Pollution Prevention
At its core, cleaner production is a business management technique that directs attention toward inefficiencies and waste that erode profits and competitiveness, reducing the environmental sustainability as well as the economic viability of a company. Indeed, to modernize effectively and participate in an open economy, firms must incorporate environmental considerations into daily operations, including best practices and other measures to improve natural resource, water, materials and energy use.
Significant cost savings can be realized through cleaner production through reduced raw material, energy and water consumption; lower waste handling, treatment, and disposal costs; and decreased liability. USAID's experience with companies shows that initial investments can be recuperated in about six months on the average in a dozen industry groups. Additional benefits include improved worker health and safety, good customer and public relations, enhanced competitiveness and market share, and improved industry-government relations.
USAID’s cleaner production activities have been active for almost a decade now and have worked to raise awareness, build capacity, and promote U.S. goods and services. The Agency has set a foundation of strengthening institutions and building technical and government capacity at the local and national levels. This is done through training, the development of case studies, and demonstration projects. Also used are environmental audits that not only reveal areas for improvement, they more importantly serve to empower companies to prioritize process changes; ultimately, they lead to technology transfer and trade as firms purchase new equipment. Positive movement in these sectors has a favorable and corresponding effect on trade capacity and thus economic growth, demonstrating that the process works both ways.
As trade and economic growth increase, improved environmental management occurs at a country level. Thus, trade acts as a mechanism to improve the overall well being of the populace. As the U.S. seeks to emphasize the important role of free trade and economic growth through strategic public-private alliances, it is an opportune moment for USAID to build on past and ongoing cleaner production programs to realize the potential offered by newly negotiated free trade agreements throughout the globe.
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