Case Study Title The Cleaner Production and Institutional Development in Pakistan Author Muhammad Arshed Rafiq Communication Coordinator Cleaner Production Institute Lahore Pakistan Abstract In 1989, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) first introduced the concept of Cleaner Production (CP). The Dutch government extended support to private sector for promotion of CP in Pakistan industries. This resulted in the institutional development (Cleaner Production Institute) and institutional capacity building (industrial associations). It also generated large scale environmental and energy efficiency investments in Pakistan industry and created a huge market for environmental products and services. Seeing the success story, the government also came forward and established a Cleaner Production Center. Development agencies are now line up to complement the CPI initiatives.
1. Background and Context Industrialization has always been one of the major objectives of development planning in Pakistan for reorientation of economy from production of raw materials to more value added manufacturing. It has also been considered as a means of poverty alleviation and economic development. In the footsteps of the industrialization pathway of the West, there was no question of environmental protection or sustainable development till the promulgation of Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance in 1983 when Pakistan decided to get into the international environmental bandwagon. As the environmental movement gripped the world attention after Rio Conference in 1992, Pakistan took a series of strategic environmental actions and developed its National Conservation Strategy in 1993. During the same period, Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) were established, Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA 1997) was promulgated and National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) were approved and implemented. The awareness about the environmental issues related to the industrial pollution has resulted in increased demand for environment friendly products and services from consumers and buyers internationally. The international trade organizations are also incorporating environmental problems into their policy framework. In this backdrop, the industry in Pakistan is facing competitive challenges in view of the toughening international environmental laws and legal requirements. Their biggest challenge is the investment requirements in terms of capital and
human resources to meet these requirements. Cleaner Production provides an incentive to industries to achieve partial compliance with NEQS and get a direct financial return as well. In 1989, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) first introduced the concept of Cleaner Production (CP). Before that the effluent treatment or end-of-pipe (EOP) treatment was considered the only approach for pollution reduction. According to UNEP, waste is considered as a product with negative economic value. Therefore any approach that eliminates or reduces waste generation increases the productivity of a business by decreasing the negative economic value. Cleaner Production is aimed at minimizing possible environmental impacts by changing the entire product itself or by improving the efficiency and life cycle 1. In Pakistan, the idea of CP has got attention of the industry owners as it is cost efficient way of meeting environmental and legislative requirements. Moreover, the investments involved in CP implementation is paid back through process and cost efficiency. The potential benefits like improved working environment, reduction in resource consumption and waste generation, lower production cost, financial return through resource conservation, reduction in compliance cost through wastewater load reduction, improved production efficiency and product quality, good reputation as an environmental conscious industry in national and international markets 2, and development of continuous improvement capability within the production system have mainly fetched the focus of donor agencies, environmental protection agencies and other stakeholders on CP for improvement of industrial environmental conditions in the country.
2. CP Initiatives CP Initiatives in Pakistan during the last 15 years are following: Cleaner Technology Program for Korangi Tanneries Technology Transfer for Sustainable Industry Development Environmental Technology Program for Industry Introduction of Cleaner Technologies in Punjab Tanneries Energy Conservation Program for Tanneries Hospital Waste Management Project Implementation of Cleaner Technologies in Textile Sector Establishment of Cleaner Production Centers at Attock Refinery, Sialkot and Textile College Faisalabad Establishment of Cleaner Production Institute (CPI) Lahore Ozone Depleting Substances Project Cleaner Production Program for Industries Program for Industrial Sustainable Development These CP initiatives in Pakistan has resulted in the implementation of Cleaner Production Technologies at process level in about 250 industries including 120 tanneries, 60 textile mills, and about 70 other industries 3.
