the need for buying recycled products.
Ideas for furthering waste reduction efforts at the PFC come from staff, cooperative member and store customers. Suggestions are considered by the staff at biweekly meetings and they are always looking for ways to reduce waste.
The PFC is convinced that food retailing does not have to be a "wasteful" business!