Many Western Australian companies have improved their financial performance while reducing their environmental impacts by adopting Cleaner Production practices and technologies. Some examples include:

Alcoa World Alumina has implemented a wide range of Cleaner Production initiatives at its Western Australian bauxite mines and alumina refineries. For example, its dust control measures have been saving the company approximately $500,000 a year. Alcoa also introduced the use of caustic soda to dissolve the hydrate scale build-up in the pipes and vessels of the refinery. This has saved water, contractor costs and has made recovering the hydrate easier and more economical. Significant benefits have resulted in a payback period of only a year and a half for investments valued at $790 000. The company has also benefited from increased efficiency improvements.

Aqwest-Bunbury Water Board has introduced a range of cleaner production measures designed to improve the overall efficiency of its water treatment plants. The integration of water sources, storage and point of supply systems with the mains reticulation system, has improved operational efficiencies and plant utilisation. The hydraulic performance (or energy required to move water) of individual treatment plants has been improved, and energy costs reduced as a consequence. The installation of the new booster pump stations has obviated the need for four new high level water towers, with savings of $2.2 million. In conjunction with various other Aqwest initiatives, including time of use tariffs, energy consumption and energy costs have been reduced by 13.5 percent and 24.5 percent respectively.

Atlas Dry Cleaners, a leading firm in Perth, is committed to environmental best practice. It has been achieving business benefits for itself by pursuing cleaner production initiatives and it has been encouraging improvements by the industry. Through pipe lagging alone it has reduced its daily gas use by 30% and electricity use by 11%. It has been investigating a PERC re-use process which would reduce its cleaning residue waste volume by 70% and save it $3500 a year.

Auto Angels aims to maximize car owner satisfaction with their vehicles and empower them to take control of their vehicle's lifespan. Their services are designed to prevent vehicles from declining in value and performance, thereby extending the useable lifespan of each vehicle engine significantly.
This has an obvious, but difficult to quantify, economic benefit to vehicle owners in reduced repair and vehicle replacement costs, as well as social benefits of improved satisfaction and confidence.

Bauwerk Paints has a strong commitment to creating healthy living spaces using sustainable, durable materials. They have found a ready market for traditional natural materials of high durability and low toxicity such as limestone, particularly appropriate to the upgrading of the city’s many federation era buildings. In keeping with a commitment to create a healthy living environment for clients, the plasters and renders they use are traditional, non-plasticized types

BP Refinery Kwinana has undertaken many cleaner production and environmental improvements in accordance with company policy and its commitment to continual environmental improvement. It has been particularly active in minimising water use, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas abatement, protecting ground and coastal waters, and reducing VOC and other air emissions.

Bradken Mining has established a system for continuous improvement in all its operations including waste and energy management. This system is based on a high level of employee participation. The company is on target for annual energy and waste savings of over $800,000 in its Western Australian operations.

Canon Foods - Increasing costs of waste disposal have prompted Canon Foods to more efficient management of fatty waste from its chicken cooking operations. The company is saving about $500 a month in BOD reduction from good housekeeping practices alone. Cleaner production will be a priority in planning its proposed new plant.

Coca-Cola Amatil (Aust) High Bay Lighting Control: CCA has used the Cleaner Production technique of Technology Modification to improve the energy efficiency of lighting in their Kewdale factory. The factory lighting was traditionally controlled simply by a light switch to turn them on and off at the start and end of business hours. This meant that the lights could be running from 6pm on a Sunday night to 6am the following Saturday. As a result, it was expected that installing a lighting control system would deliver significant energy savings.

CSBP Ltd (Kwinana, WA) installed a new incinerator in its sodium cyanide plant which curbed NOx emissions by over 80% and generated the equivalent of 25% of the total electricity needs of the company's site at Kwinana. In another project, CSBP used a new scrubber liquor recycling unit for its superphosphate plant, which reduced the phosphorous and fluoride load of the entire site by 80% and 97% respectively and generated annual savings of $400 000 for an investment of $1.5 million.

Dale Alcock Homes is a WA leader in home building and in environmental initiatives. Two such initiatives have been a demonstration passive solar-designed home with a booklet of guidelines, and purposes. Trial results have been promising with up to 75% of such waste being recycled.

East Coast Circuits - In order to optimise the performance of its wastewater treatment plan and meet sewer discharge limits, East Coast circuits established that water use and wastewater volumes needed to be reduced. Water reduction and other initiatives have resulted in savings of over $15,000 a year.

The Environmental Printing Company is committed to good environmental performance and has specifically focused on using more environmentally-friendly inks, cleaners and paper inputs. In particular, it has persevered with using solvent-free cleaners in spite of past problems and found an effective answer to its needs. Without incurring cost penalties, it is succeeding by attracting customers seeking high quality and environmental standards at a competitive price

Herdsman Dry Cleaners The case study is a typical Cleaner Production project has produced economic, environmental and workplace benefits. The project involved a premises refit including purchasing of the latest drycleaning machine and the installation of a carbon filter to eliminate solvent contact wastewater. This work has enabled the business to reduce its use of chemicals by 83%, reduce its generation of hazardous wastes by 50%, eliminate the generation of contact wastewater and reduce their energy consumption by 14%. In relation to work-place benefits the new plant requires less space allowing the workplace to be less cluttered. Productivity has improved while the level of fugitive emission has dropped considerable leading to a safer workplace for both staff and management.

