27 AUT ECOPROFIT, Graz

Subscriber: Martha Vargas, Together Foundation Subscription Expires: 01-DEC-09 ECOPROFIT, Graz Austria Categories: Urban and Regional Planning: - consultative process -localizing Agenda 21 -regional planning -regional resource planning Technology, Tools and Methods: - management tools and systems -technology transfer Economic Development: - capital formation -cooperative opportunities -enterprise development (formal and informal sectors) -training Level of Activity: Global Ecosystem: Continental Summary ECOPROFIT is a public private partnership programme for sustainable development. The name ECOPROFIT informs you about the two main targets, to find measures for reducing environmental impacts and achieve cost-savings with these measures. The practice has shown that the economic success of the programme is about 10:1 compared with the financial inputs. At first consultants and representatives of local authorities get trained at the ECOPROFIT academy of CPC Austria on location and afterwards organise workshops for companies to transfer know-how into the economy. Simultaneously these qualified employees of the companies form an internal ECOPROFIT team and find as well as implement measures in the companies together with consultants. The programme was developed in Graz by the City of Graz - Environmental Department in cooperation with the Technical University of Graz. To let other cities and regions participate in the success of ECOPROFIT the Cleaner Production Center Austria (CPC Austria) was founded. Our task is the distribution, further development and quality assurance of ECOPROFIT. At the moment there are over 1000 companies in about 50 cities of the world participating. Narrative Situation before The city of Graz with about 250.000 inhabitants is situated in a basin shape. And Graz is an important industrial area. The combination of these two reasons associated with inversion weather caused great troubles with smog especially in winter. Priorities In 1989 the city of Graz decided, that it was time for a change. The target was the reduction of emissions and impacts on the environment. The environmental department worked together with the Technical University of Graz to find possibilities to guarantee ecological success for the region as well as economic success for the companies to get them involved. The public - private partnership programme ECOPROFIT was born. The combination of corporate training of the companies by consultants and authorities as well as consultancy in the companies succeeded. These successes increased by cooperation and communication among the companies. Objectives and strategies The objectives of ECOPROFIT are to reduce emissions and increase resource efficiency with measures in companies that lead to cost savings as well as to the achievement of the Kyoto targets. This is realised with the help of a public private partnership model that makes - Consultants, - Representatives of authorities and - Companies Representatives of companies are trained in collective workshops by consultants. These workshops alternate with specific consultancy in the particular companies where the consultants and the ECOPROFIT team of the company implement the learned aspects in company measures. Mobilisation of Resources The financial resources for an ECOPROFIT project (for consultants, project management, training and quality assurance) come from municipality and companies. Usually the municipality supports two thirds of the project, which leaves one third for the companies. Because of the win-win effects on economy and environment there is a high potential for financial support of the government like in Bavaria (Germany), where the government supports the company's part of the financing. The financial resources for the implementation of measures in the companies come from the companies. Amortization time is in 50% of the measures below two years. Companies get their financial inputs back with the factor 1:10 because of cost-savings and efficiency increase. The know-how comes from experts that train consultants and representatives of the municipality for the project in the ECOPROFIT academy of the CPC Austria. The human resources come from the companies, where an ECOPROFIT team is built, from the municipality which does the project management and from the consultants that train representatives of the companies and offer consultancy within companies. The CPC Austria distributes and coaches the project, does quality assurance and runs the international ECOPROFIT network. Process An ECOPROFIT project starts with the decision of a municipality to implement ECOPROFIT in their city/region. They choose at minimum two consultants to accompany the project. The next step is an ECOPROFIT academy course in this city/region where representatives of the authority and the consultants are taught the basic methods of ECOPROFIT as well as know how that they need for implementation (process management, analysis of production, waste management). After this course the consultants acquire participating companies and an ECOPROFIT team is formed in the companies. In one project cycle there are about 5-8 workshops (concentrating, for instance, on energy, water) where the consultants train representatives of companies. Simultaneous the consultants go into the particular companies to find and implement measures together with the representatives of the companies that took part in the workshops. After this cycle with the duration of about a year, there is a verification of the company's results and if they are positive a certification as an ECOPROFIT company follows. After this basic cycle continuous participation in the project in form of the ECOPROFIT club programme yields the best results because constantly new know-how is transferred into the companies and there are new potentials for improvements. The problems that appeared in transferring ECOPROFIT all over the world mainly concerned the general recognition of the project. This was soon overcome with the help of offensive marketing focus on single countries like for instance Germany. The next problem was the quality assurance concerning the results of the project. That is why it is urgently recommended that there are at least two consulting companies participating in a project to create constructive and fair competition. Furthermore the CPC Austria supports quality assurance with the help of controlling and evaluation of the project. To exchange experience among the participants and all stakeholders an internet-platform was created that is now growing to an international network of municipalities, companies, consultants and universities. Periodical meetings strengthen the cooperation and the relations between the network's participants. Problems that have to be dealt with now, are to find consistent possibilities and ways of financing the project in developing countries, to face linguistic difficulties in transfer and to overcome cultural barriers. Results The main success so far has been the transfer of ECOPROFIT to more than 1000 companies that participate in about 50 cities of the world. The results of the project that were experienced over 10 years in Graz: 105 companies of 38 different branches that participated within the last 10 years achieved cost savings of 22 Million Euro and an economical growth up to 15% per year with municipal assistance of about 1.5 Million Euro and own efforts of about 0.75 Million Euro. They reached a reduction of eco- related expenses for energy, water, waste, emissions' of partly about 70%. That means a factor of about 1:10 if you compare the companies inputs with the output of the project (cost-savings). The reasons for this enormous factor are the ECOPROFIT know-how and the low consulting costs that are shared between the municipality and the company as well as among the companies. The results were measured and analysed before and after each measure. The environmental success is remarkable: savings of - Raw materials 15,000 t, - Solvents 580 t, - Municipal waste 4,500 t, - Hazardous waste 1,000 t, - Water 900,000 mÂ³, - Electricity 20,000 MWh, - Heat energy 50,000 MWh, - Natural gas 3,000,000 mÂ³ and - Oil 500 t. ECOPROFIT substantially contributed to the attainment of the target in Graz, to stop the smog. That has been yielded in the winter 1995/96. Since then in Graz there has not been any smog any more. Sustainability The financial input of companies is returned to the companies with the factor 1:10 by cost savings. The consultants are responsible for securing continual amortisation of investments by the companies and, on average, 50% of the investments charge off in lower than two years. At the same time the municipality has the possibility to efficiently support companies, improving the environmental situation and increasing the quality of life for the inhabitants with its support. The effects of ECOPROFIT on economy: - Sustainability add to the job security and - Creates new jobs for the region as well as - Improving infrastructure due to successful companies. Soft skills for the region are - Improved image of the region, - Less expenses for bio-remediation and - International advantages regarding location and competition. Last but not least ECOPROFIT helps municipalities as a controlling instrument for the implementation of sustainable structures, supports the realisation of Local Agenda 21 objectives to reach the Kyoto targets and helps to secure the compliance of the OECD guidelines and the "Global Compact" of the UN secretary general office. ECOPROFIT

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