1. How to conduct cleaner production assessments?
Presentation 7
Presentation 7: How to Conduct Cleaner Production Assessments?

2. About Cleaner Production Assessments
Cleaner Production Assessment (CPA) is a core service of a cleaner production centre. CPAs should be conducted in a systematic manner and not on an adhoc basis. A structured, systematic approach is essential for getting the best results and ensures that the outcomes of the CPA are consistent with those identified in the organization's broader planning process.
A generic CPA process consists of the following milestones:
Planning and Organization
Pre-assessment
Assessment
Feasibility analysis
Implementation
Monitoring

3. Benefits of CPA
Identification , characterization and quantification of waste streams and thus environmental and economic assessments of loss of resources (material and energy).
Identification of easy to implement low cost cleaner production options which may be implemented immediately.
Preparation of investment proposals to financing institutions that involve high cost cleaner production options of technology or equipment change.
In fact, conducting CPAs is an excellent method of building the competence of the staff at the cleaner production centre.

4. Generic Process of CPA Sustain cleaner production assessments
Planning & organization
Sustain cleaner production assessments
Prepare a cleaner
production plan
Involve employees
Implementation & monitoring
Organize a team
Select feasible options
Pre- assessment
Feasibility Analysis
Conduct a walkthrough
Screen options
Assessment
Prepare an eco-map
Generate options
Prepare a preliminary material and energy balance
Conduct cause diagnosis
Prepare a detailed material and energy balance

5. Planning and Organization
A CPA can be initiated after a conscious decision has been made by the management to take action. Planning and organization starts once one or a few staff members of an enterprise become interested in cleaner production. This interest is often the result of awareness-raising and training programmes.
The elements that are important for the successful start of a CPA are:
Obtaining the commitment of the top management of the enterprise
Involving employees of the enterprise
Organizing a cleaner production team
Identifying impediments and solutions to the CPA
as a process

6. Planning and Organization
Signing an MoU with the centre
Directing formation of a cleaner production team
Making available the required resources and
Being responsive to the results of CPA
Obtain commitment of top management
Involve employees
Organize a cleaner production team
Identify impediments and solutions to the CPA
All staff (top-down, with shop-floor staff)
Across all or limited departments
For larger enterprises – core team plus sub teams
For smaller enterprises – owner plus sub team
Getting the right mix is crucial
Attitudes
Information
Technical
Financial

7. Organizing a Cleaner Production Team

8. Identify Impediments and Solutions to the CPA as a Process
Barriers
Impediments in obtaining information from some departments
Lack of awareness amongst staff
Lack of appropriate skills amongst staff

9. Deciding the Focus of the CPA
Deciding the focus of the CPA involves making decisions concerning:
The scope; i.e. whether to include the entire plant or limit it to certain units / departments
The emphasis in terms of materials; e.g. water, energy or chemicals

10. Pre-Assessment Pre-assessment consists of four important steps:
1. Compiling and preparing the basic information; i.e.
Preparing a Process Flow Diagram or PFD
Preparing an eco-map using layout maps of the site / unit
2. Conducting a walkthrough
3. Preparing preliminary material and energy (M&E) balances

11. Preparation of Process Flow Diagram (PFD)
Compilation and Preparation of Basic Information
Preparation of Process Flow Diagram (PFD)
Use block representation to denote operations
Write the name of the operation, special operating conditions, Show points of inspection or quality control, quantities (if available), use symbols
Indicate batch or continuous operations
Use colour codes to indicate different piping or material flow patterns
Capture start up, shut down and maintenance related activities, seasonal variations in production, etc. Best done by preparing a flowchart which indicates how a process or unit operation is operated for a special situation.

