Promoting Resource Efficiency in Small & Medium size ... - UNEP

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When done properly, Resource Efficiency can be a relatively cheap and fast way to reduce waste as well as the cost of any subsequent treatment process and disposal costs. Reusing resources can also save companies money, because if they can efficiently use the resources they already have, they will need to buy less new resources. Regulations and diminishing natural resources will increase the incentive to use and reuse the latter even more efficiently in the future. Benefits of Resource Efficiency for companies include: • Reduction in cost for materials, chemicals and energy • Reduction in cost for disposal of waste and treatment of emissions • Reduced cost for compliance with laws governing waste, emissions and the use of chemicals • Over the long term, Resource Efficiency applied at large secures the supply of resources to all businesses • Resource Efficiency meets the growing customer demand for sustainable business practice 2.2 Serious threats: Global warming, deforestation, water and resource scarcity 2.2.1 Global warming Global warming refers to the steady increase of the average temperature of the Earth’s surface since the mid-20th century. Global surface temperature has increased by 0.74 ± 0.18 ºC during the last century (Figure 9). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from human activity are to blame for most of the observed temperature increases. The IPCC also concludes from simulation calculations that variations in natural phenomena, such as solar radiation and emissions from volcanoes, had a small cooling effect after the 1950s. The IPCC report has been endorsed by more than 45 scientific societies and academies of science. The main physical result of global warming is the ‘greenhouse effect’, the atmospheric reflection of heat energy that would otherwise be lost to space. When sunlight reaches Earth’s surface, some is absorbed to warm the land but most is radiated back up to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sunlight that entered. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide effectively absorb this radiation. An increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases leads to an increased infrared opacity of the atmosphere and, therefore, to an effective radiation into space from a higher altitude at a lower temperature. This causes radiative forcing that leads to an enhancement of the greenhouse effect, the so-called enhanced greenhouse effect. 7 Global warming is closely linked to the enhanced greenhouse effect, which is an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to an increase in the amount of infrared or thermal radiation near the surface. Most scientists agree that the enhanced greenhouse effect is leading to rising temperatures, referred to as global warming, and other changes in the atmospheric environment, known as climate change. 8 Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the most significant anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gas. The global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased from a pre-industrial value of about 280 ppm to 387 ppm in 2009. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide at present exceeds by far the natural range over the last 650,000 years as determined from ice cores (180 to 300 ppm). 4 Temperature variations ( o C) Reference period: 1950 Reference period: 1961-1990 0.5 0 0.25 -4 Observations 0 -8 Ice core analysis Multiple proxy reconstructions -0.25 -0.5 400 000 300 000 200 000 100 000 Years before present Repeated glaciations, ice ages, interrupted by warmer interglacial periods 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2007 Year Last Glacial Maximum 21 000 years ago Little Ice Age Figure 9: Increase in carbon emissions has caused global warming 6 6) UNEP, GRID Arendal, Interactive map collection, 2008 7) IPCC, A.P.M. Baede, Glossary of Terms used in the IPCC Forth Assessment Report, 2007, S. 943-946.6 8) Global-Greenhouse-Warming.com 12
2.2.2 Deforestation Deforestation is caused by farmers that cut down trees to get farmland and fuel and by industrial loggers to get raw material for paper production, for cattle grazing and for the production of crops like palm oil, rubber, spices, fruits, tobacco. When the soil of the rainforest is left without the canopy, it quickly dries out and erodes. In this way it loses the capacity to absorb water, resulting in droughts during the dry season and floods during the wet season. 2.2.3 Water security As population increases and economies develop, increased use of fresh water for domestic use, for agriculture and for industrial sectors, puts pressure on water resources. This leads to conflicts among users. Furthermore, growing pollution worldwide threatens freshwater resources. Figure 11 shows regions of water scarcity in a world map 10 ECUATOR ECUATOR Land degradation in drylands Deforestation hotspots Net loss of forest Current forest cover Net gain of forest Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Figure 10: Deforestation rates globally 9 AREAS OF PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC WATER SCARCITY Physical water scarcity (Water resources development is approaching or has exceeded sustainable limits). More than 75% of the river flows are withdrawn for agriculture, industry, and domestic purposes (accounting for recycling of return flows). This definition – relating water availability to water demand – implies that dry areas are not necessarily water scarce. Approaching physical water scarcity More than 60% of river flows are withdrawn. These basins will