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Other topics Financial sustainability at a National Cleaner Production Centre: the experience of the Honduras NCPC Mily Cortés Posas, Professor and Technical Director CNP+L (2002-2004), Carrera de Desarrollo Socio Económico y Ambiente, Escuela Agricola Panamericana el Zamorano, Apartado Postal 3, Honduras (mcortez@zamorano.edu) Nonita T. Yap, Professor and Technical Advisor to CNP+L (1999-2004), School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, Rm. 122, Landscape Architecture Building, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada (nyap@oac.uoguelph.ca) Summary The National Cleaner Production Centre in Honduras was launched in 2000, with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency for its first five years of operation. CIDA also funded the feasibility study and project design for the Centre in 1998. The implementation strategy developed by consultants identified financial sustainability as a major objective. Detailed mechanisms for cost-recovery were recommended, as well as several cost-sharing arrangements for delivery of the Centre’s services. Surplus funds would accrue to a Sustainability Fund. Significant progress appears to have been made in this direction. By 2003 this fund had grown to the extent that CIDA’s contribution constituted only 50% of the Centre’s operating budget; the rest came from participating industries. This article describes the basic elements of the strategy pursued, challenges, progress, and lessons learned by the Centre in its efforts to achieve financial sustainability. Résumé Le Centre national de production plus propre du Honduras a été ouvert en 2000 avec l’aide financière de l’Agence canadienne de développement international (ACDI) pour les cinq premières années de fonctionnement. L’ACDI avait également financé in 1998 l’étude de faisabilité et de conception du Centre. La stratégie de mise en œuvre développée par les consultants avait placé la viabilité financière parmi les principaux objectifs du projet. Des mécanismes détaillés d’amortissement des coûts avaient été recommandés, ainsi que plusieurs systèmes de partage des coûts pour les prestations assurées par le Centre, les excédents de trésorerie devant être affectés à un fonds de viabilité. D’importants progrès semblent avoir été faits dans ce sens. En 2003, le fonds avait atteint un niveau tel que la contribution de l’ACDI ne représentait plus que 50 % du budget de fonctionnement du Centre, le reste provenant des industries participantes. L’article décrit les composantes essentielles de la stratégie élaborée, les obstacles, les progrès et les leçons tirées des efforts du Centre pour parvenir à la viabilité financière. Resumen El Centro Nacional de Producción Más Limpia de Honduras fue creado en el 2000 con fondos de la Agencia Canadiense para el Desarrollo Internacional para su funcionamiento durante los primeros 5 años (habría que mencionar aquí lo del Fondo Medio Ambiente Honduras- Canadá). ACDI financió también el estudio de factibilidad y proyecto de diseño del Centro en 1998. La estrategia de implementación desarrollada por los consultores planteaba la sostenibilidad económica como objetivo primario. Ellos recomendaron varios mecanismos para la recuperación de costos, así como para compartir los mismos, al momento de ofrecer servicios. Las ganancias del Centro serían asignados a un Fondo de Sostenibilidad. En este sentido han habidos avances significativos desde la creación del Centro. Para el año 2003 los ingresos del Centro han crecido de tal manera la contribución de ACDI, constituye solo el 50% del presupuesto anual, el resto proviene de clientes que contratan los servicios del Centro. En este documento se describen los elementos básicos de la estrategia llevada por el Centro Nacional de Producción Más Limpia de Honduras, los retos encontrados, sus logros y las lecciones aprendidas, en su esfuerzo por alcanzar la sostenibilidad. In May 1998, the National Cleaner Production Centre in Honduras (Centro Nacional de Producción más Limpia Hondureñ, or CNP+L-H) was created by a resolution of the second General Assembly of the Honduran Business Council for Sustainable Development (Consejo Empresarial Hondureño para el Desarollo Sostenible, or CEHDES). In August of that year the Honduras- Canada Environmental Management Fund of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded a feasibility study and project design for the Centre. The feasibility study indicated broad industry interest in, and support for, CP objectives. Indeed, the consultants involved cited UNIDO as reporting that “industry support in terms of in-kind contribution for the proposed Centre significantly exceeds that for any of the four national centres for cleaner production already established in Central America.” In 2000, CIDA committed funds for the Centre’s first five years of operation. CNP+L- Honduras thus became the region’s youngest cleaner production centre. In September 2000, with most of the Centre’s staff in place, the 1998 implementation strategy was revisited with the staff and its validity was reaffirmed. A bolder and more detailed set of goals was defined, and a detailed work plan for Year 1 was developed with the ultimate purpose of verifying the underlying assumptions of the Centre’s design. Activities were officially launched three months later. Implementation strategy It was envisaged that the CNP+L-H would engage in activities in four areas: information dissemination, training, in-plant demonstration projects, and policy assessment and advocacy. It was to be administered by three full-time staff members (assistant or technical director, programme officer and office manager). The Executive Director would work on a part-time (40%) basis. A consultant engaged by CIDA to undertake the feasibility study and design applied a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis to the project objectives, management structure and delivery mechanisms in all four programming areas. Very detailed responses were developed to the perceived weaknesses, opportunities and threats. One of the Centre’s core objectives was to achieve financial sustainability. To meet this objective, a separate implementation strategy was developed. Mechanisms were defined for generating funds through cost-recovery, cost-sharing and income-generating arrangements with respect to delivery of the Centre’s services. These funds would accrue to a Sustainability Fund. This was a new fund (a new and separate “account”) established within the Centre to identify monies coming to the Centre from cost-recovery and from profit-generating services. The CIDA consultant also recommended that the Centre take part in 68 ◆ UNEP Industry and Environment April – September 2004
