Creating manufacturing facilities that function as closed-loop systems – factories that completely eliminate waste by reusing or recycling all the raw materials they take in. This is called zero-emissions manufacturing.
Zero emissions is the next breakthrough in business productivity. Total quality management meant zero defects. Just-in-time manufacturing meant zero inventories. Zero emissions means 100% throughout, using everything and completely eliminating waste.
Under new voluntary initiatives, some of Japan's leading companies are developing their business plans to achieve zero emissions of pollutants to their air and water. The first sector companies to adopt zero emissions is the beer industry. Companies involved with electronics and car manufacturing have also opted in to achieving zero emissions to air and water.
Namibia Brewers Ltd. is the first company to commit to building a commercial plant based on zero-emissions principles. Its flagship beer is Windhoek Lager, a premium, high-quality beer, which is a good seller in Botswana and South Africa. 40 different biochemical processes are being used in the plant to reuse everything: heat, water, solid waste, carbon dioxide. These processes will create 12 different products in addition to the beer. Water flows from the brewery into ponds designed for fish farming. Mushrooms grow on piles of spent grain from the fermentation process. Chickens feed on earthworms set loose in the grain.
In October 1992, Ecover, a small Belgian company that makes cleaning products (laundry powder, dishwashing liquid, car wax) from natural soaps and renewable raw materials, opened a near-zero-emissions factory. A grass roof keeps the plant cool in summer and warm in winter. The water-treatment system runs on wind and solar energy.
Zero discharge was achieved in a pulp factory in Canada. Hydrological conditions was the forcing factor. The river is frozen in winter while in summer the flow is almost nil. The industry therefore had to be redesigned towards zero discharge. However, the price paid was an increase in solid waste.
The chief byproduct of sugar processing is waste material called bagasse which most mills just burn as fuel. But it contains fibers that can be used as substitutes for cellulose – for example, in paper pulp. Brazil, Colombia, and Indonesia produce lots of sugar and incinerate the waste. Then they destroy their rain forests because they need cellulose for paper. It is a huge missed business opportunity.