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Introduction. Part of the economy of Sinifaná basin, at Antioquian southwest is based on the extraction of type B thermal coal, which is provided to local an d regional clients. Environmental impacts associated to extraction or production of coal (ROM) vary from the extraction methods used in underlining mining. Objective. To show scenarios of appropriate coal extraction in relation to economic and environmental aspects in order to generate proposals which lead to a cleaner extraction of the resource. Materials and methods. With this purpose, evaluation of the life cycle impact is implemented, based on ISO 14040 norm, and with an approach from the basin to the door applied to each one of extraction techniques identified in the basin using SimaPro 8.0.4 Faculty software, Eco-indicator 99 H V2.06/Europe EI 99 H/A method. Results. It is known that manual BARRETO method is the least pollutant one; but it is also the least productive one. Hammer drill, on its part, reported a higher production, but only 1.08 more times than the one carried out with dynamite and not in the proportion of 3.6 more times, as it is the of its life cycle impact respect to the crowbar with dynamite. Crowbar with dynamite is shown as the most viable one in terms of productivity against impact. Conclusion. As far as 79 % can reduce ICV generated in the artisan extraction of coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. The growth of agro-industrial sector is important bearing in mind the increase of micro companies of this sector, but, no matter their size, these micro companies are also responsible for generating wastes and using a large amount of water and electricity in their processes. Furthermore, it is necessary to implement cleaner production strategies, which are able to reduce impacts generated to the environment as a result of these type of activities. Objectives. To analyze the inclusion of environmental factors in agro-industrial micro companies in Villavicencio city. Materials and methods. Ten micro companies in Villavicencio city were analyzed and an environmental diagnosis methodology was applied with focused on a cleaner production. This diagnosis focused on analyzing the location in relation to Territorial Ordering Plan and factors of Energy use, Water use, Wastes and norms and licensing in micro companies. Results. 70 % of micro companies was duly located in relation to Territorial Ordering Plan; in relation to the use of energy and water there are few preventive measures generated for reducing or improving the pressure to these resources. In relation to wastes, norms and licensing, there are difficulties caused by the lack of knowledge of management mechanisms of the same. Conclusions. Implementation of cleaner production strategies in micro companies is difficult due to their low investment in preventive actions, bearing in mind that their competitiveness may be at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By working for sustainable construction and cleaner production, Indural has modified its production process especially with the use of constructions and demolitions debris as raw materials. Reprocessing of debris represents 80% of the raw material for Indural's products, which means a significant contribution in natural resources conservation. Besides, Indural has proposed clear strategies for cleaner production, thus making its environmental commitment evident all over its production chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case shows the results obtained in a managewment process under the cleaner production scheme, articulating three main components: The public and private sectors, plus the community, in order to bring development to a semi-rural territory with several unsatisfied basic necessities, envieronmental problems and short term planning. To improve these conditions, Invesa SA and Transmetano ESP SA implemented a voluntary participation and concertation strategy departing from the Convenio de Producción Más Limpia del Valle de Aburrá (North Aburrá Valley's Cleaner Production Agreement) and under the name SAC Plan (Social, Environmental and Communications Management Plan, in Spanish). This strategy achieved the articulation of intervention processes that impact economic, social and environmental development in San Andrés, Mercedes Ábrego, La Calle Sector and La Palma zones, in Girardota. Objective. To implement a management plan to articulate social intervention processes to prevent and control environmental impacts and to contribute to the local development by a clear communication among all of the involved. Result. A planned and concerted social and environmental management exercise to reduce environmental impacts and create local development in the area of influence. Conclusion. Invesa SA and Transmetano ESP SA achieved a good position for their social and environmental management schemes in the communities located in their geographical area of influence, transmitting the knowledge acquired and contributing to the management and the development of the territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cleaner production policy (1997) promoted the development of a strategy in Colombia, in order to identify the best practices in the processes to reduce risks on human health and the environment, according to the commitments achieved in the Earth Summit (1992). After more than ten years of applying the cleaner production policy in Colombia (1997-2009) important advances have been achieved, among which the generation of demonstrative projects, the creation of Centro Nacional de Producción Más Limpia, 5 regional nodes and environmental windows, 67 cleaner production agreements countrywide and the application of tax reductions to promote environmental investment can be remarked. In a regional context, and as a pioneer institution on the subject, Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá´s cleaner production and sustainable consumption program has, in 2010, 182 companies from several sectors as beneficiaries, increasing the participation of companies in 27,87% in the last four years. Before the new sustainable production and consumption policy was established (2010), Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá