The Cleaner Production Knowledge Series
By Mr. He Bingguang, Director of Energy Comprehensive Utilization Division, SETC
Background
Since the industrial revolution, world-wide economic growth has been largely based on the high consumption of natural resources and energy. This pattern contributed to the heavy cost of "high consumption, low benefits and serious pollution." After World War II, industry developed rapidly and caused serious pollution to the environment, which was demonstrated by a series of environmental pollution incidents shocking the world. The cruel facts have awakened people's awareness and conscience on environmental protection.
Based on this background, the United Nations Conference on Human Environment was held in Sweden in 1972 and the Declaration of Human Environment was proclaimed and endorsed from this conference. Since then, great efforts have been made in many countries in controlling industrial pollution by way of "Pollution First and Control Afterwards" with a strategy focused on the end-of-pipe treatment. Many pollution control systems have been constructed, with large amounts of investment, to treat the wastes generated from industrial production processes.
Years of experience, however, have shown that such end-of-pipe control systems can result in not only tremendous waste of resources and high costs, but they also have complicated technical requirements, and there are possible risks to the environment during waste disposal as well. It is difficult to achieve integrated benefits for the economy, for society and for the environment. Because of this dilemma, this pollution control strategy has become a burden for enterprises rather than a motivation for voluntary action.
Based on the lessons learned from traditional industrial pollution control practices, a new concept - Cleaner Production (CP) - was proposed and advocated. It is a pro-active and integrated solution to pollution problems by eliminating or reducing pollutants at the source during the course of production processes. Since 1972, pollution control patterns have begun to change. During the 1970s and 1980s, various concepts and strategies emerged, such as minimization of wastes, source reduction instead of end-of-pipe treatment, pollution prevention, and "no or less" waste generation process. Cleaner production has become a fundamental policy in various countries around the world to achieve their objective of sustainable development.
Consensus on CP has also been reached in China. Government economic and environmental protection agencies and enterprises are aware that CP is the best choice for controlling industrial pollution. At the Second National Conference on Industrial Pollution Control, co-sponsored by the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) and the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) in 1993 in Shanghai, CP was officially proposed in the governmental documents and promoted for China's implementation of sustainable development. Since then, many efforts have been made in training and awareness raising, policy review, demonstration projects, and international cooperation on CP with various provincial and governmental agencies. Some remarkable progress has been made. For example,
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In the laws and regulations, including the Law on Air Pollution Control, the Law on Water Pollution Control, the Law on Solid Waste Control, and the Regulations on Water Pollution Control in Huaihe River Basin, etc., CP was emphasized, and it has been proposed as the sole strategy for industrial pollution control.
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In the Ninth Five-year Plan formulated by the industrial administration agencies, CP promotion and industrial pollution prevention were both emphasized.
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A number of CP demonstration projects have been implemented.
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Multilateral/bilateral cooperation on CP with World Bank, Asia Development Bank, United Nations Environment Programme, and the governments of Canada, the United States, Norway and the Netherlands has been actively developed.
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More than 10 sectoral or local CP centers have been established in China.
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Hundreds of training courses or workshops on CP have been held. As a result, enterprises and economic circles have rapidly accepted the concept of CP.
In spite of all this, progress in promoting CP is still relatively slow. Cleaner Production (CP) was defined by SETC as "the continuous application of pollution prevention strategies to processes and products, through ongoing improvement of management practices and technologies in order to enhance efficiency of resource utilization, to eliminate pollution emissions and to reduce risks to people and the environment." It emphasizes pollution prevention from the source rather than end-of-pipe control, and focuses on environmental improvement with economic benefits to industry. Implementing CP can not only help China avoid following in the disastrous steps of the developed countries, which resulted from a "Pollution First and Control Afterwards" strategy, but it can also help achieve the integration of environmental and economic benefits, by enabling enterprises to adopt and pursue pollution prevention actively. It can be concluded from the experience of pollution prevention in China and other countries that CP is the best way for industrial pollution prevention, and it is an important approach to accommodate economic growth and change, and it is the inevitable best choice for sustainable development of national industry.
Significance of CP
Promotion in China
The main reasons for promoting CP in China are:
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Cleaner production is an inevitable choice and a guarantee for sustainable development in China.
For a long time, China has been adopting the traditional development pattern, which has the characteristics of high consumption of resources and energy, and wasteful processing operations. As a result, economic growth has been achieved at the cost of high investment, high consumption and serious pollution. Development based on this format is unsustainable and results in a conflict between economic progress and environmental protection. Growth which neglects the environment damages its quality, and the health of people and future generations, and consequently, future economic development is also compromised.
