Comments on: Zero Emissions http://bestpraxclub.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/zero-emissions/ Blog on Best Practices: An open space for growing subtle dimensions of generic managerial practices (Business Best Practices) Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:13:46 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: SatV http://bestpraxclub.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/zero-emissions/#comment-49 SatV Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:36:22 +0000 http://bestpraxclub.wordpress.com/?p=52#comment-49 I came across a very interesting case study of an Australian orange juice company which not only found a creative way to manage waste, but also literally converted waste into wealth - as the saying goes. The company used more than 90,000 tonnes of oranges every year to make juice - and that meant huge amounts of orange peels left behind as waste. This was not a problem per se for the company - it had a process in place for converting the waste into animal feed which sold at a good price. But this process discharged a lot of liquid waste with a high content of citrus oil and sugar into a nearby waterway. Remarkably, the manufacturer was quick to realize the environmental implications. With some real lateral thinking and very little investment, it converted the citrus oil and sugar into marketable products. The final equation was something like this - investment of less than $ 1 billion; cost saving of $450,000 per year; additional revenue of $250,000 per year through sales of citrus oil and molasses; invaluable benefits to the environment! (Source: Nova, Australian Academy of Science) So clean production is not just about reducing or recycling the waste but about innovative waste management. Save the environment and make profit at the same time! Bet a lot of companies can bring in this kind of efficiency by simply taking another look at their production processes. I came across a very interesting case study of an Australian orange juice company which not only found a creative way to manage waste, but also literally converted waste into wealth – as the saying goes. The company used more than 90,000 tonnes of oranges every year to make juice – and that meant huge amounts of orange peels left behind as waste. This was not a problem per se for the company – it had a process in place for converting the waste into animal feed which sold at a good price. But this process discharged a lot of liquid waste with a high content of citrus oil and sugar into a nearby waterway. Remarkably, the manufacturer was quick to realize the environmental implications. With some real lateral thinking and very little investment, it converted the citrus oil and sugar into marketable products. The final equation was something like this – investment of less than $ 1 billion; cost saving of $450,000 per year; additional revenue of $250,000 per year through sales of citrus oil and molasses; invaluable benefits to the environment!
(Source: Nova, Australian Academy of Science)

So clean production is not just about reducing or recycling the waste but about innovative waste management. Save the environment and make profit at the same time! Bet a lot of companies can bring in this kind of efficiency by simply taking another look at their production processes.

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