What is Cleaner Production?

The definition of cleaner production that has been adopted by the United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) is the following:

Cleaner production is the continuous application of an integrated preventive environmental strategy to processes, products and services to increase overall efficiency, and reduce risks to humans and the environment. Cleaner production can be applied to the processes used in
any industry, to products themselves and to various services provided in society.

For production processes, cleaner production results from one or a combination of conserving raw materials, water and energy; eliminating toxic and dangerous raw materials; and reducing the quantity and toxicity of all emissions and wastes at source during the production process.

For products, cleaner production aims to reduce the environmental, health and safety impacts of products over their entire life cycles, from raw materials, extraction, through manufacturing and use, to the ‘ultimate’ disposal of the product.

For services, cleaner production implies incorporating environmental concerns into designing and delivering services.

Hence, cleaner production describes a preventative approach to environmental management. It is neither a legal nor a scientific definition to be dissected, analysed or subjected to theoretical disputes. It is a broad term that encompasses what some countries/institutions call eco-efficiency, waste minimisation, pollution prevention or green productivity leading to greater competitiveness in the market