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Khan - Cleaner Production

This document discusses cleaner production as an economical option for ISO certification in developing countries. It introduces cleaner production as a self-help tool and pathway towards ISO certification. It then provides a step-by-step process for developing a cleaner production program, including selecting a cleaner production champion, forming a cleaner production team, identifying opportunities, exploring options, and implementing cleaner production plans. It also discusses common cleaner production opportunities related to raw materials, processes, technology, and equipment. Case studies from Australia are also presented to confirm the successes of cleaner production programs.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
85 views6 pages

Khan - Cleaner Production

This document discusses cleaner production as an economical option for ISO certification in developing countries. It introduces cleaner production as a self-help tool and pathway towards ISO certification. It then provides a step-by-step process for developing a cleaner production program, including selecting a cleaner production champion, forming a cleaner production team, identifying opportunities, exploring options, and implementing cleaner production plans. It also discusses common cleaner production opportunities related to raw materials, processes, technology, and equipment. Case studies from Australia are also presented to confirm the successes of cleaner production programs.
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 22e27 www.elsevier.

com/locate/jclepro

Cleaner production: an economical option for ISO certication in developing countries


Zahiruddin Khan*
Institute of Environmental Science & Engineering, National University of Sciences & Technology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan Received 6 March 2006; accepted 17 June 2006 Available online 23 August 2006

Abstract Since its conception in early 1990s, cleaner production has helped thousands of businesses around the world in improving environmental performance and reducing risks to their staff. Developing countries, due to their economic, social and cultural limitations are slow to adapt to new ideas. Stresses of WTO and ISO certication are hitting the developing economies hard especially the export businesses. This article re-introduces the concept of cleaner production as a self-help tool as well as an economical pathway towards ISO certication. The objective is to motivate businesses anywhere to join the sustainable development trail. A simple step-by-step procedure to develop a cleaner production program is delineated. Cleaner production opportunities and how their exploration will lead to covering many requirements of the ISO14001:2004 certication is discussed. Cleaner production opportunities in the most common automotive industry are presented along with ve case studies from Australia. Special attention is given to energy efciency. A full section is devoted to equipment-specic cleaner production opportunities. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: CP opportunities; Just-in-time; Economic edge; Internal audit; Commitment; Ownership; Green materials; CP plans

1. Introduction With the advent of WTO and ISO certication requirements for industries and businesses especially for export oriented enterprises, the gap between imports and exports in the developing countries is on the rise. Today, ISO14001 or ISO9001 certied companies around the glob are refusing to do business with non-certied companies. Moreover, the general absence of quality consciousness in industrial operations, products and services in the developing countries is costing them millions of dollars in terms of rejects and returned consignments. Thousands of units around the developing world are operating in same old way and the management dismisses the idea of improved environmental management or ISO certication as undue and uneconomical. Success of cleaner production around the world has proven that commitment from the top
* Tel.: 92 51 927 1599. E-mail address: zahiruddinkhan@yahoo.com.au 0959-6526/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2006.06.007

management and true implementation of cleaner production techniques results in cost effective environmental management and brings the business close to ISO certication. The objective of this article is to highlight common cleaner production opportunities in the commercial environment, provide a comprehensive step-by-step guidance for developing a cleaner production program and conrm its successes by presenting some case studies. According to United Nations Environment Program, Cleaner Production means the continuous application of an integrated preventive environmental strategy to processes and products to reduce risks to humans and the environment. It encompasses a thorough review of all aspects of business operations and identies opportunities where improvements will help businesss economy as well as the environment. In addition to economical and environmental benets, cleaner production saves staff from undue injuries, raises staff moral, improves legislative compliance, prevents or controls spills, and raises businesss prole amongst its competitors.