has been making diagnoses, training and socialization on the subject, aiming to strengthen the corporative performance under environmental terms and acknowledge the advances in sustainable consumption to guarantee competitiveness and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. It is a vital matter for the Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá to make alliances with the region's economy sectors, in order to work on strategies to help to improve environmental quality in the zone and to have a responsible management of na tural resources. Therefore, the Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá has been executing projects that not only inform and create consciousness among those people and sectors involved, but also to create sustainable development, keeping in mind the social difficulties and the obligation to minimize harmful environmental impacts related to economic activities. As transportation is one of the priority sectors to decontaminate the Aburrá Valley, a continuous and consistent work has been done by means of technical and mechanical diagnoses, advisory and a follow up to 1000 vehicles with a weight above 3,5 tons and activated by diesel, and to 5800 buses that circulate in the Aburrá Valley. This is done in order to have a base which can allow environmental authorities to diagnose weaknesses and strengths under environmental terms. Objective. To implement best practices for the environment and to execute strengthening and follow up actions for the cleaner production plan in the public passengers and cargo transportation at the Aburrá Valley, in such a way that a reduction of this sector's emissions is achieved. Materials and methods. Environmental follow up activities were made in companies that previously had diagnoses concerning the subject, aiming to give them advice for the implementation of cleaner production strategies, maintenance plans and courses about environmental laws, among other topics. Opacity tests were practiced at the beginning of the project and after developing activities for the environmental consolidation in the companies that use public transportation diesel vehicles for passengers and cargo. Results. From the total number of cargo vehicles revised (2309) 56,6% meets the opacity limits, while a 43,4% was rejected. From public vehicles for passengers’ transportation, 70,37% was within the limits and 29,63% was out of the rank. Conclusions. Both passengers and cargo public transportation vehicles evidenced that an urgent necessity to implement preventive and correction maintenance programs exists, and also that a culture of prevention must be consolidated. A lack of garages, tools and maintenance machinery is remarked, and also a lack of people trained to make such maintenance in the companies. There is a partial or total ignorance among the owners and drivers about the failures and minimum requirements of their vehicles, plus wrong driving practices and problems with the maintenance made by third parties. In general, it can be said that cargo transporters are open minded about the cleaner production programs Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá impulse, but passengers' transporters resist a change that must be made in order to achieve an environmental improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Calzado Kondor Ltda was foumnded in 2980 in Medellín, aiming to make footwear for companies, meeting the demand of the national market. Objective. Improve the processes and consolidate the environmental commitment by creating an environmental management department in 2008, to meet the current environmental regulations. Materials and Methods. An environmental diagnose was made, and so was a priority evaluation, in order to get the necessary alignments to have a successful implementation of the cleaner production, order and cleaning program, Results. Important reductions in energy and water consumption per pair of shoes were achieved, 6.72 % and 13.17 %, respectively, in comparison to 2009. Conclusion. An increased environmental commitment at both managerial and organizational levels was achieved. Now they keep environment in mind for all of their daily activities, such as processes modification, inclusion of new machinery and search for new alternatives. Besides, simple technologies were implemented for cleaner production, contributing to reduce negative environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the regional agreements currently in operation in Colombia, there is one called Convenio Empresarial Aburrá Norte (Aburrá Norte Corporative Agreement). It was signed by 20 companies located in the North of the Aburrá valley and the environmental authorities from the region. By this mechanism, a wider development and a better design of tools has been achieved under the cleaner production concept, with an environmentally responsible corporative development and benefits for the communities of the zone. Nowadays, and aiming to update the initiative towards the new cleaner production and sustainable development policy, the agreement develops strategies to advance in cleaner production, but also to widely include the sustainability topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Sauce and conserve industries are a part of the food sector. They elaborate, transform, prepare, conserve and pack human consumption food, in this case pineapple sauces, pulps and marmalades, from agricultural raw materials 1-2. The solid organic waste from this industrial sector's productive activity must be treated in a proper way, in order to reduce its negative environmental impact. Objective. The implementation of an integral solid waste management plan in an agricultural industry of sauce and conserve production. Materials and methods. An internal plan for the integral management of solid waste was proposed, including campaigns of waste reduction in the sources, with flyers with information of consciousness and training. Besides, colorful bins were installed in order to incentivize the classification of materials. The possibilities of commercialization of the recyclable materials obtained were evaluated and, finally, a better model for the disposal of pineapple peel was proposed. This is an