Best practices for transitioning to a green economy

green economy Best practices for transitioning to a

The National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa is hosting the fifth biennial Industrial Efficiency Conference in Pretoria and online on 25 and 26 May 2022.

he National Cleaner Production

TCentre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) is hosting its Industrial Efficiency Conference at no cost to delegates. The conference, which is held every two years, is aimed at sharing best practices and building capacity in the industry to transition to a green economy.

What sets the conference apart is a twoday programme educating and equipping businesses to adopt a cleaner, more efficient model of doing business and offering government representatives better solutions for the implementation of a green economy.

The NCPC-SA also makes use of workshops to share tools and case studies during the conference. The biennial event has become a tangible indicator of the impact of and need for the subsidised services of the NCPC-SA.

“Since the first conference in 2013, industry representatives, government officials, consultants, researchers and academics have met to share the latest tools and methodologies, as well as successful case studies on how to transform production and business practices to be more efficient, resulting in not only resource use efficiency, but financial savings as well,” says Ndivhuho Raphulu, director, NCPC-SA.

The NCPC-SA is a national industry support programme managed by the CSIR on behalf of the dtic. Its mandate is to support the transition of South African industrial and selected commercial sectors to a low-carbon, green economy

The 2022 conference will continue in this tradition and will be the first in-person conference or workshop held by the body since March 2020. The event will be hosted at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria, and the two-day programme will include the below.

Two-day programme summary

On Wednesday, 25 May 2022, the programme will begin with a plenary session, which will be addressed by representatives of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), focusing on national and international policy and project development to support industry’s green economy transition. This will be followed by three breakaway sessions: • Industrial Energy Efficiency and the South

African IEE Project will include industry case studies, results of sector energy surveys, and the opportunities for industry and renewable

alternatives, including biogas and the importance of power quality. • The Eco-Industrial Parks session will share developments by UNIDO, the dtic and selected

Industrial Development Zone and industrial park management on the opportunities around industrial parks and the transition to ecoindustrial parks. • Sustainability in the Metals Casting Sector will be a session focused on the foundries and related industries, and will share work on energy opportunities, environmental compliance and 4IR opportunities to support this sector in distress. The second day, Thursday, 26 May 2022, will also begin with a short plenary. This session will look at 20 years of the NCPC-SA and the evolution of the green economy in South Africa. Four breakaway sessions will then be held: • Circular Economy and Life Cycle Management will be a session focusing on innovation and approaches to ensure more than just resource efficiency. The issues of extended producer responsibility and product life-cycle assessments and their importance in global markets will be explored, along with projects by the NCPC-SA,

CSIR and UN to assist industry in these areas. • Industrial Symbiosis and Waste Minimisation will focus specifically on the opportunities in the waste economy for industry. The NCPC-SA managed industrial symbiosis programmes in five provinces and will provide practical tools and case studies on how to reduce waste and divert it from landfill to become a business opportunity for others. • The Industrial Water Efficiency session will share tools and guides that industry can use to adopt better water management, including a focus on metering, and will include sector interventions and research findings by both the

NCPC-SA and the CSIR. • The Skills Development session will share opportunities and developments in new skill sets and learning platforms that can assist industry to transition to more efficient ways of doing business. This will include a presentation by and tour of the CSIR 4IR Learning Factory. This year’s conference will mark the official end of the Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) Project, implemented since 2010 by the NCPC-SA and UNIDO.

The IEE Project was launched to assist industrial companies around the country to save energy and money, improve effectiveness, and demonstrate the positive impact of energy management on greenhouse gas emissions. The project won the highest international accolade for an energy programme – the International Energy Project of the Year – awarded by the global Association of Energy Engineers.

This was in recognition of its efforts to transform energy use patterns in South African industry and to mainstream energy management systems across economic sectors. The IEE Project in South Africa was the first of its kind and served as an international pilot project.

UNIDO will share the platform with the NCPC-SA to present industry and government stakeholders with feedback on the impact made by the project, lessons learned and the way forward, including new energy projects and integration of the IEE Project services into the NCPC-SA.

www.ncpc.co.za www.industrialefficiency.co.za