| Abstract |
Clean Products and Processes (CPP) Phase I was an attempt to lay the foundation of an effective pilot study in which the state of the art information on cleaner manufacturing processes, and tools for designing and assessing them were exchanged. The Pilot started with 14 countries and at the concluding meeting at Vilnius, Lithuania stood at 27 member nations participating. CPP-Phase I was a success as evidenced by widespread interest in a Phase II (already approved) by the members of Phase I and the willingness of several other European countries to join. CPPPhase I was the first step towards a scientific and technological approach to sustainable development from the perspective of manufacturing sectors. For the explicit purpose of exploring the product and process options that offer minimizing environmental impacts at the lowest possible cost, throughout the last five years we have examined scientific tools and methods that can be universally used to assess design and assessment tools and methods for processes and products. The inaugural meeting of Phase I was hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1998, and the subsequent annual meetings were held in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK), Copenhagen (Denmark), Oviedo (Spain), and Vilnius (Lithuania), with support from the host institutions and countries. Working collectively we selected the dominant industries in need of cleaner approaches and discussed how the state of the art knowledge can make a difference. We also explored the specific problems afflicting each member nation, and invited experts to educate us all on selected industry sectors (such as textile) and specific approaches (such as industrial ecology). The measure of success of CPP-Phase I was thought to be the effective dissemination of research products for use by participating countries, and the creation of productive collaboration projects among experts from participating countries. |
