EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .sx Increasingly stringent demands on UK industry to reduce its impact on the environment , usually result in the adoption of end-of-pipe pollution abatement technology , which is low cost and relatively simple to implement .sx DTI has , however , recognised that a better , longer term solution may be to redesign industrial processes such that they are inherently less polluting .sx This study has reviewed the implications of these so called cleaner technologies for certain UK sectors which have significant environmental impact and are vulnerable to emerging and stringent legislation .sx This study finds that there are many aspects of the manufacturing process where industry could , in theory , implement cleaner technologies and practices -ranging from the adoption of environmentally oriented principles in plant and process design ; through the use of cleaner feedstocks and the better treatment of waste streams ; to fundamental redesign of reactions or processes such that they produce less waste or use fewer raw materials .sx In addition , certain basic technologies ( 'hub technologies' ) such as membrane separation and photo(electro)chemistry , which have potential for development as cleaner approaches in several of the sectors considered , have been identified .sx Against this background , study findings indicate only moderate levels of activity in the conscious development and adoption of cleaner technologies by UK companies .sx This partly results from the fact that forces such as legislation , the influence of customers and public opinion , which demand environmental responsibility of the part of industry , are permissive of end-of-pipe technologies .sx Where activity in cleaner approaches has been found , the environmental benefits are rarely either the motivating force or recognised by the developer .sx The aim is usually to reduce the costs associated with energy and raw materials use and the disposal or treatment of wastes .sx The concept of cleaner technology is not widely known in UK industry , particularly among the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises ( SMEs ) , nor is its potential to yield commercial benefits recognised .sx Clarifying this image should be the first stage in providing stimulus for the uptake of cleaner technologies by industry .sx However , if cleaner approaches and the hub technologies , in particular , are to be developed to provide real benefits to UK industry , there is also a need to address the shortages of skills , resources and facilities which always create barriers to the adoption of unfamiliar technologies by the SMEs .sx 1 .sx INTRODUCTION .sx The increasing demands on many process industries to reduce their impact on the environment are frequently met by the short-term solution of add-on end-of-pipe pollution abatement technology .sx In many cases , this merely removes the pollution substance from one waste stream and transfers it to another .sx A longer term approach is to redesign the process such that it is fundamentally less polluting -it is inherently , a 'cleaner technology' .sx The report of a recent study for the Department of Trade and Industry -DTI ( 'A Review Of Cleaner Technology Projects Supported By UK Government Departments' by the National Engineering Laboratory and Warren Spring Laboratory ) gives the narrowest definition of cleaner technology as no waste technology .sx More practically , the technologies which today fall into this definition are those which are less polluting in terms of the energy and raw materials used , the emissions from the production processes involved and the environmental impact of the resultant products during and after use .sx As environmental issues gain in importance at national and global levels and increasingly stringent controls are placed on the polluting activities of many long established industries , cleaner technologies will have clear long term strategic value both to companies and to the overall competitive position of individual countries .sx In the UK , the Government has been encouraging the development of cleaner technology solutions to environmental problems for some years .sx One of the aims of the Department of the Environment's ( DOE ) Environmental Protection Technology scheme , launched in 1988 , was to promote cleaner technology .sx Within this scheme , a handbook giving examples of cleaner technology in a wide range of industries was published in 1989 and grant-aid was provided to encourage technical innovation in the area of environmental protection generally .sx This scheme has now been broadened with the involvement of the DTI into the Environmental Technology Innovation Scheme ( ETIS) .sx While the DOE will continue to support new technologies which meet a requirement for environmental improvements in specific priority areas , DTI will address research into innovative technologies across the whole range of environmental problems .sx Responsibility for encouraging and assisting the development and diffusion of cleaner technologies in UK industry rests with the Environmental Unit of DTI .sx In doing so , the Unit aims to focus its efforts on sectors and processes where the need is most acute and where greatest scope exists for the development of cleaner technology approaches .sx PA Consulting Group was therefore asked to undertake a study to review the work being undertaken by industry in the area of cleaner technology , the relevance of this work to the key environmental problems and the potential barriers to its uptake and diffusion .sx The study itself lasted for 6 months and employed a total team of 20 consultants on a full or part-time basis .sx Representatives of 44 research organisations and Higher Education Institutes , 80 companies and 30 Trade Associations were interviewed during the course of the work undertaken , which reviewed activity taking place worldwide , covering a wide range of technologies and sectoral issues .sx Each of the various agencies responsible for the implementation of national environmental policies in the most advanced countries has also been contacted and information obtained about relevant initiatives , studies and legislation through a series of 53 interviews .sx This work has been supported by an extensive review of available literature .sx ( See appendix I) .sx This report sets out the specific objectives and scope of the work undertaken , the methods used to address them , study findings and conclusions .sx 4 .sx CLEANER TECHNOLOGY .sx Cleaner technologies have long been recognised by institutions as the best long term response to the damage inflicted by industry on the environment .sx They are defined at the most stringent level as 'no waste technologies' , but more practicably are recognised as 'low waste technologies' .sx In the context of this study , 'cleaner' or 'low waste technologies' are taken to mean technologies which are inherently less polluting in terms of energy