Z. Khan / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 22e27

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2. Methodology This section addresses three subjects: (i) how to develop a successful cleaner production program; (ii) where to look for cleaner production opportunities; and (iii) what cleaner production opportunities are attached to commonly used equipment. Information provided here can be used as guideline for development of an effective environmental management system (EMS) and documents required for ISO14001 certication. 2.1. Developing a Cleaner Production Program [1] The most critical factor in any Cleaner Production Program is the commitment by the top management as the program implementation requires some of the staffs time spent in meeting, discussing, communicating and planning various phases of the program. Cost of implementing changes suggested by cleaner production team is another obstacle. Cost is less likely to be prohibitive if the advantages of the program are well understood by the management and pay-back periods are not too long. Once the top management is convinced of the likely advantages, following steps can be taken to develop and implement a Cleaner Production Program. Step-1: Top management selects an engineer or manager from middle management that is relatively well versed with the concept of cleaner production and call him/her the Cleaner Production Champion (CP Champion). Step-2: The CP Champion will put together a CP team comprised of supervisors from each section and the most experienced and active oor staff. Step-3: The CP team will review past and present environmental and economic activities and contracts of the organization and identify opportunities where improvements can enhance environmental compliance, economic benets or social stature of the organization. Smart CP teams revisit organizations vision for the future and incorporate future plans e.g., ISO certication and initiate necessary documentation of the collected data at the same time. Most common areas of CP opportunities include: raw materials, water management, wastewater management, energy consumption, maintenance, technology being used with reference to the best available technology, consumables, packaging etc. Step-4: From the list of CP opportunities prepared in step-3, CP team will focus on the few most promising ones and explore to what extent changes would help reducing costs or improving environmental performance of the organization. Step-5: After extensive exploration of opportunities, cleaner production plans (CP Plans) are prepared for implementation of the changes recommended by the CP team. Achievable goals and milestones are set and concerted efforts are done to achieve the goals. Step 6: Monthly or bimonthly meetings of the CP team keep track of improvements and barriers in implementation of CP plans. Step 7: Steps 4, 5 and 6 are repeated until most of the cleaner production opportunities are extensively explored and changes implemented.

2.2. Cleaner production opportunities From daily life activities of an individual to national activities, Cleaner Production opportunities are available at every step. It should however be noted that an opportunity that is promising in one business may not have the same ranking in another. Since opportunities vary from business to business and even from management to management, given below are the major Cleaner Production opportunities along with their methods of exploration. Such opportunities exist in most of the businesses and industries. A comprehensive exploration of cleaner production opportunities would also help in identifying all environmental aspects of that business. This would minimize the effort required in developing environmental aspects register required as part of Environmental Management System (EMS) documentation. Given below are a few common cleaner production opportunities. Any business can review its operations in the light of the following and save cost as well as the environment. 2.2.1. Raw materials [1e3] Try bulk purchase i.e., prefer 205 L drums, 1000 L IBCs or custom-made large containers over 10 or 20 L containers. If the same raw material is to be used over and over again, rell containers as far as possible. Use exible packaging such as sacks or bags to help reducing storage space requirements. If a dilute solution is to be used in the industrial operations, purchase concentrated solution for on-site dilution. Where possible, use recycled raw materials and/or replace costly chemicals with low cost chemicals of the same characteristics e.g., replace H3PO4 with H2SO4. Shop around and prefer local suppliers to avoid shipping and handling charges. Explore and purchase environmentally safe materials for your business thus help environment friendly businesses, e.g., replace solvent-based coatings with less toxic, waterbased coatings. Reformulate and redesign your products using environment friendly materials e.g. eliminate lead from paints or cadmium from ink manufacturing. Analyze impact of your products over their life cycle and redesign to minimize its adverse environmental impacts. 2.2.2. Change process or technology [1e4] Discard obsolete, energy inefcient machinery. Always purchase energy-efcient, 3e4 star rated equipment. Prefer mechanical cleaning devices over manual cleaning, i.e., rather than using tap water and man-power, use high pressure, hot water jets. This would minimize water consumption and result into quality cleaning. Reduce high pressure lines to reduce fugitive emissions of air toxins. Store powdered chemicals in dry, covered and contained area. Develop and document standard operating procedures for all business operations. This would minimize repeats and rejects. Keep a maintenance record of individual machinery. Post an emergency response procedure against spills, re or machinery failure in each section. These activities will help developing operational controls, and, emergency preparedness and response register e a requirement under Section 4.4.6 and 4.4.7 of ISO14001e2004.

