GB No. 3(18)/95

Foundation for the Promotion of Clean Technologies
TECHEKO

BASIC INFORMATION

The Foundation for the Promotion of Clean Technologies TECHEKO was set up in 1990. The act was executed and authenticated by a notary on 22-nd of November in 1990. The main aim of Foundation is promotion of clean technologies which increase efficiency and profits while preventing pollution.

The promotion of clean technologies includes:

• promotion and support to the researches on cleaner technologies;
• implementation of cleaner production projects;
• propagation of information about the results of cleaner production programmes;
• building up the local capacity and public support for cleaner production projects;
• distribution of information about cleaner production: of providing industry with technical and help, education and training; of publishing written materials.

The founders of TECHEKO are:

• the Voivode of Łódź Voivodship;
• the President of the City of Lodz;
• the University of Lodz;
• the Pulp and Paper Research Institute in Lodz;
• the Innovation Center SANEKO in Slupsk;
• the Dyestuff Industry Works BORUTA S.A. in Zgierz;
• the Chemical Fibre Industry CHEMITEX-ANILANA in Lodz;
• the Technical Design Company PROTECH in Lodz.

DESCRIPTION OF OUR ACTIVITIES

In 1993 we organised a seminar on the Total Quality Care Systems with co-operation of the ENERGOPOMIAR company from Gliwice. The invited experts were representatives of the Dutch company KEMA. The participants were told about the Environmental Management Systems including ISO 9000 and the procedures of implementation these standards.

In 1993 we also arranged training for the local industry about "Waste Minimisation in Industry".

The Foundation translated into Polish and released the book by the U.S. EPA entitled "Waste Minimisation Assessment". It was printed in Łódź Publishing House in 1000 copies.

In 1993/1994 the Foundation took part in the international programme TEMPUS-JEP 1792 in co-operation with the Department of City and Regional Management at the University of Lodz. In this programme approximately 120 pages on the following subjects were translated into Polish:

• sustainable development;
• waste minimisation;
• environmental management systems;
• life cycle assessment;
• pollution prevention techniques.

Following the TEMPUS programme two academic teachers went to Denmark and they were trained in cleaner production.

In order to educate students at the University the Foundation translated the book "Environmental Impact Assessment of Product". Due to our efforts some courses on environmental issues have been introduced at the University and we actively take part in these lectures and classes.

The Foundation took part in international seminars and conferences:

1. The First European Roundtable on Cleaner Production in 1994, Graz (Austria);
2. The Third High Level Advisory Seminar on Cleaner Production in 1994, Warsaw (Poland).

ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE -
DRAFT PROJECT FOR THE REGION OF ŁÓDŹ

Being in the period of transition to the market economy, Polish industry has a very good opportunity to make pro-environmental improvements, change the labour attitude, the practice and the philosophy. Many large state owned companies started the process of privatisation and restructuring which gives them an excellent chance of adopting cleaner production programme. This new pollution prevention approach is a fundamental step towards sustainable development.

The province of Łódź is a center of the textile industry with many large state-owned companies. The greatest environmental problems which the city faces nowadays are waste, air pollution and sewage. Moreover, Łódź province belongs to the group called "The Regions of Ecological Hazard", which was created in 1990 by our government. The pollution level has fallen significantly since the economy transformation due to the decrease in production and market stagnation, but Łódź is still quite polluted.

The Foundation came up with the idea for solving both economic and environmental problems in our region. The Foundation worked out the regional project which aims at introducing the cleaner production to the local industry and demonstrating how it can increase efficiency and profits while preventing pollution. This new approach to waste problem both reduces production costs and increases competitiveness at the same time.

We expect that this programme will bring economic benefits for the whole region. The aim of this programme is to select and promote the best companies to the public. The prize will be a special emblem and certificate of cleaner production. The role of the environment-friendly process of manufacturing is becoming more important in Poland for consumers, thus the products with the cleaner production quality label will find the greater demand. For companies it means the increase of income, competitiveness and creates the opportunities for developing and making new investments. In this way the city becomes more attractive for investors. The result of cleaner process of manufacturing is a cleaner environment which could attract more tourists to the city and increase the quality of life of the inhabitants.

We worked out the plan which consists of the following steps:

1. Identification of the main participants in the project (local authorities, companies, banks, NGOs, scientific institutions, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Inspectorate of Environmental Protection, power plants, experts of cleaner production).
2. Building up a partnership for the project. This step defines the participants’ roles (e.g. the banks may give financial support to the Foundation, the Inspectorate of Environmental Protection can select the main polluters in the region, the Economic Promotion Office can help promote the best companies, power plants can influence their debtors to implement cleaner production programme; scientific institutions must be closely linked with industry - it is obvious that science is a basis of technical development therefore such co-operation is essential).
3. Involving the companies in the project - we mean not only large state owned companies but also small and medium sized enterprises. Nowadays this sector is quite well developed and play significant role in the Polish economy. Because they produce small amounts of waste which is not controlled at all we give special attention to this sector.
4. Organizing seminars, workshops and training for the participants of the project.
5. Presentation of the project in April 1996 during the 10-th National Meeting of Non- Governmental Organisations and in November 1996 during the international conference "Environment '96".
6. Successful implementation of the cleaner production programme - environmental improvements can be achieved by improving housekeeping, changes in materials, implementation of new technologies and process modifications.
7. Publicity campaign which includes: promotion campaign in mass media for the best companies, publishing the results in different magazines (e.g. Journal of Cleaner Production) and newspapers, presenting results at the University and the Polytechnic.

We treat the first edition of this programme as a demonstration project which encourage other companies to implement cleaner production programme. We do not expect to achieve a great success after it. The first edition aims to spread the cleaner production principles to the industry and the whole region and show how industry can profit from this new approach to the waste problem.

The Foundation TECHEKO aims also in its efforts to increase the environmental public awareness and environmental aspects of products and production process. It is an important factor in building local capacity and pressing the industry to adopt cleaner production. We believe that our initiative will contribute to the improvement of the state of the environment and economic development of the region.

Fundacja Promocji Czystych Technologii
TECHEKO
The Foundation for the Promotion
of Clean Technologies TECHEKO
Rewolucji 1905r. 29/19, 90-214 Łódź
tel./fax: (+48 42) 32 53 07