What is Cleaner Production?

UNEP defines cleaner production as ....the continuous application of an integrated preventive environmental strategy applied to processes, products, and services in order to increase efficiency and reduce risks to humans and the environment. For production processes cleaner production includes conserving raw materials and energy, eliminating toxic raw materials, and reducing the quantity and toxicity of all emissions and wastes; For products cleaner production includes the reduction of negative impacts along the life cycle of a product, from raw material extraction to its ultimate disposal; and  For services cleaner production is to incorporate environmental concerns into designing and delivering services.

The key difference between pollution control and cleaner production is one of timing.

Pollution control is an after-the-event, "react and treat" approach; cleaner production is a proactive, "anticipate and prevent philosophy". Prevention is, as is well known, always better than cure.

When minimising waste and pollution through cleaner production a reduction in consumption of raw materials and energy is also achieved.

Cleaner production strives to get as close to 100% resource efficiency as possible - within the barriers of what is eco-enomical viable. 

It is important to stress that cleaner production is not simply a question of changing equipment: cleaner production is a matter of changing attitudes, applying know-how, and improving production processes as well as the
product. 

Other concepts similar to cleaner production are:

• Waste minimisation; 
• Pollution prevention; and
• Green productivity.

These are fundamentally the same as cleaner production; with the basic idea to make
companies more efficient and less polluting.