organic remain generated in the cut process and it was usually sent to the landfills. Results. The plan was implemented in the company, creating a new environmental consciousness. A better use of the organic waste was achieved by sending them to a worm culture. Besides, along with the efficient separation of materials, a monthly earning of COL $ 176.920 was obtained. Conclusion. A reduction of negative environmental impacts was achieved. Besides, the plan brought new economic benefits for the company and the first steps were taken for executing cleaner production policies and management systems which can be useful for more certifications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Laproff Laboratories is a company founded in the Antioquia province, in 1959. Its mission is contributing to the health of the community through producing generic medicines. The labs are certified under the ISO 9001 and BPM quality systems. Methodology. An evaluation within the cleaner production program of the company was made and a number of projects were defined, among which we have solid waste management. This project aims to identify measure, valuate, prevent, correct and make good use of the disposal of that waste with the procedures and methods defined by the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area. The construction of the environmental indicators allows us to show how Laproff has contributed to lower the quantity of waste to be sent to the sanitary filling, accomplishing one of the goals agreed in the program. Results. A transformation was generated within the enterprise, with impacts such as change of technology, a quality increase of the production processes, new recycling programs, new education initiatives and new business ideas departing from research and development. Conclusion. Adopting the cleaner production program in Laproff Laboratories brought good results beyond the inner work of the enterprise, thus producing benefits to the community in general, the pharmaceutical sector and the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Processes 2000 SA is an enterprise founded in 1998, devoted to the making, packing and conditioning of cosmetic an personal cleansing products. From its very beginning, this enterprise was planned with clean processes and in 2000 it joined the Cleaner Production Agreement. Methodology. Envirionmental impacts were identified generated by the enterprise, dividing its production process into four lines: solid products, semi solid products, liquid products and making of tablets for hair dyes. Environmental impacts were valued and measured by the use of a matrix, through which we established the most representative ones. According to those impacts, the enterprise focussed its obejectives and activities to be done. We currently work dividing the ativities for each bnatural resource, accomplishing the goals defined in consensus. Results. These are the savings obtained in the proces: A 62% reduction in the quantity of solid waste sent to the sanitary filling, a 42% saving in the water used and 53% of the KW/H per Kg of raw material. Emissions are at a 94,25% below the permitted level established in the 02 Decree of 1982. Conclusion. This cleaner production system represents environmental benefits because of the reduction and prevention of its contamination and, also, it is higly profitable under economy terms, because processes are more efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern reflections concerning environmrental problems, seeking for a reduction of negative impacts oin environment, have boosted the appearance of nacional and internacional initiatives Ander the general initiative of cleaner production. This is a prevention managerial strategy applied to products, processes and work organization, aiming to minimize pollution and leaks in the source, reducing risks for human health and environment and increasing competitiveness. Thus, cleaner Technologies are created to develop the cleaner production phylosophy, and make it feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. In the galvanoplasty sector, the aluminium anodizing process is one of the most critical in environmental impact terms. Objective. To describe the opportunities of cleaner production for the aluminium anodizing process. Materials and Methods. To recover NaOH we analyzed three technologies: Ionic exchange, crystallization and precipitation, which were all taken into account due to past international successful experiences. Pilot tests and laboratory tests were made, determining that ionic exchange does not offer technical satisfactory results and that feasible options are crystallization and aluminium precipitation. To recover H2SO4 from the anodizing bath, ionic exchange was explored as an alternative, obtaining technical and economical satisfactory results. Results. The economical benefits of implementing these technologies are related to diminishing the costs generated by the consuming of caustic soda and sulphuric acid, a better control of processes, constant operation conditions and a longer time of usefulness of the baths. Environmental benefits are the optimization of the use of caustic soda, a lower sulphate discharging less consuming of water and energy and a better generation of the metallic mud coming from the waste water treatment done after the process. Conclusion. The proposed system provides a potential save of water which can be gradually increased if the appropriate acid concentrations in the bath are kept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cleaner production is, according to UNEP, the continuous application of an environmental prevention strategy, integrated to the processes, products and services in such a way that it increases ecoeficiency and reduces the risks for human beings and environment. The Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley has been working on establishing a cleaner production strategy which objective is to promote and strengthen the environmental performance applied to the economic sectors of its jurisdiction, leading it towards a sustainable development. All the efforts concerning this aim are made according to the national policies on the matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]