Other topics promoting and establishing ISO 14001 among Honduran enterprises.Interviews with industry leaders had indicated a far greater interest among Honduran manufacturing businesses in environmental management systems (EMS) than in cleaner production. It was considered important for the Centre to be engaged in work on EMS to win the confidence of industry. This article describes the challenges encountered, progress made and lessons learned by the National Cleaner Production Centre of Honduras in its efforts to achieve financial sustainability. Information dissemination At first it was difficult to convince Honduran enterprises of the benefits of cleaner production. Case studies from other CP centres were presented, but the general corporate response was that cleaner production would not work in Honduras. To obtain local case studies, the Centre placed special emphasis on information dissemination and marketing at this stage. Short exposure courses were organized for industries. Funding to fund inplant CP demonstrations was actively sought from other donors. The breakthrough came in 2001 with the sponsorship by USAID PROAR- CA of a CP demonstration at PROLACMON, a small cheese and butter plant. The Centre used the successful CP demonstration at PROLAC- MON in its promotion activities and offered several discounts on the cost of on-site CP implementation. Three additional companies came forward to participate. It was critical to get larger companies to participate. Since PROLACMON was small, many companies believed the CP methodology would only work in small enterprises. Successful CP implementation in the three new companies proved not only that the methodology was feasible in larger enterprises, but that the larger the company, the larger the savings tended to be. Seventeen new clients, paying much more realistic fees, then volunteered to participate. The new clients included large enterprises paying for their own implementation, as well as groups of small ones being financed by donors. Training courses It was determined early by the Centre that a principal cause of waste production in Honduran enterprises is substandard production. Quality non-conformance obliges companies to spend extra money (in the form of time, energy, water and raw materials) on reprocessing the product or to lower its price. Waste is also generated by the return and discarding of products on-site. The Centre determined that its courses should focus not only on cleaner production techniques, but also on quality assurance methods. The Centre has basically been offering two types of courses: ◆ seminars (a series of introductory lectures on specific themes); ◆ training courses (generally a combination of lectures and interactive workshops). Since 2001 the Centre has offered a total of 66 courses, in which 2755 persons have been trained. Table 1 Some of the Centre’s clients and the financial benefits they derived from adopting CP Company (no. of Sector Main recommendations Market Benefits employees) Manufacturas el Trópico (469) PROLACMON (9) El Pataste (14) ` La Josefina (1) La Campeona (2) INDEMA (175) YODECO (184) aluminium furniture manufacturing cheese and butter production raw coffee processing sawmills These courses have been in ◆ eco-design; ◆ cleaner production methodology; ◆ cleaner production for a specific industrial sector; ◆ ISO 9001/14001; ◆ the 5 S’s (refers to a housekeeping programme); ◆ energy efficiency; ◆ climate change; ◆ environmental assessment; ◆ cost analysis with environmental criteria; ◆ pollution prevention in general. The costs of seminars and training courses are covered by course fees charged directly to the participants, or through sponsorship by a donor or local educational institution. Most courses have local coverage, but the Centre has also offered regional courses. The non-sponsored courses are of three types: in-plant with implementation (paid for by a company as part of a CP demonstration); in-plant without implementation (offered by a company for its employees but without CP demonstration); open. These courses are delivered by CNP+L-H personnel only, to keep the costs low. The total charged by the Centre for the non-sponsored courses which are not part of in-plant implementation varies from US$ 2000 to 5000, depending on the number of participants and course duration. In most cases this covers staff time, travel and course materials. • change quality control, increase quality assurance • use specialized equipment for angle cuts • prevent contamination of chromium and degreasing solutions • prevent solution loss by insulating surfaces • insulate paint ovens • reduce waste in the weaving process • recycle waste and adequately manage chromium waste • reduce water consumption • reduce milk and curd lost in transport • improve packaging and weighing of final products • standardized milk for cheese at 2% • improve formula scaling control • insulate vapour pipes and reduce leaks in all pipes • reduce sticking of quesillo to kettle • treat whey as prime material for sub-products rather than waste • improve classification of the grain • use pulp for fertilization of plantation • reduce water consumption by recycling • construct simple coffee drying facilities instead of using intermediary • perform preventive maintenance • use every piece of equipment for purpose for which it was originally designed • improve quality control in reception of prime material, process and inventories • improve wood packaging techniques, according to the standards • optimize performance of the curing chamber • reduce dead times • improve boiler efficiency • recycle wood waste for energy generation • recycle metal waste 3% domestic, 97% international domestic domestic domestic international 32% domestic 68% international 166,764.00 71,794.12 51,901.14 49,157.00 59,177.86 161,796.86 239,258.34 Of the non-sponsored courses, open ones are the most labour-intensive since they are advertised in the newspapers and require close monitoring to ensure that the desired numbers are reached, and to secure the participants’ assistance and payment. The course fees charged participants are set low, mainly to recover the cost of the logistics, but they are calculated such that US$ 1000 per course offering can be applied to the basic cost of the Centre. This strategy has paid off, in that many implementation contracts have resulted from these courses. The sponsored courses are directed at university students when they are financed by an educational institution, and at environmental consultants and public sector staff when financed by donors. Technical specialists for sponsored courses have come from the Honduran NCPC, other Central American CP centres and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). In-plant CP demonstration projects The Centre has carried out 21 in-plant CP demonstration projects since January 2001, either completed or in progress in manufacturing facilities of various sizes (from six employees up to more than 2000). Projects completed so far have involved a sugar refinery, an aluminium furniture factory, seven cheese and butter plants, four raw coffee processors and two sawmills. Among those in UNEP Industry and Environment April – September 2004 ◆ 69
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