Mr Armand Vilaplana i Masnou is the new Director of the Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (RAC/CP) since 1 March, when he occupied the post. His appointment to the position, that stems from a new political stage of the government of Catalonia, was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Environment and the MAP Coordinating Unit.

Mr Armand Vilaplana i Masnou

This new period that is starting for the environmental policies promoted from Catalonia aims to carry out a strategy of dialogue with the different agents involved in the environment in order to put into practice the theory of sustainability while integrating the three pillars it is based on: economy, environment and society.

In the Mediterranean sphere, this new appointment arrives during a restructuring process of the RAC/CP that will be the tool for The Mediterranean Action Plan to integrate environmental issues and corporate advances, particularly related to the major challenges arising from the application of the Strategic Action Programme in the framework of the LBS Protocol and the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development.

Mr Armand Vilaplana i Masnou, an electronics engineer, is the founder of the corporate economy in Catalonia, and has 25 years experience in corporate management, specifically in the field labour companies. It is to be noted that Mr Armand Vilaplana i Masnou is the founder and president of the Federation of Joint Stock Labour Companies in Catalonia (FESALC) since 1983.

TOP

 

A number of Turkish industries have already started implementing cleaner production options and to  a certain extent, have included the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. With the Turkish  industry's need for continual progress in international marketing, the process of integrating into the  European Union, public awareness and company image issues, product-oriented environmental  initiatives following the concept "from the cradle to the grave" will have to increase the presence  within Turkish industry. From this point of view, establishing a National Cleaner Production Centre in  the near future has become of vital importance.

With that aim in mind, Turkey has launched a project to assess the eventual setting up of a Cleaner  Production Centre in this country. The project, entitled Integration of Eco-efficiency into  Production Industry, is being carried out by the Cleaner Production Unit of the Institute of  Environmental Sciences, at the Bogazici University (Istanbul, Turkey). The Institute of Environmental  Sciences offers consulting services related to environmental issues that the industry is facing, apart  from performing ordinary academic teaching and research activities.

Campus of the Bogazici University, Institute of Environmental Sciences,
the institution carrying out the project for establishing a CP Centre in Turkey

The project is sponsored by a platform of Turkish NGOs, namely SURGECEB. SURGECEB  includes the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD), Istanbul Chamber of  Industry (ISO), an NGO of industrialists for solid waste disposal (CEVKO), and an NGO of  industrialists for glass recycling (CAMSIAD).

The goal of this project is to organise the CP Centre framework that will lead to sustainable  environmental development issues in Turkey. Within this framework, the structure of the proposed  CP Centre will be evaluated considering the legal, administrative, financial and organisational  aspects. As part of the aforementioned project, the Med Clean case studies produced by the  Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (RAC/CP) will be translated into Turkish and  included  in the project. The Med Clean case studies show success stories of Mediterranean  companies from a variety of industrial sectors having introduced pollution prevention measures,  along  with the related environmental and economical benefits obtained.

Med Clean file number 54
Reduction of energy losses in transportation pipes, food industry (Croatia)

The outcome of the project will once again show the advantages of eco-efficiency. Furthermore, it  will  attempt to direct industrialists to include pollution prevention strategies in their company  policies. The well-defined scope of the proposed CP Centre, together with its detailed organisational  structure, will doubtless draw the attention and interest of related entities to carry out an action plan  aimed at establishing a CP Centre in Turkey in the short term.

 

Information provided by Dr Nilgün Kiran Ciliz, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Bogazici  University (Turkey). For further details, contact Dr Nilgün Kiran Ciliz at the following address:

Nilgün Kiran Ciliz
PhD, Assistant Prof.
Bogazici University, Institute of Environmental Sciences
Bebek, 80815 Istanbul (Turkey)
Tel.: +90 (212) 358 1500
Fax: +90 (212) 257 5033
e-mail: cilizn@boun.edu.tr
web site: http://www.esc.boun.edu.tr/

TOP 

 

And it is now that the Mediterranean countries have to prepare their National Action Plans (NAPs) in order that they may be operative in 2005. The preparation of the NAPs was preceded by the National Diagnostic Analyses (NDA) and the baseline budgets, that most of the countries have already completed.

To further this task, a Course for the preparation of National Action Plans for the application of the Strategic Action Programme" was organized in Izmit (Turkey) on 4, 5 and 6 March in the framework of The Mediterranean Action Plan with the participation of national experts appointed for the preparation of the action plans.

This course served to go over the phases in the preparation of the NAPs, from the first step for identifying and assessing the nature and severity of the problems through the NDA and the baseline budget, to the formulation of a list of medium-term priority actions, along with regional plans and the sectorial plans that will be part of the NAPs.

