Czech Republic: Workshop Papers

Cleaner Production Projects - Strategies for Business in Environment Protection

Ing. Jan Mikolas, CSC.,Director, Environmental Management Office, Czech Cleaner Production Center

General Context

The basic means for reducing the burden of production processes on the environment have undergone rapid development in the last few decades. Until the 1960s the prevailing idea was that the harmful effects of emissions could be sufficiently reduced through dispersion. The 1970s saw the advent of 'end-of-pipe technologies', and the following decade that of recycling. The 1990s ushered in the era of cleaner production, or the transition from remedial measures to preventive measures.

Cleaner production represents the application of an integral preventive strategy of environmental protection on processes and products, aimed at reducing risks to human health and the environment. It entails a more efficient use of raw materials and energy and a reduction in the quantity and toxicity levels of all types of waste even before they are produced. Preventive techniques include:

improvement of production processes ('good housekeeping')
adjustment of existing technical equipment
use of more modern technologies
adjustment or change of production inputs
adjustment or change to products
recycling of waste in place of production
treatment of waste into a marketable product

The results of projects undertaken thus far in the area of cleaner production (CP) show that on average up to 25 percent of waste produced can be reduced with little or no investment, while the remainder requires investment which brings favorable returns. CP can, if fully realized, result not only in reduced environmental impact, but can also mean (and usually does) significant economic benefits. The implementation of CP practice in production activities can be expected to become a rapidly developing business sphere in the near future and an opportunity for consulting and manufacturing companies to realize business projects along these lines.

Conditions for CP Implementation in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic's environmental policy^[1] emphasizes the need for a preventive approach in environmental protection. This is embodied by Act No. 17/1992, 'The Environment Act'; and the Waste Management Act, No. 238/1991. The main tool supporting the implementation of CP is the education of specialists and the preparation of model projects. This important task is being performed in the Czech Republic by the Cleaner Production Center, founded with the support of the Norwegian government.

The Cleaner Production Center (CPC) is a professional non-governmental and non-profit organization dealing with prevention practice in waste and waste production. The CPC was established in 1994 under the auspices of the Czech-Norwegian project on cleaner production aimed at establishing domestic professional capacities. Since 1995 the CPC has been a member of a UN-organized international network of national centers for cleaner production and has been awarded a long-term grant under the cleaner production scheme of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The CPC organizes long-term interactive CP courses open to employees of industrial companies and consulting firms. A course includes 8-15 days of theoretical work spread over six months and the preparation of a case study for a selected site. The study is prepared by the participants under the professional assistance of a consultant from the CPC. Some of the proposed CP measures are implemented at the site immediately, while further measures are taken as decided by its management.

The Czech-Norwegian project on cleaner production has held three interactive CP courses since its inception, in the training centers at the VSCHT Praha and VUT Zlin. The first two courses were tutored by Norwegian specialists, while the third was administered by Czech specialists. 34 case studies have been prepared and 122 specialists have been trained.

23 case studies have produced savings annually of a total 85 million Czech crowns (Kc) annually. The results of the projects with regard to the impact on the environment can be expressed in the amount of waste prevented per year:

2,100 tons of emissions of volatile organic substances (i.e., fuels and solvents)
12,000 m3 of sewage waste water (the pollution content, and the resulting decrease in the degree of treatment necessary by sewage treatment plants)
12,000 tons of waste classified as 'special and hazardous', i.e., waste which can only be stored at secured dumps or which demand other methods of neutralization, such as incineration (e.g., galvanic sludge, industrial oils, contaminated materials).

A further positive result of the introduction of CP is the increasing degree of investment in industrial end-of-pipe technologies, for example, sewage treatment plants and neutralization stations. Once CP technologies have been applied and sewage flows, for example, reduced, it will be possible to introduce lower capacity end-of-pipe technologies. Such a benefit was only analyzed during the third CP course, however, it is estimated that it will represent savings of at least 30 million Kc.

Outlook

The environmental sector is one of the most rapidly growing areas, not only in more developed countries but also in the Czech Republic. A study undertaken by the PHARE Programme indicates that between the years 1995 and 2000 investments of approximately USD 560 million will need to be made in the waste treatment sector alone in the Czech and Slovak Republics^[2]. This will likely include not only end-of-pipe technologies but also investment in CP.

An analysis of the existing number of consultants and likely demand for services over the next ten years shows that approximately 300-350 firms are currently active in the environmental sector^[3]. Approximately 20% of these maintain a decisive market share. While the supply and demand for consultancies in the spheres of air and water protection is well balanced, a considerable increase is expected in the areas of waste treatment and environmental technologies. At present, no single consultancy yet focuses on the area of cleaner production or production technology.

Given the current situation outlined above, the Cleaner Production Center will be preparing further courses for 1996. The education of a sufficient number of professionals able to apply CP principles to industrial companies and offer the sound economic benefits it brings represents the first step in meeting this growing market for environmental services.

Endnotes

1. State Environmental Policy (document adopted by the Czech government), Ministry of Environment, August 1995

2. Waste Sector Study in the Czech and Slovak Republics (PHARE/EC/WAS/05 project), PHARE scheme, 1994

3. Business in the Environmental Sector of the Czech Republic (Opportunity study), EMO s.r.o. Prague, 1994

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