Cleaner Production Audits and ISO 14000
A “Cleaner Production Audit” can be defined as:
| “A systematic review of a company’s processes and operations designed to identify and provide information about opportunities to reduce waste, reduce pollution and improve operational efficiency” |
A good Cleaner Production audit will:
- Present all available information on use of unit operations, raw materials, products, water and energy.
- Define the sources, quantities and types of waste generated.
- Clearly identify where process inefficiencies and areas of poor management exist.
- Identify environmentally damaging activities and report on legislative compliance.
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 | - Identify where Cleaner Production opportunities exist, estimate how much these could cost to implement and quantify the benefits.
- Prioritise the Cleaner Production opportunities identified. Priority should be given to low cost/no cost measures and those with relatively short payback periods.
- Incorporate an “Action Plan”, which will describe how the Cleaner Production measures can be best implemented at the factory.
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Following the audit, factory staff can be trained in Cleaner Production by means of video taken of their own practices and through the implementation of ISO 14000.
Although work started in the fishing industry, the principles are now being applied to the wider food processing industry.
| AVERAGE SAVINGS ACHIEVED THROUGH DANISH AID ORGANISATION(DANIDA) FUNDED TRAINING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGES IN FACTORIES |
| Factory Type | Training (R) | Factory modifications (R) | Savings/year (R) | Water savings |
| White Fish | 50 000 | 300 000 | 1 000 000 | ±33% Fresh water ±60% Sea water |
| Cannery | 20 000 | 250 000 | 250 000 | ±75% Fresh water |