24

Z. Khan / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 22e27

Training of staff with new technology is vital for any business. Get your staff trained as soon as new machinery is installed. Assess their competence regularly. Ask the trained staff to train newly inducted staff. Keep changing staffs work positions. This will provide wider skill-base and reduce of the risk of production loss. Refresher training and random competence checks will help keeping the quality high. Documentation of training records and assessment procedures will help keeping track of training requirements as well as fulll another requirement under Section 4.4.2 i.e., competence training and awareness, of ISO14001e2004. 2.2.3. Improvements in housekeeping [1e3] Develop and document standard procedures and records for receiving raw materials and disposal of products. This would reduce volume and duration of storage as well as provide a track record of items in production ow. Take steps to reduce and contain spills. Also install spill control procedure and necessary equipment in the area where the spill is likely. Review inventory of raw materials and products weekly. Apply Just in time technique to avoid un-necessary storage. 2.2.4. Communication [1,4] Healthy two-way communication is the heart and soul of any program. Cleaner production champions all around the world regularly communicate to their staff at all levels. Develop a system of communication throughout your organization. This is important to get the rst hand information about conformance or complications. This will also provide staff with changes in managements plans, objectives, targets and legal obligations. Encourage staffs ownership e promote intersectional competitions and reward best performers. Announce employee of the month award to motivate staff. Keeping records, documentation and implementation of such a communication system will fulll requirement of Section 4.4.3 communication of ISO-14001e2004. 2.2.5. On-site waste management [1e3,4] Think through operations and minimize raw material wastage. Motivate oor-staff in waste minimization drive by sharing the income from sold recycling materials. Segregate efuent streams with reuse focus. Treatment of wastewater to the countrys efuent quality standards is obligatory irrespective of seeking certication. Install low-cost treatment systems as far as possible. Keep track of businesss obligations under prevailing legislation and maintain a record of violations. Maintain a legal requirements register and update it with changes in legislation. This would establish the basis for businesss track record under Section 4.5.2 namely, evaluation of compliance while applying for ISO14001:2001 certication. Segregate solid wastes and recycle where possible. Install scrubbers to treat emissions. Comprehensive waste management practices make any business more sustainable as well as compliant with legislative requirement. Return all expired chemicals and used chemical containers to suppliers as far as possible. Shop around for most economical waste collector.

Conduct informal internal audits to review opportunities of waste reduction and enhancement of waste reuse. This may also include energy audit and machine-hours vs production etc. Waste reduction can be improved by dening new targets every year and motivating staff. Documentation results from such audits and actions taken to ll the gaps will not only improve production but reduce waste and will fulll an other requirement of ISO14001e2004 under Section 4.5.5 namely internal audit. 2.2.6. Energy management [1e3] Conduct an in-house energy audit every year or hire an external auditor. In case of a large industry, conduct internal energy audit in parts. Painting walls as white improves light as well as the working environment. Use natural light by introducing translucent sheets in ceiling and installing large windows all around. Maintaining minor gaps between start of heavy machinery would reduce probability of crossing the energy threshold. Recover heat loss by using heat exchangers. Develop a culture of turning lights & machinery off while not in use. Sensors can also be used to turn the lights and taps on when needed. Replace high power light xture with energy saver xture. Revisit electricity and telephone contracts where possible. Supplement your energy needs with green energy i.e., solar and wind energy, and set new targets each year. Costs on phones are changing rapidly. Attend to your power correction factor and keep it close to 1.0 as far as possible. 2.2.7. Water consumption [1e4] Conduct an internal water use & quality audit each year. Identify wastewater streams that can be diverted to reuse. Harvesting storm water can save on water used for oor cleaning and/or washrooms ushing. Use AAA rated water showerheads and taps. Conduct a weekly survey for leaking taps and other xtures. Fix leaks immediately. Document steps involved in the routine water audit and maintain records. This will become part of the internal audit required in ISO14001e2004 certication. 2.2.8. Equipment maintenance [1e3] Keep all moving machinery well lubricated. Establish and follow an equipment maintenance and xtures changes plan. Keep maintenance record of each equipment. Never use sole supplier for equipment & spares. This can jeopardize production and other operations anytime. Keep in touch with modern developments & budget for replacement of equipment. Switch to long life and better quality lubricants, coolants and chemicals. 2.2.9. Consumables [1e3] Consumables are materials used in the business operations and personal protection in addition to raw materials, e.g., nuts, bolts, rags, cartridges, lters, oils, ear-plugs, gloves, goggles, overalls, shoes fuels and stationary, etc. In ofces, promote use of both sides of the paper and recycled toner cartridges. Shop around for petrol, coolants, detergents and other consumables. Decentralize purchasing so that each department can

