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NATIONAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME CELEBRATES 20-YEARS OF INDUSTRIAL EFFICIENCY
In September, the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) officially celebrated 20 years of operations. Two decades of assisting industry to do more with less, by moving to a resource efficient and sustainable business model.
The NCPC-SA was set up at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). It was established within the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which still manages the Centre today.
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The WSSD brought together tens of thousands of participants, including heads of state and international and national representatives of business, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), religious organizations and civil society to focus the world's attention and direct action toward promoting sustainable development globally.
The NCPC-SA drives the transformation of industry to a green economy through the pursuit of excellence, empowering people, generating impact, and welcoming collaboration.
One of the outcomes of the WSSD discussions was the establishment of the NCPC-SA, originally to promote cleaner production processes in local industry.
The international network of cleaner production centres was led jointly by UNIDO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Together they sought to advance sustainable industrial development and sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in developing and transitioning countries. The NCPC South Africa became a flagship centre; a programme that would proactively engage industry to improve efficiencies, enhance sustainability, and drive competitiveness. Through the application of resource efficient and cleaner production (RECP) methodology in industry, the Centre has supported almost 2 000 companies to do business in a more efficient and sustainable manner. RECP contributes to significant resource savings with surprisingly little investment – and often quick wins can pave the way to even greater savings.
The NCPC-SA marked its 20 years with two significant industry events. In May, the 5th biennial Industrial Efficiency Conference shared methodologies, case studies and opportunities for industry improvement. On 2 September, almost exactly 20 years since the end of WSSD 2002, the NCPC-SA hosted a colloquium of presentations by sustainable development experts, examining the changing face of sustainability in the past two decades.
Both these sessions were recorded, and videos can be viewed any time via the NCPC-SA website, www.ncpc.co.za, under the Resources and Tools section.
Continued national relevance
Following the initial 3-year pilot phase with UNIDO, the NCPC-SA was continued as a national industry support programme funded by the Determent of Trade and Industry, now the dtic.
Gerhard Fourie, Chief Director: Green Industries at the dtic explained that the department’s role as the core funder of NCPC-SA, is to provide strategic direction to ensure that the NCPC-SA is aligned to the country’s industrial policy and environmental objectives. One of the
focus areas of the NCPC-SA, he said, has always been to contribute to the improvement of companies’ bottom lines and productivity by improving their resource and energy efficiency.
“I want to congratulate the NCPC-SA on its successes during these two decades and thank it for making our job somewhat easier to get funding to support the initiative going forward. The success of the NCPC-SA has encouraged donor funding from other governments, including the British, the Swiss, the German, and more recently the Government of Flanders,” Fourie said.
The success of RECP implementation in industry by the NCPC-SA in numbers
This national industrial support programme has assisted industrial companies to save 6 500GWh of energy, which translates into R5.3 billion in financial savings.
Through these energy savings, as well as over 500 000 tonnes of waste diversion by industrial symbiosis, 8.1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions have been mitigated.
In addition, the programme resulted in 6 400 professionals, 320 experts and 200 local trainers trained; as well as seven occupational qualifications registered with the National Qualification Framework; and 13 original training courses developed.
Free industry tools and resources
The NCPC-SA aims to further support South African industry and businesses through the RECP journey by providing tools on the website (tutorial videos, downloadable booklets, and posters), technical advice, assessments, and implementation of RECP in companies.
For more on these projects, case studies and tools visit: www.ncpc.co.za.
The NCPC-SA is a programme of the Department of Trade Industry and Competition and is hosted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
This national industrial support programme has managed to save 6 500GWh of energy, which translates into R5.3 billion in savings for industry and 6.4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions mitigated through the Industrial Energy Efficiency Project.
In addition, the programme resulted in 6 330 professionals, 314 experts and 199 local trainers trained; seven occupational qualifications registered with the National Qualification Framework; and 13 original training courses developed.