12. A PFD for a Wet-textile Processing Factory

13. A Flow Chart Indicating a Process Operation in a Wet-textile Processing Unit for Special Situations (i.e. whether bleaching / scouring / dyeing is required)

14. Conducting a Walkthrough
Walkthroughs are one of the best techniques for getting first-hand information about a production operation within a short span of time
Walkthroughs should not be conducted on holidays, when operations are closed, when production is low, and when equipment is under maintenance
Follow the PFD - Begin from the raw materials receiving area and end at the department of finished products
Cover all the support utilities such as boilers, power generators, fuel storage tanks, pump-house, refrigeration plant, raw water treatment plant, wastewater treatment facility, etc.

15. Conducting a Walkthrough – Dos and Don’ts
Do not find faults – the walkthrough is not a fault finding mission
Do not dominate the conversation
Ask real and open questions; do not attempt to show your own knowledge of the topic but to get information from the responsible staff
Ask questions only when absolutely required. Request explanations if required
Do not leave the group
Conduct a closure meeting to capture findings of the walkthrough

16. What to ask in a walkthrough? What to carry with you in a walkthrough?
Walkthrough areas…
Workfloor or shop floor
Machines and Operations
Waste and Emissions
Labor
Storage areas
Utilities
Ask questions related to operating practices, housekeeping, equipment maintenance and control, safety and health, waste generation, handling etc.
A camera to take photographs
A scrap book (A3 size) to make quick sketches, especially for layouts, eco-maps (see next section) and the PFD
Color pens or highlighter to mark important points
A tape recorder to record your site observations
Take with you…..

17. Preparation of an Eco-map
Eco-mapping is a very useful application for a cleaner production team to use
Eco-mapping can easily capture observations made during the walkthrough
Eco-maps visually present issues of concern, and can also note good practices
Eco-maps are often the direct indicators of the housekeeping status of the enterprise
Colour coding and symbols may be used to show areas that have been monitored or areas where problems will have to be dealt with on a priority basis
Eco-maps can be made easily by using the layout maps of the site / unit

18. Preparation of an Eco-map (continued…)
Eco-mapping may be used for specific themes, such as:
Water consumption
Wastewater discharge
Solid waste generation
Odours
Noise
Dust
Safety risks
Environmental risks

19. Preparation of layout maps
Preparation of an Eco-map requires a Layout Map…
Preparation of layout maps
Key map: Show the location of the enterprise, access roads, neighbourhood
characteristics, and especially sensitive receptors
Layout map of the entire operations in the organization: Show the internal roads, entry and exits, waste storage, processing, disposal facilities, utilities, wastewater outlets
Layout map of key departments: Layout maps may be drawn for departments of concern indicating the positions of the major equipment, water piping, steam lines, drains and vents / stacks. Separate layout maps are required for each floor

20. Typical Layout Map for a Manufacturing Factory

21. An Eco-map for Water for an Electroplating Factory

22. Preparing Preliminary Material and Energy Balances
A material and energy (M&E) balance is a basic inventory tool, which allows for the quantitative recording of material and energy inputs and outputs.
The basis of the material balance is the PFD.
An essential step in the M&E balance is to check that "what goes in must come out somewhere."
All inputs should thus have related outputs.
Outputs
Raw materials
Energy
Water
Chemicals
Enterprise
or plant
Inputs
Wastes
Air emissions
Effluents
Solid waste
Heat losses
Off-specification products
By-products
Products,
Useful by-products

23. Understanding Material and Energy Balances
Material balances are typically carried out to inventory of material flows (raw materials, chemicals, water, energy etc.) entering and leaving a manufacturing / service company.
Energy balances are useful to find options to minimize the use of energy or to recover the energy lost in the system.
Preliminary M&E balances are normally set using secondary data, supported by the information recorded during the walkthrough. Water and energy bills paid give some idea of their consumption levels. On the output side, production figures or orders serviced over a certain period of time can give an estimate of average production. Often, approximate calculations will need to be used, based on "typical" values given in the literature.