Z. Khan / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 22e27

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maintain its own inventory of consumables. Maintain a record and study variations with time and production. Keeping track of consumables becomes a part of monitoring and measurement covered under Section 4.5.1 of the ISO14001:2004. Do not enter into a long-time contract, this would limit your exibility and may not be economical in the long run. 2.2.10. Packaging [1e3] Packaging may include materials that are being purchased by the company for packing its products or the kind of packaging it is receiving along with its raw materials. In order to reduce cost on packaging materials, quarterly review most popular & unpopular packaging and accordingly change unpopular sizes. Design packing as to maximize its recovery and reuse Shred and reuse waste cardboard and papers for shock absorbing materials. 2.3. Equipment specic cleaner production options 2.3.1. Compressed air systems [1,5,6] Compressed air systems are an essential component of almost every industry. Many CP measures have been suggested to reduce the cost of operating these systems. A 3 drop in temperature of the incoming air can reduce energy consumption by 1%. This can simply be achieved by placing compressor under cover. Most compressed air systems are over-designed, matching demand and supply would cut the cost. Air leaks in compressed systems are responsible for 20% of the air consumption. Also many businesses keep extra pressurized lines to the need in case. Removing unused compressed air lines can help reducing cost. Establish and follow a monthly schedule of leak detection. Keep records of leaks and cost of repairs to decide when to replace lines. Ultrasonic equipment is now available in the market to make this job easy. 2.3.2. Boilers/hot water systems [1,5,6] Hot water systems using gas are lot more economical and environment friendly than those using furnace oil, diesel, coal or electricity. Efcient combustion equipment reduces the fuel demand. Often boilers are oversized. Matching demand with generation would help reducing the cost. Use of demineralized water reduces the need for anti-scaling agents as well as maintenance requirements. Insulating hot water and/or steam lines reduces heat loss by as much as 90%. Regularly check and repair steam traps and keep the operating pressure to an optimum level. In case of hot-water system, re-set your thermostat to 60  C. Hot water consumption can be halved by installing AAA rated shower-heads and water saving aerators on taps. Savings through on-time repairs of leaky taps and rusting pipes is another important economical step. 2.3.3. Electric motors [1,5,6] Fifty percent of worlds energy goes through electric motors. Ratio between the capital cost vs operating cost of electric motors is 5:1. Studies have shown that 2.4 KW saved at motors can save up to 8 KW at the power plant. Installation

