WITH growing concerns in the community about the environmental effects of modern living practices and the role of manufactured products, manufacturing industry is facing an escalating need to introduce sustainable manufacturing strategies.
Although the application of Lean Manufacturing techniques is achieving impressive results in some companies, particularly in relation to key areas such as waste reduction, Sustainable Manufacturing takes this a step further to include efficient use of resources such as water and energy.
QMI Solutions, a not-for-profit organisation (www.qmisolutions.com.au), is dedicated to helping industry to achieve manufacturing excellence. According to its CEO, Jim Walker, the overall goal of Sustainable Manufacturing is to obtain a view of the whole product cycle and optimise the life-cycle of manufacturing systems, products and associated services.
“It should be clearly recognised that the total lifecycle of a product, from its design, through its use to its retirement, is affected by a whole range of technical, economic, ecological and social aspects. Historically, product design has been used to ensure efficient manufacturing and market appeal, but now products must also be designed to take account of factors such as decommissioning and recycling,” Walker told Manufacturer’s Monthly.
“Future drivers of sustainable manufacturing have already emerged and are having an impact, including the escalating cost of resources such as water, energy and raw materials, and the introduction of more stringent regulations in relation to the use of these resources.
“In addition to factors such as quality, cost-effectiveness and safety, the focus in designing and manufacturing today’s products must increasingly be on life-cycle and service. A holistic view must be taken with the aim of adopting sustainable manufacturing principles across the whole manufacturing life-cycle, and identifying all inputs and outputs for continuous improvement action.
“Environmental personnel should be fully integrated into operations, and this involvement should start at the design stage to ensure that potential environmental impacts are eliminated from the design of products. In addition to reducing waste during the production process, many other initiatives can be taken which build on lean manufacturing principles including improvements to factory layouts which in turn can result in reductions in the energy required for heating and cooling.
“Global awareness of the need for sustainable manufacturing is growing, and there is no doubt that future regulatory requirements will also escalate. Introduction of the RoHS and WEEE directives in Europe for example is a sign of things to come in the regulatory area that will affect Australian manufacturing,” Walker said.
The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive originated in the European Union and restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. All applicable products in the EU market since 1 July 2006 must pass RoSH compliance.
The Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive mandates the treatment, recovery and recycling of electric and electronic equipment in the EU. WEEE compliance aims to encourage the design of electronic products that will facilitate environmentally safe recycling and recovery, while RoSH compliments WEEE by reducing the amount of hazardous chemicals used in the manufacture of electronic products.
Carpet industry action
The Carpet Institute of Australia is currently conducting a study of resource efficiency with assistance from Sustainability Victoria.
This study is covering the carpet industry from manufacturing to installations and end-of-life solutions and has already revealed some interesting preliminary results showing how the industry can become increasingly ResourceSmart.
Carpet production in Australia uses 177,000t of raw materials including fibre, backing and adhesives, and an estimated 80% of uplifted carpet goes to landfill at end-of-life. Approximately 80% of all Australian-made carpet is manufactured in Victoria.
According to Carpet Institute of Australia (CIA) executive director, Allan Firth, manufacturers have been working on their wastes for many years and have recovered most of their internal fibre wastes for reuse back into the same or different products within their own operations. Some manufacturers have also found interesting ways of using their wastes as resources in other products such as plastic fence posts and insulation.
However, significant further opportunities are likely to exist in some areas, including in relation to end-of-life disposal issues.
Julie O’Brien at Sustainability Victoria says the study aims to identify ways of minimising impacts and maximising profits to help maintain the competitive edge of the industry in the face of imported product.
“Data collected will be utilised to identify potential industry-wide solutions including an improvement plan for waste, energy and water management and an industry audit, monitoring and reporting program.
“In the US, Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has helped develop market-based solutions to end-of-life issues with some impressive outcomes,” O’Brien said.