Iluka Resources (Waste Heat Recovery project) has been actively seeking innovative and profitable Cleaner production solutions to waste problems. Its waste heat recovery power plant is saving it $1.5 million a year while its efforts to find markets for other wastes have resulted in potentially attractive business ventures.

Onesteel in Kwinana is both a manufacturing and processing plant for steel tube, some of which is received from other OneSteel plants based in New South Wales. A variable pay system was developed which sees the employees taking a share in the savings made from their recommendations. The effect of this initiative is reduced waste from the plant and increased process efficiency. In the past 12 months the company has saved over $340,000, of which the employees have shared in over $40,000.

Perth Zoo, in common with all modern zoos has a strong conservation and educational mission. As part of this, it has been actively seeking to improve its own environmental performance, particularly in the areas of water, energy and waste. It is presently developing a sustainable resource management plan and recognised that it would be financially exposed if it ever had to replace its present heavy use of bore water with scheme water. Aquifer protection and reducing water use are therefore strategic issues.

R Moore & Sons installed a system for treating and reusing water from its diesel engine cleaning operations. It is saving an estimated $3500 a year on waste removal and water costs and achieved a payback of about 17 months on its investment.

Solahart, besides benefiting the environment by being the world leader in solar hot water systems Solahart has been actively pursuing cleaner production initiatives at its Welshpool WA manufacturing plant particularly in energy efficiency and waste minimisation. It has been achieving significant savings and quality benefits as well as environmental improvements.
They introduced a number of low technology initiatives to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in its manufacturing plant. These included upgrading the furnace, adding a hexi-float layer (a floating blanket) to the plating solutions to prevent heat loss and evaporation, and installing boiler timers which resulted in significant energy savings and productivity improvements.

The Swan Brewery has a long-standing commitment to environmental responsibility. As a major user of water and energy, and producer of waste and wastewater, it has implemented a number of cleaner production and other initiatives to improve its environmental and business performance. These have resulted in significant.

St John of God Health Care Subiaco instigated Cleaner Production initiatives through a major organisational change and the introduction of an Environmental Management System in May 2002, which through Caregiver participation has succeeded in reducing energy water and waste costs, and as a result has helped preserve the environment.

Tip Top Bakeries is committed to continuous environmental improvement and has implemented cleaner production improvements on an ongoing basis as part of its environmental management system. It has set and achieved targets for improvement in energy and water efficiency, and in waste reduction.

Tiwest's Pigment Plant has been actively pursuing cleaner production initiatives in the areas of energy, materials and water efficiency. These include a new process to recover synthetic rutile which is achieving significant net savings of about $31,000 a day. In an example of 'industrial ecology' waste hydrochloric acid is converted by a neighbouring company into ammonium chloride for use at another Tiwest operation supplying the Pigment Plant.

Top Hat has improved energy efficiency through improved equipment layout and better operating practices, and have adopted the practice of not pre-spotting the bulk (75%) of their throughput; only white, light coloured and obvious stains garments (about 25% of throughput) are routinely pre-spotted.

Uneeda Smash Repairs' Cleaner Production initiatives have stemmed from this attitude and the associated concern to provide an occupational health and safety environment for employees that is free from harmful exposure to carcinogens and other toxic chemicals.

Wesfarmers Coal Limited's energy efficiency improved by 44% between 1993 and 1999 (although production has been increased, taking advantage of the energy savings). In terms of production volumes, efficiency went from 49 MJ/ bank cubic metre equivalent of production in 1993 to 27MJ/ bank cubic metre equivalent of production in 1999. Over the same period, greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 48% per bank cubic metre equivalent of production.

The Western Australian Sustainable Industry Group (WA SIG) works to improve the understanding of sustainable development in Western Australia and promote the roles Cleaner Production and Eco-Efficiency can play in achieving this. The Group provides a networking and learning opportunities for business, public sector, engineering and environmental professionals employed in industry, state and local government and tertiary education or representing industry, professional or community organisations. The WA SIG is a member of the Regional Network of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Western Power have developed an Integrated Wood Processing (IWP) Demonstration Plant in the Wheatbelt town of Narrogin that addresses global warming and farmland salinity - two of Australia's most pressing environmental concerns. Western Power is building the IWP plant to generate renewable electricity and produce activated carbon and eucalyptus oil from locally planted mallees. Producing three products at the one plant will ensure the commercial viability of the operation. The demonstration plant will generate enough renewable energy for 1,000 homes and provide farmers with a stable cash crop.