24. Understanding M&E Balances (continued…)
Generally, M&E balances at the preliminary level are best set by examining three months data and computing monthly averages.
Care should be taken to ensure that all quantification is expressed in the right units (preferably SI units), that they are uniform, and that the associated costs are provided

25. Assessment
Preparation of detailed material and energy balances
Cause Diagnosis
Option Generation
Screening of Options

26. Detailed Material and Energy Balances
It is probable that the cleaner production team finds substantial discrepancies in the preliminary M&E balance.
This may require revising of the data used for inputs and outputs, rediscussion on assumptions behind the numbers or conduct of measurements.
Hence, the next task of CPA is for the team to prepare detailed material and energy balances around the PFD.
Developing a detailed material balance for each operation is neither practical nor relevant. The critical operations are generally chosen based on the focus of the CPA, the results of the preliminary M&E balance, and the types of materials and processes used (i.e. operations where hazardous materials are used or where materials used are expensive or where materials are used in quantities exceeding the benchmarks).
Detailed M&E balances are often performed when the processes have long operational sequences

27. A Detailed Material Balance for a Wet-textile Processing Factory
An important last step in preparing an M&E balance is assigning costs to the waste streams that have been identified in the balance.
This could be the single most important step in convincing the management of an enterprise about the value of cleaner production and securing their commitment for all the further activities.
Monetization of waste streams means that they should not only be characterized in classical environmental terms such as BOD, COD, concentration in liquid wastes, etc. The team needs to also characterize the streams in terms of material content, which can then also be monetized.

28. A Detailed Material Balance for a Wet-textile Processing Factory
While charging costs to waste streams, the team should consider the following cost items –
Cost of raw materials / intermediate products / final products lost in the waste streams
Cost of energy in waste streams, in terms of the energy consumed to heat or chill them, cost of treatment / handling / disposal of waste streams, including tipping or discharge fees if any
Costs incurred, if any, in protecting the workers and maintaining safe working conditions, the potential costs from a possible accidental spill, discharge, or leakage.
Obviously, the high-cost waste streams would be the most interesting ones to focus on from an economic point of view.

29. A Detailed Material Balance for a Wet-textile Processing Factory

30. A Detailed Energy Balance for a Wet-textile Processing Factory

31. Cause Diagnosis through the Fishbone Diagram
The cleaner production team now needs to start generating cleaner production options.
Possible through conducting a cause diagnosis exercise
This exercise involves asking the question “why? – why did such a problem / outcome occur?”
Essentially an exercise to hypothesize over the root causes of any problem / outcome
Can be conducted easily through the use of a tool called the fishbone diagram

32. Cause Diagnosis through the Fishbone Diagram (continued…)
Four generic categories:
Man
Method
Material
Machine
Each generic category has a primary cause
Each primary cause has one or more secondary causes

33. Fishbone Diagram: Facilitating Cause Diagnosis for low RFT in the Dyeing Process

34. Allotting Priorities to Causes Identified in the Fishbone Diagram
The causes identified in the fishbone diagram are “theorized” or “probable” causes.
Therefore, the extent to which each cause contributes to the problem has to be calculated before any major decisions are taken.
The cleaner production team would need to analyze the extent to which each of these probable causes contributes to the principal problem – i.e. Right First Time (RFT) is low.
Such analysis is only possible through observations, record keeping, setting up planned and controlled experiments designed to isolate the cause of the problem, and specific tools such as the Pareto Analysis.
These efforts will assist the team in validating the primary and secondary causes, and prioritizing cause elimination.

35. Allotting Priorities to Causes Identified in the Fishbone Diagram
Many cleaner production teams stumble at this juncture, since estimating the relative importance of each probable cause seems a wearisome task.
It cannot be stressed too much that teams should be strongly encouraged to push through with this step completely, since it can avoid significant wastage of time (and money) later on in the CPA.

36. Cleaner Production Option Generation through Brainstorming
Once the points of action and priorities are understood and listed, the cleaner production team should move on to the logical next phase; i.e. option generation.
Option generation is a creative process, and is best performed, as in the case of the cause diagnosis, by the team as well as the enterprise personnel.
The option generation exercise is conducted through brainstorming, a commonly used tool for generating ideas
Given a particular item which needs to be resolved, the team and the enterprise personnel have to deliberate on the ways and means of obtaining a solution to it
The principle question to be asked during the brainstorming session would be "how - how does one solve this particular problem effectively?"

