Kevin Cilliers, Kavita Pema, Philip Strauss, Louise Lindeque, Gustav Radloff, Wendy da Cruz
The Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association (CAIA) Workshop on Resource Efficiency: Challenges and Best Practices, was recently held in Johannesburg and Durban. Resource scarcities will be increasingly observed in the future, with potentially far-reaching economic impacts for resource-intensive industries. This is set against a backdrop of rapidly growing populations and the current economic conditions.
The workshop focused on the optimisation of the use of resources, the reduction of environmental impacts and the implementation of Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production technology and practices with the aim of achieving improved productivity and environmental performance. The workshop addressed the importance of efficiency best practice and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources like water, energy- and material-efficient production. Responsible Care highlights Resource Efficiency as a business opportunity and supports companies with it’s implementation.
“One of the greatest challenges facing the chemical industry is satisfying the demand for goods and services, while minimising the impact on natural resources. Responsible Care embodies the chemical industry’s commitment to use resources wisely and to minimise waste. CAIA encourages Responsible Care signatories to achieve continuous improvements in efficiency and sustainability”, said Louise Lindeque, Responsible Care Manager.
Presenters at the workshop made it clear that constantly rising resource utilisation costs, tightening environmental legislation and emerging market requirements for more sustainable products constantly push companies (i) to do more with less, (ii) to use and re-use resources in multiple cycles, and (iii) to measure and monitor their resource consumption, more effectively. Through a series of interactive sessions covering industry examples and best practices in Resource Efficiency, topics such as current and emerging water stewardship practice and many others were discussed. According to Martin Ginster from Sasol Group Services, water stewardship is about responding to a shared risk, taking shared responsibility and being transparent and accountable.
Feedback from workshop attendees showed that the workshop met its objectives. Due to its success, CAIA is making all the presentations available on www.caia.co.za.
For more information please contact Linda Steyn (rcare@caia.co.za) at The Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association (CAIA).