experience physical water scarcity in the near future. Economic water scarcity (Human, institutional, and financial capital limit access to water even though water in nature is available locally to meet human demands). Water resources are abundant relative to water use, with less than 25% of water from rivers withdrawn for human purposes, but malnutrition exists. Little or no water scarcity Abundant water resources relative to use, with less than 25% of water from rivers withdrawn for human purposes. Physical water scarcity Approaching physical water scarcity Economic water scarcity Little or no water scarcity Not estimated Figure 11: Regions with physical and economic water scarcity Source: Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, 2007 9) FAO, Forest and Griculture assessment, 1995 10) FAO, Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management, 2007 13
Page 1 and 2: PRE-SME - Promoting Resource Effici
Page 3 and 4: PRE-SME - Promoting Resource Effici
Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents 1 THE PRE-SME PRO
Page 7 and 8: Table of Contents 10 LAWS, REGULATI
Page 10 and 11: 6 One
Page 12 and 13: 8 Two
Page 14 and 15: Total Population Land Area Figure 1
Page 18 and 19: 50 40 30 20 10 0 Sr Ag Sb Au Zn As
Page 20 and 21: It is evident that MIPS could be us
Page 22 and 23: Hazardous substances and dangerous
Page 24 and 25: 20 Three
Page 26 and 27: Personnel from across the company c
Page 28 and 29: Purchased 10 kg Einkaufsmenge 10.0k
Page 30 and 31: 3.4 Check In the ‘Check’ phase,
Page 32 and 33: 1,2 1 Water consumption in litres p
Page 34 and 35: Case Study: Anodisieranstalt A. Heu
Page 36 and 37: Detailed assessment: Water efficien
Page 38 and 39: ivers are so badly polluted that no
Page 40 and 41: 4.3 HOW: Implement a water saving p
Page 42 and 43: Step 3: Benchmark Performance Bench
Page 44 and 45: Case Study: Ngege Ltd, Uganda (Prep
Page 46 and 47: educe water use by 85%). Promote th
Page 48 and 49: Detailed assessment: Energy efficie
Page 50 and 51: 120 100 History of Consumption Proj
Page 52 and 53: Step 1: Collect data The prime obje
Page 54 and 55: • 22°C reduction in flue gas tem
Page 56 and 57: • Paint ceilings and walls white.
Page 58 and 59: Detailed assessment: Materials effi
Page 60 and 61: Development of copper consumption T
Page 62 and 63: Quick Win Map Steps Explained Basic
Page 64 and 65: plastic grocery bag has been reduce
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• Clean air conditioning and refr
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Detailed assessment: Waste minimisa
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7.2.3 Waste in numbers 62 Total was
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What Type of Waste Does Your Busine
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• Return obsolete materials to su
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Detailed assessment: Chemical effic
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ignited by a high energy source. It
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8.2 WHY: Chemical efficiency benefi
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Exploding bomb Flame Flame over cir
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products and services are being del
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Severity scale (Impact on company i
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Examples: • Overalls, aprons, gow
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neighbours, etc. If you are in doub
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Benchmarks This chapter provides se
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9.2 Benchmarks for the leather sect
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9.3 Benchmarks for paper production
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Table 32 gives options for the redu
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Table 41 to Table 45 show electrici
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9.6 Benchmarks for bread production
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Years manufactured Gravity tank sty
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Laws, regulations and standards 10.
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105
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Worksheet 1: Main products/services
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Worksheet 3: Energy data Company: R
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Worksheet 5: Flowchart (example) No
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Worksheet 7: Register of hazardous
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Worksheet 9: Risk assessment sheet
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Worksheet 11: Resource Efficiency p
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Worksheet 12: PRE-SME Report templa
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Worksheet 12: PRE-SME Report templa
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123
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12.1 References Association for the
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UNEP, Safer Production, http://www.
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13.1 Unit Conversions APPROXIMATE C
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13.2 Steam Tables of Water Absolute
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About the UNEP Division of Technolo
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Promoting Resource Efficiency in Small & Medium size ... - UNEP

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