On the other hand, it is not viable to pay attention only to environmental concerns. Without the support of a strong economy, environmental protection can never be realized. Poor living conditions will not be improved, and the welfare of present and future generations cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, sustainable development is the only choice for meeting the needs of the present, which does not limit possibilities for the future. Cleaner production is a strategy of continuous application of pollution prevention to industries with an emphasis on pollution prevention from the source and pollution control during the whole process. By implementing CP, we can increase the efficiency of resource utilization and raw material transformation, to reduce resource consumption and waste generation and to achieve sustainability. At the same time, we can reduce risks to people and the environment through eliminating pollution during the process. Success stories in China and other countries have shown that CP, as a strategy of reducing pollution and costs, increasing competitiveness and achieving integration between economic benefits and environmental benefits, is an inevitable choice and important assurance for sustainable development. Industries must stay on course since their vital interest is at stake.
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Cleaner production is an effective approach and a practical requirement for encouraging the changing of economic growth patterns and improving the quality and efficiency of economic growth.
The concept of sustainable development originated from environmental protection. However, the adoption of a sustainable development strategy is a requirement not only for environmental protection, but also for the entire economic operation. Sustainable development will require a complete reworking of the conventional way of growth - massive consumption of natural resources and energy with a careless attitude of management. The major problem for Chinese economic development is the poor quality and low efficiency of economic growth which resulted from poor management style, unreasonable production structures, obsolete technologies and equipment, high consumption, inefficient use and waste of resources and energy. These result not only in high production costs and economic inefficiency, but also in a large amount of pollutants which are causing serious environmental problems.
To solve these problems, new ways for production must be promoted. To promote CP, a totally new target is set for the development of enterprises and industries: To enhance the efficiency of resource utilization and minimize the generation of wastes. To achieve this goal, efforts must be made by enterprises in restructuring, improvement of management systems, process and technology renovation, personnel practices which reduce energy consumption, and other areas which enhance efficiency and reduce consumption and pollution. Effective development practices must be followed for wise and efficient utilization of resources. It is obvious that CP involves far-reaching enterprise reforms and a major shift of economic growth patterns. It means specifically the changing the way of development from extensive operations into intensive operations. By so doing, CP will positively and rapidly improve the quality and efficiency of economic operations.
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Cleaner production is an inevitable choice and the best way for industrial pollution control.
The traditional environmental protection pattern - end-of-pipe control with the philosophy of "Pollution First and Treatment Afterwards", has produced some improvement in the environment. But as time passes, especially with the acceleration of industrialization and the implementation of a sustainable development strategy, end-of-pipe control has demonstrated its limitations:
(a) High capital investment and high operation cost for pollution treatment facilities, imposing an additional burden to the production process and increasing the production cost, and consequently reducing the enthusiasm of the enterprises to act.
(b) Pollutants cannot be eliminated completely and are usually transferred to other environmental media, causing "secondary pollution."
(c) End-of-pipe control often requires secondary treatment facilities, so it does not give the ability to use resources more efficiently and prevent pollution at the source.
(d) Complicated technology requirements and high risks caused by waste disposal.
(e) Its emphasis on waste treatment after generation rather than pollution prevention for the whole process causes a division in the integral relationship between pollution control and production management in the course of processing.
The bulk of China's pollution comes from industry. There exist, in general, a number of problems in China's domestic industries, such as backward technologies and management systems, severe pollution situations, and inadequate awareness of pollution prevention. It is therefore difficult to reduce industrial pollution and fundamentally improve environmental quality by using the traditional end-of-pipe control technique, which cannot keep up with the needs of sustainable development. However, CP, as a means of pollution prevention rather than pollution treatment, has strengthened the concept of environmental protection. By continuous improvement of management systems and technologies (under the prerequisite of satisfying the physical and cultural needs of people) CP focuses on the efficient use of resources and reduction or elimination of waste generation with the goal of minimizing risks to people and the environment. It emphasizes pollution prevention with economic benefits to enterprises. Cleaner production, with great vitality and buoyancy, begins a new era of "Pollution Prevention" in the history of environmental protection and will become the best approach for pollution control in this new century.
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Cleaner Production is a significant landmark for the development and the civilization of modern industry, and as well as an internal requirement for enterprises to establish a high reputation.
The shift in emphasis from end-of-pipe control to CP, or from post-pollution treatment to prevention, is not only a change and an alternative for a pollution control approach, but a totally new attitude for industrial production as well. Cleaner production overcomes the deficiency of the traditional end-of-pipe control procedure. In order to understand this alternative, we have to greatly change and improve our overall thinking, management style, industrial processes and technologies, responding fully to the requirements of sustainable development. The course of change and improvement reflects the evolution of modern industrial civilization. CP implementation is a new industrial revolution, guided by a sustainable development strategy, and it will become the indispensable approach to industrial production development in the 21st century.