3. Major Stakeholders These initiatives have engaged industrial institutions and associations such as Pakistan Tanners Association, All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association, Pakistan Pulp and Paper Board Mills Association and Pakistan Sugar Mills Association etc. The Netherlands Embassy in Pakistan has been on the forefront to finance most of these initiatives. The other development partners have also come forward like Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD). The technology vendors, certifying agencies, partner industrial units, government departments, EPAs and research & development institutions relevant to the industrial sectors of Pakistan are other important stakeholders which have been engaged for the development of practical environmental standards, implementation modalities for the enforcement of environmental legislation and the development of environmental policy for their respective sectors. 4. Challenges The CP implementation process has seen many active and passive periods since the idea was introduced in Pakistan. The main risks include inconsistent economic growth rate of the country, government changes, fluctuating behavior of industrial associations due to their political setup, changes in international trade climate, energy crisis of the country, behavior and policies of enforcement agencies and shifting priorities of the donor and bilateral development agencies.
5. Results and Outcomes The CP initiatives have resulted in two major changes. It has resulted in environmental investment and thereupon developed a big market for environmental products and services. The environmental investments of the industry in the recent years as well as the projected potential investments of Pakistan industry in the near future approximately stand at: 2000-2005 = 10 million USD/annum approx. 2005-2010 = 15 million USD/annum approx. 2010-2015 = 20 million USD/annum approx 4. The success of CP initiatives has also attracted the attention of government, NGOs and other international development agencies to take similar steps to facilitate and promote CP in industry. The establishment of Cleaner Production Institute in Lahore and Cleaner Production Center in Sialkot Pakistan are important examples. The WWF Pakistan is also doing projects of capacity building and knowledge development to promote better environmental practices in textile industry. Cleaner Production Institute is facilitating educational and research institutions in the government sectors to set up courses in CP at post graduate levels. CPI in association with its development partners has also developed human resources and institutional capacity of the Ministry of Environment and industrial associations.
CPI has catalyzed the improvement in the industrial environment in different industrial sectors of Pakistan and has brought about cultural changes as per applicable legal and resource conservation requirements. The industry has by and large developed ownership of the environmental movement and has shown keen interest in energy and resource conservation by making huge investments. 6. Drivers The major factors acting as drivers of the CP movement in Pakistan include: a. International market pressure b. Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 c. Facilitation by Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency and Ministry of Environment d. Technical assistance projects e. NGOs and community pressure f. Return on investments g. Peer demonstration 5 7. Lessons learned and Scaling Up 1. A competitive industry can greatly contribute to sustainable development, poverty alleviation and Millennium Development Goals
2. The continuous facilitation from industrial associations and government departments is very important for CP implementation, environmental investment generation and its sustained channelization 3. The voluntary CP initiatives have been more successful in generating better response from industry which otherwise has trust deficit with law enforcing agencies. 4. The sharing of success stories and knowledge at industrial unit s and institutional levels can further accelerate CP implementation 5. The CP solutions which are economically feasible, locally applicable and are relevant to market are more quickly acceptable to the industry 6. The improvement in the legal framework and a better law enforcement in the country will find a more responsible and responsive, legally compliant and environmentally conscious industry 8. Next Steps Most of CP initiatives till now have engaged textile, leather, sugar and paper sectors to make environmental investments but other industrial sectors have also potential to make environmental investments. As per different need assessment surveys of CPI, the potential of environmental investment in different industrial sectors of Pakistan like pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, petrochemicals, cement, pesticides, dairy, automobile, steel, paints till 2015 is more than 60 million USD 6. The CP interventions in industry have been mainly focused on process improvement options until recently but due to the international competitive pressures and the energy crisis in Pakistan,
the resource conservation, energy efficiency and recycling measures are more in vogue now. The international climate change drive and introduction of Clean Development Mechanism have also unfolded new opportunities for industry to adopt CP. The success of CP initiatives has attracted the attention of other leading development partners. CPI has partnered with UNEP and TTZ Germany since March 2009 to implement a three year European Commission project in manufacturing industries to implement clean production practices along the complete production chain for sustainable production. References: 1 UNEP, 2004: Using Cleaner Production Strategy in the Environmental Management of Industrial Estates, United Nations Environmental Programme http://www.uneptie.org 2 APRSCP, undated: What is CP, Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production http://www.aprscp.org 3 Khan, Azher Uddin, Cleaner Production Programs in Pakistan http://www.smeda.org/downloads/training/potentialofenvironmentalinvestmentinthindustrialsecto.ppt 4 Ibid 5 Ibid 6 Ibid