Clean production at an affordable price
By Merete Bugsett
Lindahl - Newswire Norway
A Norwegian model to make Eastern European industry more
environmentally friendly, can deliver annual savings of USD 230,000
per company. The model, voted Best Practice by the OECD, has been
implemented at 3,200 manufacturing companies in five Eastern European
countries.
Eastern European industry was the dirty man of Europe, where wastefulness
was part of the culture in the days of communism.
"For instance, no one was bothered that they used 40 percent more
timber than necessary to manufacture paper", says Olav Nedenes,
who headed the Norwegian manufacturing programme in Eastern Europe.
Cleaner production means a continuous, preventative environmental
strategy for products and processes. It means using raw materials
more efficiently, reducing the volume and toxicity of waste, and
ensuring an acceptable way of finishing the product.
"The traditional way of showing companies how to make their production
cleaner, was to employ external consultants who charged 50 times
as many hours as the Norwegian method requires", says Nedenes.
He also argues that it is more effective to teach employees to
do the analysis themselves. The program was first developed in Poland
in 1989. The method has since proved a tremendous success. In 1992
it was introduced in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in 1994 in
Russia, and in Lithuania in 1997.
Total involvement
"We developed a mix of theory and practice in the classroom and
factory. Between 15 and 30 companies sent one or two representatives
to each program", explains Nedenes.
It starts with a seminar where participants perform an analysis
of raw materials, waste flows and finished items in their own company.
The idea is that they themselves then suggest ways to make production
cleaner and more efficient.
The work then continues on the factory floor. At this stage, all
the employees are involved in work groups, and 60 percent of suggestions
come from ordinary employees.
From hundreds to a handful
"This methodology cut the number of consultant days needed from
several hundred to just two or three", says Nedenes. After a year
or so of Norwegian management, local managers and advisers took
over all aspects of the program. "The goal was to make ourselves
superfluous. By the time we left Poland, over 1,000 Polish advisers
had been trained, and a quarter of all companies in Poland had taken
part in the program", says Nedenes.
Benefits for the Western Europe
Norwegian authorities are still providing finance in Russia, but
have finished in the other countries. Poland enjoyed the first and
quickest success. "The results in the other countries were also
positive, but I feel the Norwegians pulled out too quickly. In the
Czech Republic and Slovakia in particular, the program never achieved
the penetration it did in Poland", admits Nedenes.
"These investments are modest by Western standards. It costs each
donor country USD 1.5 million to achieve cleaner manufacturing in
all the relevant industries. This also provides tangible benefits
for Western Europe, as long-range airborne pollution is reduced",
says Nedenes.
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