Group photo with national experts and representatives from the
various bodies of The Mediterranean Action Plan

It was also intended as a first meeting for the national experts to exchange opinions. Several working groups were formed to emulate the preparation of a NAP in a fictitious country.

In this role game between the experts, a series of conditions required to successfully prepare the action plans were reviewed. These were the identification and participation of the stakeholders from the initial stages, the preparation of a financial strategy for the long-term sustainability of action plans and the use of cleaner production aspects.

Regarding this first aspect, the Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (RAC/CP), aside from participating in the work groups for the preparation of the NAP in a fictitious country, had previously presented the cleaner production philosophy to the national experts and how to introduce it in the National Action Plans.

Lastly, special attention was given to the preparation of the investment portfolio for the application of the NAP that must combine the environmental priorities assessed in the diagnostic analysis and the investment commitments, through the appraisal of items such as cost, profit, contribution to development, feasibility and financial sustainability.

The experiences exchanged between the experts allowed to gauge the importance of holding a dialogue from the start with all the parties involved, particularly with the industry, as it is the latter that will ultimately have to apply pollution reduction measures. In this sense, the public administrations are not only required to enforce the laws but also to foster prevention policies within the industrial sectors and the use of more environmentally efficient technologies.

 

TOP

 

 

The Syrian International Environment Exhibition "SYRENVIRO 2004" was held on 5 - 8 April 2004  at  the New Damascus International Fairground. This first-ever specialised environmental event in  Syria was patronised by H.E. the Syrian Prime Minister with the support of: United Nations  Development Programme (UNDP), the Syrian Ministry of Local Administration and the Syrian  Environment Association.

View of the exhibit

60 Exhibitors representing 10 countries were present at SYRENVIRO 2004, of which five were from  the Mediterranean basin: Syria, France, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Ukraine, Germany, Austria, the  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The exhibitors included:

Participants at a seminar

Cleaner technologies were represented at SYRENVIRO 2004 along with other sectors of activity:  namely, environmental management systems, environmental auditing, environmental training,  energy, noise and vibrations, occupational hygiene and risk management, environmental software,  publications and journals, as well as environmental monitoring. Furthermore, end-of-pipe options  such as waste, wastewater treatment, air and gas purification, and water treatment were also  present at the exhibition.

During the exhibition, six parallel seminar sessions were held to tackle challenging aspects of the  environment in the Middle East such as Sustainable development in the Middle East, natural  resources, wastewater reuse and solid waste. Speakers included experts from leading  organisations  (such as Ms Stephanie Hodge from UNDP New York, Dr Kourdab and Dr Hazouri  from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia-ESCWA) as well as  national officials and consultants.

During the four days of this event, over 8,650 visitors visited SYRENVIRO 2004. SYRENVIRO is a   bi- annual event, the next edition being foreseen for April 2006.

Information provided by Ms Dima Khartabil and Mr Karim Tabah. For further information and details , please contact:

Ms Dima Khartabil
Project engineer
Envirotech - Middle East
Tel.: +963 11 3340503/4
Fax: +963 11 3322670
P.O. Box 4565, Damascus - Syria
e-mail: set-env@net.sy

TOP 

The Cleaner Technology Centre and WasteServ Malta Ltd. organised an informative half-day seminar at Project House, Floriana (Malta) on the 3rd of March. The Cleaner Technology Centre is the institution that hosts the RAC/CP National Focal Point for Malta, whilst WasteServ Malta Ltd., is the company that deals with integrated systems for waste management along with the major waste management facilities and services in the Maltese Islands. Attendance to the seminar, which tackled the different aspects of waste separation at source, was free of charge.

Delegates participating in the seminar

Separation is an important component in the implementation process of any waste management strategy and a lot of hype is being made regarding this issue. In this seminar practical advice was given on the different aspects in the area, including obligations and responsibilities, waste minimisation and how to proceed with a waste management plan.

Panel of Experts
In the middle, Mr Anton Pizzuto (RAC/CP National Focal Point for Malta)
addressing the attendants to the seminar

Presentations were delivered by officials from WasteServ Malta and the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment. Furthermore, a case study was also presented by a local industry in the electronics sector, practising waste separation. All the presentations were tackled from a practical and local point of view, and emphasis was placed on the introduction of cleaner production in an effort to illustrate waste minimisation.

You can access the seminar programme by clicking here.

For further information and details, contact RAC/CP National Focal Point for Malta:

Mr Anton Pizzuto
Cleaner Technology Centre
University Campus, Msida MSD06 (Malta);
Tel: +356 2131 3416, +356 2134 3572,
+356 2133 1734
Fax: +356 2134 0979, +356 2134 4879
E-mail: ctc@mus.com.mt