of variable speed drive for motors that are not always fully loaded, saves as much as 20e30% energy. Also installation of time switches to turn off un-loaded motors helps in saving energy as well as maintenance. Again, in case electric motors over-sizing is quite common. Reducing number of tees and elbows in pipes following motors reduces head-loss. Minimize rewinds, each rewind reduces motors efciency. 2.3.4. Pumps and fans [1,5,6] According to Sustainable Energy Development Agency, NSW, Australia, savings as high as 80% can be achieved by reducing the speed of pumps and fans to 50%. A unit of energy saved at pump or fan saves 3.3 units at the motor. In order to save energy, ensure that pipes and ducts or not undersized15% increase in pipe diameter reduces pressure drop by 50%. In case of centrifugal pump, trim impeller diameter below design ow rate or use a smaller diameter impeller. A 10% reduction in impeller diameter would reduce energy consumption by 25%. Altering the angle of the blades in fans also helps increasing its efcacy. Regular maintenance and installation of timers to stop pumps and fans when not in use, adds into the efciency and working life of the equipment. 2.3.5. Ovens and kilns [1,5,6] Ovens and kilns are a common encounter in ceramics and allied industry. The efciency of ovens and kilns can be improved by automating controls rather than manual operations. Waste heat can easily be recovered for use in other operations. Reduction in heat loss can be achieved by insulation and proper sealing. Use of indirect heating often losses heat in the conduction and convection processes. Change from indirect heating to direct ring reduces this loss. Optimizing temperature and minimizing warm-up time is another source of economical heating. 2.3.6. Cooling towers [1,5,6] While cooling towers continuously reuse water within a facility, they can represent between 20e30% of the total water consumption. The efciency of water use in cooling towers can be improved by optimizing water treatment to minimize blow-down requirements. Drift (water loss in the form of mist) can be reduced by installing bafes or drift eliminators. Using clean water from other operations within the facility as make-up water or re-using blow-down water in other operations reduces the cost of fresh water. 3. Discussion Thousands of businesses around the world are enjoying economic, environmental and social benets from implementing cleaner production practices. Given below are the cleaner production guidelines for the most polluting automotive industry. A few case studies, developed by the author, are also discussed to promote the sense of cleaner production in other industrial sectors.

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Z. Khan / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 22e27

3.1. Cleaner production and the automotive industry Automotive industry is one of most polluting industry amongst small enterprises. Owing to the poor regulatory enforcement, business owners in developing countries dispose all kind of solid, liquid and gaseous wastes into the environment. Open air spray painting, disposal of oil bearing lters into open waste-dumps, repairing leaky cars without spill collectors in open spaces, waste coolant running into natural streams or street-side drains, storage of oils chemicals and greasy parts in open air, car washings everywhere and on permeable surface, noisy smoky engine testing, used tires disposed off in open dumps etc. are common practices in the developing world. Given in Table 1 are a few of the cleaner ` -vis existing practices. production options vis-a As mentioned earlier, cleaner production is applicable to any business and is useful in getting environmental, economic and social benets. The most important aspect of cleaner production is that its application in true spirit would alleviate the functioning of an organization to a point where it can develop its EMS without using a consultant and get ISO14001:2004 certication without any further steps. Most of the case studies presented below, get their ISO14001 certication through true application of cleaner production practices. Case study-1 [2]: Company A is an aluminium anodising business. Cleaner production team evaluated the efciency of all of its rectiers using computer models and recommended to overhaul rectier #3. In doing so the company saved $13,000 in terms of energy cost only. Air agitation system in heat transfer baths was found inefcient. The company replaced ne bubblers with circulating jets. This reduced the power required for uid agitation by 20%. Examination of heat transfer between chillers and heat exchangers revealed that the system was working inefciently. Pressure and heat was lost due thin pipes. Increasing diameter of these pipes improved heat transfer efciency. Also new heat exchangers
Table 1 Existing vs CP practices in automotive businesses No. 1 Current practice Open air spray painting pollutes air damages the health of the worker

