The factory was established in 2003, belonging to Agricultural and Power Machinery Company. The Initial capacity was 50 tons of product/day with the materials consumption of 200 tons/day. The capacity is now increased to 60 tons of product/day and to 80 tons/day in near future.
Before applying cleaner production, the factory often faced the problem of wastewater pollution. The wastewater derived from filtering, settling processes contained BOD5 content of 2.5 times higher than Vietnamese Standard 5945-2005 (level B), and COD content of 2.11 times higher. At that time, AES Corporation (U.S) was constructing the wastewater treatment system to recover biogas applying the principle of CDM projects. However, the leaking of starch and water from residues was also cause to pollute the environment and material loss. To solve this problem, in 2008, the factory accessed the component of Cleaner Production in Industries of Ministry of Industry and Trade.
With the support from Nghe An Department of Industry and Trade, and Vietnam Cleaner Production Center, in 2008, the factory carried out the cleaner production assessment. In stage 1 (from September 2008 to May 2009), the factory established the cleaner production team led by Mr.Tran Van Long – Director of the factory - and other 6 members to carry out the cleaner production assessment on the whole of production line. The assessment of the production processes, the verification of waste streams, the balance of materials and energy were worked out. Then all data collected were used for analyzing to find out the cleaner production options for each production processes.
After the assessment and the determination of improving solution options, the factory conducted some house keeping options which required low cost and no cost with the total investment of 9.8 and brought in 310 /year. From June 2009, the factory conducted big investment options with part of expenditure sponsored by CPI. In stage 2 (from October 2008), the factory took the initiative in big investment solutions to thoroughly solve the environmental problems, viz. investing 6 billion (including 2 billion dong from CPI) in using peel and heads waste to produce bio-fertilizer supplying the tapioca farm and markets; constructing residues separating system combined with drying process to reduce the moisture content in the residues used for breeding food. These solutions helped the factory to save 3.1 billion dong per year as they reduced the material and fuel consumption, reusing solid waste, and reducing negative impacts to the environment.
The benefits brought in to the factory from cleaner production are detailed as follows:
| Technical benefit | Economic Benefit | Environmental benefit |
| Reducing 0.99% of raw tapioca/unit of product | Saving 292 million VND | Reducing 13.140 tons of CO2/year |
| Reducing 1.35% of specific electricity consumption | Saving 18.25 million VND | |
Typical cleaner production options of the factory are detailed as follows:
| No. | Option | Investment | Performance | Option group |
| 1 | Controlling impurities: soil, sand mixed in raw tapioca before purchasing: Time of purchasing, requirement of impurities in tapioca, control of tapioca quality etc. | No cost | Reducing 1.1% of impurities in daily input materials, which is equivalent to 2.133 million VND/day | GH |
| 2 | Controlling leak points of water pipes | 0.3 million VND | Avoiding water leaking and loss | GH |
| 3 | Replace or tighten belts at motors | 0.6 million VND | Reducing 25m3/ ton of product | EM |
| 4 | Checking low voltage station and requiring to lower voltage 1 level down | 6 million VND | Reducing 1% of electricity consumption, saving 0.126 million VND/day | GH |
| 5 | Tightening all the contact positions to avoid electric discharge phenomena causing energy loss | 0.5 million VND | Electricity saving | GH |
| 6 | Gradually replacing electricity lamps by energy-saving lamps | 2.4 million VND | Saving 0.042 million VND/day | GH |
| 7 | Check the kiln operation: air supply to the burning process, manipulation of kiln workers | No cost | Saving heat energy, increasing combustion efficiency | GH |
| 8 | Using peel and heads waste to produce bio-fertilizer supplying the tapioca farm and markets | 2.8 billion VND | Having profit of 1.6 billion VND/year | OR |
| 9 | Constructing residues separating system combined with drying process to reduce the moisture content in the residues used to 12% and selling to animal food processing establishments | 3.6 billion VND | Having profit of 1.5 billion VND/year | OR |
Remarks: GH: Good Housekeeping, EM: Equipment Modification; OR: Onsite Recovery
Being aware of the benefits from the cleaner production, the company decided to maintain the operation of the cleaner production team, and put the cleaner production activities into the general management system of the company. To do this, a simple environment management system was established. Also, the company made an environmental policy which stipulates the strict implementation of the Law of Environmental Protection and regulations to ensure the sustainable development and minimize the causes of waste. Besides, the company integrated the production management system and the environmental management system so that the consumption of materials and energy were controlled by monitoring the criteria in waste streams. A system of sampling and legal procedure was also built to be applied in collecting, checking, and analyzing environmental data.
An environmental monitoring plan has been conducted. It aims to monitor the considerable improvements brought in by the cleaner production options, and to adjust them in case some environmental benefits are reduced. The environmental monitoring system comprises air monitoring and waste water monitoring.
Cleaner Production not only brings in benefits from energy saving, emission reduction, water consumption reduction, but also helps the company to develop production, improve product quality, and affirm the company reputation. The cleaner production options which have been implemented at the company are typical examples for tapioca starch processing companies in Vietnam./.