and raw materials usage , emissions ( including wastes ) from the production processes involved and the environmental impact of the resultant products and services during and after use .sx As such they are distinct from the more commonly available end-of-pipe technologies which concentrate on the treatment of wastes produced , rather than on minimising the production of waste at source .sx Cleaner technologies will , by definition , generally involve major changes to the industrial processes responsible for causing pollution themselves .sx In terms of the overall manufacturing process , the distinction between the area of application of cleaner technologies and the of end-of-pipe technologies is sometimes blurred , as is shown schematically in Figure 4.1. As it applies to the reduced use of raw materials or energy , or to fundamental process changes to reduce waste production , the scope of definition of cleaner technology is clear .sx However , an area of overlap exists in its relevance to the handling of wastes which are produced .sx Wastes can be re-used , recycled , treated , detoxified or disposed .sx Recycling and re-use are theoretically means of reducing raw materials or energy use and as such have relevance within the concept of cleaner technology -although by some definitions they are end-of-pipe technologies .sx For the purposes of this study , the search for 'cleaner technologies' has included recycling where the product which is recovered and/or treated is re-used within the same process from which it was derived .sx The treatment of wastes and their use as feedstocks in different processes has largely been excluded .sx Awareness of the deleterious effect of industry on the environment has existed at a high level for over a decade worldwide .sx However , the focus on 'cleaner technology' as a partial solution to these problems is a relatively recent development and there is only a limited amount of published information currently available which deals with this subject .sx Today , the majority of countries in the developed world have recognised the importance of the concept of waste minimisation .sx Many have set in motion a series of initiatives designed to spread awareness and information more widely and to support relevant developments in this area .sx Two of the most advanced countries in this respect are probably the Netherlands and the US , which in addition to maintaining active support individually also cooperate with each other significantly in this area .sx Key goals driving the policies and mechanisms of the Netherlands in the area of cleaner technology are :sx - the promotion of the development and demonstration of economically feasible cleaner technologies .sx - the promotion of the active transfer of knowledge on cleaner technologies to potential users .sx - the stimulation of cooperation in development .sx Similarly , in the US , the more recent emphasis on 'waste reduction at source' rather than on waste treatment and disposal technologies , is reflected in a shift in policies of the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) to encourage 'pollution prevention' .sx There are a wide variety of EPA programmes currently in place and directed towards this aim .sx Elsewhere France , Germany and the Scandinavian countries have developed policies with similar aims .sx In Denmark for instance , the government initiated a 3 year DKK90 million cleaner technology development programme which has now evolved into the Cleaner Technology Action Plan for the country .sx The European Community currently supports cleaner technologies through its research programme STEP and , in the past , through the provision of part funding for demonstration projects under the ACE scheme .sx The STEP programme allocates priorities to research proposals in the order -cleaner technologies , recycling technologies , end-of-pipe technologies , but its main thrust so far has been to encourage reductions in the use of energy and raw materials .sx In the environment area the EC has tended to bring in fairly detailed and bureaucratic legislation .sx This is binding on the member states and the extra administrative burden required often falls on the regulatory authorities .sx 4.1 CLEANER TECHNOLOGY IN UK INDUSTRY .sx The sectors of interest for this study were defined in the first instance as :sx - chemicals .sx - agrochemical products .sx - electrical/electronic engineering .sx - metal manufacturing .sx - metal finishing .sx - textiles .sx - man-made fibre production .sx - food processing .sx - non-metallic mineral products .sx - paper and printing .sx - leather .sx - waste incineration .sx - oil refining .sx Following analyses carried out in Phase I and described in Section 3 , two sectors -man - made fibre production and oil refining were rejected and of the remainder , chemicals , electrical/electronic engineering , metal manufacturing and metal finishing were given priority .sx Prioritisation was decided on the basis of analyses of the polluting potential , the vulnerability and importance of each sector in the UK .sx Oil refining was rejected at this stage because of the scale and success of effort which has already reduced its polluting impact and because this sector tends to be dominated by very large multinational organisations which generally fall outside the sphere of influence of DTI .sx Petrochemical manufacture is however an area where considerable environmental improvements could be made and this has been included within the scope of the work carried out on the chemicals sector .sx The man-made fibres sector has similarly been excluded because the most polluting activities of relevance also fall within the chemicals sector .sx Phase I analyses for the remaining sectors identified the most polluting sub-sectors or activities within each sector and it is on these areas that study reviews of cleaner technology have focussed .sx 4.2 THE CHEMICALS SECTOR .sx 4.2.1 Background .sx The chemicals industry is one of the UK's major manufacturing sectors , employing around 340,000 people .sx It is a hugely diverse sector in terms of the number of products , processes and technologies encompassed with its operations .sx There are for instance more than 70,000 known chemicals worldwide and more than 100,000 processes .sx A further 1,000 new products are added each year .sx These range in scale from 100,000's tonnes per annum for commodity petrochemicals to production quantities measured in milligrammes ( mg ) for high value complex chemicals such as peptides .sx The value of the products similarly varies from as little as pounds100/tonne to pounds1,000/mg .sx The main sub-sectors in the chemicals industry and their relationship to each other are depicted in Figure 4.2. 4.2.2 Environmental Impact .sx Among all the sectors studied , the chemicals sector , in its entirety , is probably the most polluting and also has considerable pre-process ( cradle ) and post-process ( grave ) impacts ( Figure ) .sx