were recommended to minimize the heat loss. Inspired by the recommendations by the Cleaner Production team, the company hired an independent energy consultant. At a cost $1500 paid to energy consultant, the company changed it energy supplier and started saving over $5000 per month. Disposal of aluminum sludge from the wastewater treatment plant was costing $5000 per month to the company. The Cleaner Production team discovered that the same sludge could be used for phosphate removal at the sewage treatment plant. Another company expressed its interest to use the sludge as raw material for its product. Overall Company A was estimated to save over $180,000 per annum. Case study-2 [2]: Company B was an international ink manufacturer. Their product was mainly used for currency printing all around the world. The company had an inefcient noncompliance reporting system (NCR) in place. Many loopholes were identied by the Cleaner production team that helped improving the NCR. Valuable press-based was lost due to packaging and poor removal methods. CP team recommended changes in product recovery mechanisms that saved product worth thousands of dollars. Company had an impressive eet of vans that would rush to deliver products as soon as a demand was launched. By introducing a delay time of half-an-hour, the company was able to mange many orders in one go saving cost of fuel and drivers time. The company also reviewed it packaging and eliminated un-popular sizes. On waste management side, the company promoted on-site waste sorting and recycling system. Waste barrels and buckets were crushed onsite to minimize volume of the waste. This reduced the number of waste pick-ups to twice a month from 6e8 times a month. An efcient hot water jet system reduced the time and effort for cleaning the used machinery and waste drums. Adjust of cool room thermo-state to 20  C viz a viz 13  C helped reducing energy bill. Similarly a fresh whitewash of the ceiling and the top-half of factory walls ignited a new life into the dull odorous environment. Another important development was

Proposed CP practice  Conduct spray painting in enclosed spray booth tted with lters and exhaust fans. Staff must use respirator and other safety gear during spray painting. Also using low pressure, high volume spray guns would impart most of the paint to the surface.  Drain oil lters for more than 24 h into an oil can.  Crush oil lters into an oil collector. Remove and recycle metal and dispose off paper into the bin. Similarly, remove and reuse metal part of the air lter.  Store all oils, coolants and other chemicals in a sealed, bunded and covered area.  Keep a spill kit or a bag of rags ready to control, contain and clean spills.  Always repair vehicles in a sealed area and use oil collecting pans or at least a few rags under the vehicle to keep the surface clean.  Wash vehicles in a proper wash-bay where all the wastewater is collected and treated using an oil-water separator before disposal into the street drain or sewer.  Reduce compressor noise by placing it on rubber pads and covering it.  Test vehicles at low rpm while vehicle faces the shop door. Use shop exhaust to remove smoke.  Store and sell tires to recyclers. Used tires are used to make sleepers and mates. They can be used for soil and slope stabilization, shock absorbers and kids swings.  Used batteries can be a source of acid. Thrown in open, they can damage the surface in contact. Keep the batteries in closed area until taken away by a recycler.

Waste oil lters dumped along with other waste

3 4 5 6

Drums/cans of fresh oils, coolants and other chemicals stored near shop door Vehicle repair in open air on permeable soil Open air car washing Compressors and vehicle testing e highly noisy