37. Cleaner Production Options - Categories
Housekeeping
Management and personnel practices
Process optimization
Raw material substitution
New technology
New product design
Recovery of useful byproducts and resources
Onsite recycling and reuse

38. Important Points to Remember During Option Generation
The team should always remember that in general it is better to not generate a waste in the first place, rather than generate it and later recycle or recover / reuse it. Therefore, the team should only consider these options once all the others that could prevent waste generation have been examined.
Some of the chosen options may require major changes in the processes or equipment or product redesign. Often, these will dramatically reduce waste generation or increase productivity, but they also often imply considerable investments.
Certain chosen options would require thorough laboratory / bench scale / pilot studies to ensure that the product quality does not degrade as a result of their application, and that it is acceptable to the market

39. Feasibility Analysis Technical evaluation Environmental evaluation
Screening of options
Technical evaluation
Materials and energy consumption
Product / byproduct quality
Improvement on Right First Time (RFT)
Human resource requirement
Ease of implementation
Cross-linkages with other options
Time for implementation
Environmental evaluation
Entire life cycle of the product
On-site / off-site neighbourhood improvements
Reduction in amount of waste / emission
Reduction in consumption of natural resources
Reduction in noise / odour / safety risks
Economic evaluation
Payback period
Net Present Value (NPV)
Profitability Index (PI)
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
Sensitivity analysis

40. Economic Evaluation
Consists of analyses and computations of the evaluation criteria [e.g. pay back period, Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), etc.] based on project costs and benefits
A simple payback period is evaluated based on the annual savings and the initial investment. Indicates the time period to return the initial investment
Payback Period in years = (Capital Investment/Annual Savings)
Should be generally considered only as a ballpark assessment, as it ignores depreciation of the investment made and time value of money. Usually, investment decisions can only be made on the basis of payback period alone if the investment required is low and / or the returns are high so that the payback period is less than two years
A better approach is to use the concepts of NPV and IRR. These concepts consider the time value of cash inflows and outflows during the useful life of the investment made

41. Economic Evaluation (continued…)
Economic evaluation therefore requires building information on:
Capital costs associated with required investments (if any);
Net revenue, which is computed as a difference between total revenue (that is generally higher than the base case) and the operating costs (that are typically lower in the changed scenario); and
Rates of interest and depreciation to enable computation of the Present Value
For computation of NPV:
CFo = Cash outflow in the first year (capital investment)
r = opportunity cost of capital (i.e. for a rate of 10% ‘r’ would be 0.1)
n = useful life of the investment in years
For an investment to be economically feasible NPV must be greater than zero

42. Economic Evaluation (continued…)
The PI is computed as the ratio of the present value of the total cash inflows and the present value of the total cash outflows
For an investment to be economically feasible, the PI must be greater than 1
IRR is essentially the rate of return of investment during its life by way of net cash inflows (i.e. inflows – outflows)
IRR is to be compared with the rate of interest of the borrowings that may be needed from the market
Also carry out a sensitivity analysis by varying input and output parameters, costs other indicators so as to get different scenarios – pessimistic and optimistic

43. Example of Cash Inflows and Outflows – Replacement of a Winch Machine with a Jet Dyeing Machine
Years 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Capital
Cost
(110040)
Operating
Costs +
Depr.
(23520)
Savings
(54600)
Simple Payback = 36 months, NPV = US$ 9141, IRR = 25.5%

44. Implementation of Options and Sustaining CPAs
Implement feasible cleaner production measures
Draw up and adopt a Cleaner Production (Implementation) Plan; prioritize options depending on the resources available, prepare technical specifications, allocate responsibilities, set up monitoring and review functions
Monitor the cleaner production implementation plan
Sustain Cleaner Production; adopt CPAs as an on- going activity by integrating cleaner production into the enterprise’s management system