The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide - Democrats Against UN ...

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The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide into the Sewer System.” Submission to the UNCED Local Government Honours Programme. Stockholm: Stockholm Vatten, March 1992. Dean, Robert B. Water Reuse: Problems and Solutions. London: Academic Press, 1981. Elinder, C.G. and E, Kessler. “Toxicity of Metals,” in Proceedings of a Seminar on Utilization of Sewage Sludge on Land: Rates of Application and Long-Term Effects of Metals. Uppsala, Sweden: Department of Environmental Hygiene of the Karolinsha Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Medicine, June 1983. Guterstam, Bjorn. “Experiences from Full-Scale Ecological Engineering for Wastewater Treatment in Sweden,” in Proceedings of Seminar on Emerging Technologies in Municipal Wastewater Treatment. Stavanger, Norway: August 1991. Hamer, Mark J. Waste and Water Technology. Toronto: John Willis and Sons, Inc. 1975. 5.5.3 CASE #15 GRAZ, AUSTRIA PARTNERSHIPS FOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESS REDESIGN Program Name ECOPROFIT Graz Background The cumulative loading of pollution and wastes to the urban environment from numerous industrial and commercial companies located in urban areas is significant. In Graz, Austria, water and air pollution caused by industrial emissions are priority environmental problems. Graz, a city of 240,000, is surrounded by mountains to the north, resulting in poor air circulation, especially in winter when air inversions occur. The main economic activities are automobile and machine production, shoe manufacturing, and brewing; much of the pollution problem is generated by these small enterprises. Pollution reduction measures for small- and medium-sized companies differ from those for large industries. Corrective technologies are generally expensive and may not be practical or appropriate for use by small- and medium-sized companies. Further, because of the relatively small amounts of wastes and pollution that these firms generate individually, they are often not subject to regulatory measures, or they may simply escape detection due to a lack of municipal resources to enforce pollution regulations. Both corrective technology and regulatory approaches to pollution problems in such instances are ineffective and unworkable. Preventing pollution is a superior approach to “end of pipe” waste management techniques, as the benefits include both a reduction in wastes and emissions as well as a reduction in resource consumption. Moreover, changing production processes to prevent pollution may be the only viable option for many smaller businesses. A pollution prevention approach is a fundamental strategy of sustainable industrial development since cleaner production avoids wastes and emissions and also increases industrial production efficiency and can ultimately lower overall costs. Although many small- and medium-sized enterprises may have neither the technical expertise nor the financial resources to change http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/448-2/ (124 of 180)18/10/2010 12:47:23 AM
The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide from a corrective to a preventative approach in handling their wastes, municipal governments have compelling reasons to promote pollution prevention through cleaner production. The municipal mandate to manage wastes and to deliver clean water means that local governments have a vested interest in pollution prevention in order to avoid the steadily increasing costs of water treatment facilities, waste management, and other remediation measures. Municipalities also have a pecuniary interest in helping local companies to increase efficiency and profitability in order to support the municipal tax base. The case of Graz demonstrates how local governments can facilitate a preventative approach to pollution and waste problems by forming partnerships with the academic, business, and industrial sectors and by mobilizing the technical expertise and entrepreneurial skills of these communities. Such partnerships facilitate the transfer of sophisticated pollution prevention technologies and methodologies from advanced technical institutes to the business and industrial communities. In this way, local governments can play a role in demonstrating to industries and businesses how they can profit from pollution prevention. Minimizing polluting emissions and increasing the efficiency and profitability of private companies will result in cost savings for municipal governments and environmental benefits for the entire municipality. Program Description ECOPROFIT Graz, ongoing since 1991, is a project that attempts to put into practice the concept of profit from pollution prevention. The program works within the existing legislative framework to introduce companies to new low-and non-waste technologies and to demonstrate how these technologies can increase efficiency and profits while preventing pollution. Successful private-sector examples of economic and ecological waste minimization are then marketed to attract wider acceptance of the preventative approach within the business community. The municipality’s Department of Environmental Protection, in cooperation with the Graz University of Technology, initiated ECOPROFIT. ECOPROFIT (ECOlogical PROject For Integrated environmental Technologies) uses an innovative approach that couples information and technical assistance with marketing support. ECOPROFIT highlights improved management techniques and production processes based on the closed-cycle concept. The closedcycle production scheme used in ECOPROFIT is based on the concept of a circular, non-linear flow of materials similar to the recycling of materials in natural ecosystems. Although there are always some losses of materials from the production process, the idea is to maximize the recycling of materials into the original production process or to use the materials lost from one production process as inputs into another production process. The application of closed-cycle pollution prevention measures integrates economic and ecological considerations by increasing efficiency and profits while reducing wastes and pollution. The Waste Minimization Research Group of the Institute for Chemical Engineering at the Graz University of Technology, which heads the project, is investigating strategies for closed-cycle production and has investigated related international research activities on waste minimization and ecologically conscious design. Previous efforts in this area have been carried out in the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Information about the ECOPROFIT project was widely disseminated to the public and to local companies in order to recruit interested participants. Five companies were chosen for the initial phase of the program, according to criteria based on their representative potential for wider applications of the project results. Each company had to be a “typical” size for the city, had to employ commonly used technology, and had to be willing to play a role in the public relations activities associated with the project. Following selection, company personnel were trained in the concept of closed-cycle production. A tool kit was made available to interested companies, including manuals, data sheets, videos, and other training materials. The initial companies in the ECOPROFIT project included three printing companies of different sizes (from six employees to 500 employees), a large vehicle repair garage with 230 employees, and a wholesale coffee roaster and chain-store company with 342 employees. Each had released emissions into the air and water as well as solid wastes with varying toxicity. An introductory workshop was held to train the concerned representatives of these companies in ECOPROFIT methods and data collection methodologies. Program managers felt that it was necessary to establish a basis for trust; the company representatives were assured that the internal data of the companies would be confidential. The following principles were used as guidelines that the participating companies were encouraged to adopt: • anything that leaves the production process should be considered as a product or raw material that can be used http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/448-2/ (125 of 180)18/10/2010 12:47:23 AM
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