7 8

Used tires e everywhere Used batteries e thrown in open

Z. Khan / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 22e27

27

the installation of power factor correction equipment that improved the power factor from 0.8 to near unity. Changing the position of near-ceiling exhaust fans in the chemical storage room to near oor, removed all heavy and health hazardous vapors. Inspired by the above actions and resulting savings, the company conducted its internal audit and many more cost saving opportunities, for example removal of extra phone lines, sprung up. As a result of cleaner production project, Company B saved $60,000 per annum. Case study-3 [2]: Company C was an international detergent manufacturing company dealing in liquid as well as powdered detergents. Being a large company with many departments, ever-changing products and over 500 staff, the company had stocks of obsolete raw materials and waste detergents. A detailed cleaner production audit suggested that company must decentralize it purchasing and each department should follow a just-in-time technique to minimize such stocks. A culture of on-site waste segregation and enhanced recycling lead to a 30% reduction in waste. Also the company revisited it waste disposal contract and saved an extra 10% by hiring a new waste collector. Comprehensive light survey in the product warehouse, helped repositioning and replacing the 1000 Watt high-bays by 400 Watt Sodium illuminators. A reective white-wash inside the warehouse multiplied the effectiveness of light. Installation of power correction factor equipment enhanced the value of supplied energy. On staff level, disposable coffee cups were replaced by personalized re-usable cups. Manual cleaning of tanks was replaced by hot water jets. Dual ush systems and water efcient taps were added to all washrooms and showers. The company was using phosphoric acid for pH adjustment in its wastewater treatment plant. CP team recommended the use of economical sulfuric acid. Measures were also taken to collect and reuse waste detergent powder. Replacement of 205 L, non-recyclable, chemical drums with large storage vessels resulted in huge savings. Over all the company saved in the vicinity of $360,000 per annum. Case study-4 [2]: Company D is a large construction equipment hiring business. Company ofces are located all around Australian with its main workshop and head ofce in Sydney. Large volume of water was consumed by the company in its machine wash-bay. Also the company wanted to rebuild workshop and ofces as the most environment friendly building. Cleaner production team suggested reusing of last rinse as the rst ush for the next machine. Workshop was divided into four sections such as: (i) services area for oil and coolant changes; (ii) engineering welding section; (iii) oils and chemical stores; and (iv) spares warehouse. Inux of natural light was maximized by roof-top windows and painting top two-third of all walls inside the workshop as white. All lights were repositioned relevant to the point of use. An inventory register was maintained to keep track of spares, personal protection equipment and volumes of oils/coolants used. Reuse of cleaner rags was promoted. Staff decided to collect and sell all soda cans and use the collection for annual X-mass party. The company switched to long life oils and coolants that reduced frequency of services. Overall company D saved around $60,000 per annum.

Case study-5 [2]: Company E is polystyrene structure manufacturer. Imported polystyrene resin is subjected to steam before moulding into different shapes. House keeping, loss of steam and loss of raw materials were a few major issues. Cleaner production team suggested that machine moulds and other equipment not always in use be stored in a separate room. A study was initiated to adjust the weight: volume ratio of the products as per the original congurations. A maintenance and service schedule was devised for steam traps and boilers. Granulation of rejects was replaced with a low temperature moulding machine that would convert the reject to a useful raw material for low quality products. Machine time for each machine was reviewed and adjustments were made to enhance the machine efciency. All compressed air and steam lines were surveyed for leaks and repaired as required. Power correction factor of company E was found to be near unity. Company saved $78,000 per annum as a result of its cleaner production program. 4. Cost benets analysis Whilst most of the Cleaner Production practices require better management of existing resources and a pro-environment attitude at all levels of the organization, yet some changes, for example, replacement of an obsolete machine with latest, energy efcient machine would require funding. Similarly placement of solar panels or translucent sheets for more natural light would involve expenditure. It has been seen that savings will offset the cost within a period of 3e30 months and afterwards then its savings continue to save money for the rm. 5. Conclusions Its clear from the above discussion that adopting cleaner production practices will result in improved efciency and productivity, enhanced regulatory compliance, leading to better public image and marketing advantages, reduced environmental risks and ultimately reduced operating cost with stronger organizational support for the environment. Acknowledgement The author gratefully acknowledges the information provided by Advitech Pty Ltd, New Castle, NSW, Australia. References
[1] Environment & business- Proting from Cleaner Production, Cleaner Production Manual published by "Environment Australia", Canberra: Australia; 2001. p. 38. [2] Khan Z, Wilson D. Cleaner Production Project REport for SmitheldWetherill Park Industrial Area, NSW, Australia; March 2003. p. 170. [3] Barker C. Cleaner Production Engineer, Advitech Pty Ltd, New Castle, NSW, Australia: Personal Communications; January 2001eOctober 2004. [4] International Standards e ISO14001: Environmental Management Systems e Requirements with guidance for use; 2004. [5] EPA- Unpublished Cleaner Production Module-3, NSW-Australia; 2002. p. 89. [6] Energy Savers Manual. Sustainable Energy Development Agency. NSW, Australia; 2001. p. 124.

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