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Cleaner Production
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new methods, sincere commitment to the cause, an open mind towards new
ideas and tools, good team dynamics, as well as a structured methodology
for the work. Current attitudes, which act as a main barrier preventing the
implementation of practices of sustainable development through cleaner pro-
duction, are fear and unawareness. Fear of the new, of criticism, and of breaking
a dog-eared system is a common attitude. Also, basic unawareness coupled
with this fear causes individuals to refuse ideas even before fully under-
standing them. The many stereotypes and incorrect information that con-
tinue to mislead many decision makers are a major barrier to sustainable
development. However, this problem can be and is in the process of being
remedied through the use of deliberate awareness campaigns that target var-
ious members of the community, primarily decision makers.

2.6 Cleaner Production Opportunity Assessment

The main goal of undertaking a CP assessment or CP audit in the industry
is to be able to identify opportunities for cleaner production. The methodol-
ogy for the cleaner production opportunity assessment is as follows:

• Team: Forming a cleaner production team from a CP expert and indus-
trial expert(s) is the most important step toward the success of cleaner
production opportunity assessment. Allocation of responsibilities
within the audit team is very important to facilitate the reporting
process.
• Pre-audit: The audit team request all available information regard-
ing the water consumption, energy consumption, amount of liquid
and solid wastes generated, raw materials used in the process “quantity,
quality and pricing”, products and byproducts, etc. Confirmation
from the audit team to top management regarding confidentiality of
the information. The most important factor is selecting a facilitator
from the CP team side and the company side to act as a liaison point
for information exchange.
• Surrounding environment: Determine the relationship of the factory
with the surrounding environment and consider the potential impacts.
These will include neighboring industries, surface water sources,
groundwater sources, agricultural activities, roads, schools, residential
areas, hospitals, etc.
• Operations and processes: Understand the operations and processes
including the receiving area of raw material(s), handling and storage
facilities, packaging area, etc. Site layout and plot plan including
process flow diagram are very import for operations and processes.
• Inputs and outputs: List process steps with process flow diagram(s)
indicating inputs, outputs as well as wastes and emissions. Use
“best estimate” if specific data is not available.