Cleaner Production INITIATIVES

UNEP IE has published a few relevant reports on this subject:

UNEP 96 Cleaner production - A training Resource Package, ISBN 92-807-1605-0. This package explains step by step how industries could implement 'cleaner production' options.

UNEP 94-1 Government strategies and policies for cleaner production, 1994, Sales No. 94-III-D12, ISBN 92-807-1442-2.
This report explains
i) how factories can transfer to cleaner production;
ii) strategies for governments to promote cleaner production;
iii) policy instruments to encourage cleaner production.

UNEP 94-2 Cleaner Production in the Asia pacific Economic Cooperation Region, 1994, Sales No. 94-III-D.13, ISBN 92-807-1443-0

The publication gives successful experiences of cleaner production in Asian factories. Its purpose is to illustrate the progress of Cleaner Production in the region and encourage its further development. Examples of cleaner production are given for the following industrial branches: food processing (among others the coconut and pineapple industry), electronic manufacturing, automobile component manufacture, food industry (alcohol production), photographic industry, rubber industry, textile dyeing and finishing, wood finishing, fibre production (polyester), automobile and bicycle industry. Most of these success stories are however water related (e.g. recycling of wastewater), the publication does hardly give measures to address air pollution.

It is very useful that the publication contains the contact addresses of the factories that implemented cleaner production successfully with both environmental and economic benefits.In general, cleaner production options can be divided in five categories:

1. improved product design (manufacturing less polluting products, e.g. by avoiding the use of heavy metals as pigments in plastics);
2. improved housekeeping (better management of the production floor: using exactly the amount of ground substances, no waste of energy, and working in a clean, safe environment);
3. substitution for/improvement of fuels, and toxic, dangerous materials;
4. process modifications; and
5. internal reuse of waste products.

In case of air quality management, the main successes have been reached by improving the quality of fuels (category 3). Examples are restricting the sulfur content of fuels' and encouraging the use of cleaner type of fuels (notably the replacement of coal by natural gas)'.

Reducing Fuel Related Air Pollution

Measure	Expected improvement of air quality and other advantages	Disadvantages	Comments and city examples
Restricting the sulfur content of fuels	Very effective if sulfur dioxide has been identified as a major problem		Pusan, Korea: the government has lowered the sulfur content of fuels used by industry;Hong Kong: Fuel restriction Regulations were implemented in July 1990 to apply virtually to all non-domestic fuel users. These regulations require fuel oils and solid fuels to have a sulfur content of below 0.5 and 1 per cent by weight respectively. Breaching this regulation can make owners liable to fines. The implementation of this regulation has resulted in a substantial reduction of SO2 concentrations in ambient air. Refineries in Chennai process crude oil with high sulfur content, resulting in high emissions into the atmosphere; action is necessary.
Encouraging the use of cleaner type of fuels (notably LPG)			Pusan, Korea: liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is being encouraged, and factories are transferring from coal and B-C oil to the use of cleaner fuels. Chennai, India: emissions of small industries are made worse as coal supplies are unpredictable and often wood, rice husk and other biomass materials are burned.