Enterprises can neither survive nor grow without the mutual understanding and support from people in different walks of life. If enterprises keep on using end-of-pipe control strategy, producing tremendous wastes of resources with high consumption, and causing serious pollution to the environment, or worse, aggravating risks to people and the ecology, they will be distrusted by the public instead of being understood.
By implementing CP, using non-toxic or low-toxicity raw materials, adopting sound and improved processes, producing no-risk or low risk products, and realizing low or zero waste discharge, enterprises can build a good reputation and obtain acceptance and support from the public. In the world market, especially, this will be very helpful in breaking international trade barriers and securing the possibility of entrance to the world market.
Cleaner production is an effective approach for enterprises to meet discharge standards by the year 2000. It is required by the State Council Resolution on Issues of Environmental Protection that all industrial emissions across the country must meet discharge standards by the end of 2000. It is difficult in terms of either capital investment or construction schedule to realize this target simply by adopting traditional end-of-pipe treatment and building treatment facilities. The target can only be reached if major efforts are dedicated by enterprises towards promoting CP through strengthening their management capability, using energy efficiently, reducing consumption and minimizing pollutants discharged.
The Cleaner Production Demonstration Plan
To further expedite the promotion of CP in China, SETC launched the Cleaner Production Demonstration Plan in 1999 by issuing the Notice on Enforcement of the Cleaner Production Demonstration Plan (SETC Resource No 402[1999]), May 10, 1999. Ten cities and five industrial sectors have been identified as national demonstration sites on CP. These cities are: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenyang, Taiyuan, Jinan, Kunming, Lanzhou and Fuyang. The sectors include petrochemical industry, metallurgical industry, chemical industry (nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, chlor-alkali and sulphuric acid), light industry (pulp and paper, fermentation and beer-brewery) and ship building. The objectives and goals of the demonstration are:
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To raise the CP awareness of the public and management at all levels, especially enterprise decision-makers, so as to strengthen their consciousness of the shift in emphasis from end-of-pipe control to pollution prevention;
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To encourage enterprises' active contribution in up-to-standard discharges, while increasing their economic gains and competitiveness, in order to improve both the environment quality and the benefits of economic growth;
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To establish some model enterprises for CP demonstration, to gain experience for CP promotion across the country, and to greet the achievement with confidence;
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To explore and establish systems and mechanisms on the management, policy making and executing of CP promotion for the government which are in harmony with the socialist market economy, and which can gradually establish an effective system for enterprises to promote and implement CP voluntarily.
Publication Plan
In order to support the CP Demonstration Plan and to expedite the promotion of CP in China, SETC has initiated and designed a publication plan on the Series of Cleaner Pollution Knowledge. The objectives of this plan are:
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To provide training materials for the demonstration cities and industries for CP knowledge popularizing and CP awareness raising;
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To provide guidelines for enterprise management and technical personnel on developing and implementing CP solutions in order to upgrade the technical level of enterprises in implementing CP;
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To provide practical training materials and necessary support for promoting CP by disseminating CP knowledge across the country;
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To promote and disseminate the achievements and experience of the China - Canada Cooperation Project on Cleaner Production and widen the influence of this project.
This collection will be published in a series and several different volumes (manuals or guidelines) are to be made available every year. The titles and contents will be defined in accordance with the practical need of the CP implementation progress in China and the latest development of CP world-wide. The following four books are scheduled to be published in the FY 1999 - 2000:
(1) An Introduction to Cleaner Production
(2) Cleaner Production Audit Guideline for Enterprises
(3) Case Study of Cleaner Production Promotion in Enterprises
(4) Cleaner Production Technology Guideline for Priority Industries in China
When the Cleaner Production Knowledge Series is successfully published, we would like to extend thanks for the financial assistance and support from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through its Canadian Executive Agency (CEA) for China -Canada Cooperation Project on Cleaner Production. We would also like to extend our hearty thanks to Mr. Charles Pellegrin, Senior CIDA Project Office, Mr. Kenneth Parent, Project Director, Mr. Doug Henderson from the Canadian Embassy, Dr. Robert Lao, Residence Project Coordinator in China, and Mr. Gordon Chiu, Project Manager, who have all given much support and assistance during the proposal and implementation stages of this publication initiative.
Finally, we are grateful to the Chinese experts on the development of CP policies and regulations, management, and technologies for their hard work devoted to the compiling and publication of these books, and the officials of the relevant government agencies for their support to this initiative. It is our hope that this series of books will help the readers with their work on the promotion and implementation of CP in China.
(only the Preface and Acknowledgements to the Series, and the Tables of Contents of each book are available in English)
ŠNDRC 2000-2006