GP Being Promoted Among SMEs in Asia by CDG and ASEP

by Mr. Raymond Leung

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are viewed as the major culprit in the degradation of the environment and natural resources because of their inefficient production processes, high levels of wastage of raw materials and energy, and poor industrial hygiene. In countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, SMEs are now coming under scrutiny because of their contribution to pollution. In these countries, SMEs in the electroplating and metal finishing, textile, and food processing industries have been identified as among the top polluting industries.

Carl Duisberg Gesellshaft e.V. (CDG), a non-profit organization dedicated to international advanced training and personnel development, has been sponsoring and leading environmental training programs in Asia, especially in the ASEAN countries, since the 1980’s. Programs have addressed environmental impact assessment, water pollution control, air pollution control, hazardous waste management, and other environmental management topics. 

The Asian Society for Environmental Protection (ASEP) was formed in 1984 by a group of Asian environmental professionals to exchange information on environmental technology. ASEP is registered as a non-profit organization in Thailand and its office is in the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand. Since the 1980’s, ASEP has partnered with CDG in conducting environmental training programs by identifying environmental experts to serve as resource persons for training activities and recruiting workshop participants through its network in Asia. ASEP’s network in Asia includes national environmental protection departments, national productivity organizations, industrial associations, business chapters, academics, the pool of environmental experts, etc.

With the current trends within numerous markets towards green procurement and the overall movement towards globalization, SMEs are now faced with the need to develop environmental management systems (EMS) and obtain certifications such as ISO 14001. EMS provides each enterprise with the framework to identify its environmental impacts, formulate a useful policy, and establish objectives/targets/programs to manage those impacts. EMS also helps SMEs to save/reduce raw materials, chemicals, water, and energy. ISO 14000 will also give SMEs a competitive advantage in the market and enhance their international trade opportunities. 

Funded by the German government’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), CDG and ASEP started a three year ISO 14000 training project for three industries (electroplating, textile and food processing) in five ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam) in 1998. The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) has supported the project by funding the participation of relevant resource persons for some of the workshops. The number of workshops and participants attended the workshops are summarized in the table below.

The project has four specific goals in order to achieve the broader aims of capacity building:

- To enable participating SMEs in target countries to determine the suitability of implementing EMS and obtaining ISO 14001 certification, and, if suitable, how to sustain the EMS according to ISO 14001 guidelines.

- To train and develop professionals who will be able to conduct EMS audits and who will be acquainted with the process of ISO 14001 certification.

- To provide support and guidance for trainees, who will actually apply and establish EMS in their organizations, and maintain an active monitoring program.

- To build-up networks in each target country in the three industry sectors and also an ASEAN regional network, using ASEP as the focal point for experience and resource sharing, benchmarking, and demonstration.

In addition to the training workshops, there was a planning meeting in 1998 before the start of the project, and there have been three review meetings (1999, 2000 and 2001) in Bangkok, Thailand. During the review meetings, selected successful participants were invited to go to Bangkok to share their EMS implementation experiences.  In each target country, CDG and ASEP have appointed a monitor consultant (local ISO 14000 consultant) to assist the participants in the implementation of EMS through discussion with their management, providing further information, and identifying additional resources required.

A limited number of successful participants have had the opportunity to visit Germany to observe the experiences of German companies in EMS and ISO 14000 or EMAS.  The first German tour was conducted in the summer of 2000, and included attending the symposium at Expo in Hannover, followed by visits to Bayer, Volkswagon, and other prominent German companies.

So far, 18 companies have been ISO 14001 certified and 34 companies are expected to be certified by the end of 2001. Of the companies already certified or in the process of preparation, 23% are in the electroplating industry, 35% in the textile industry, and the rest (42%) are in the food processing industry.  Out of these 52 companies who will be certified by 2001, 15 are in Indonesia, 15 in Malaysia, 15 in Thailand, 3 in the Philippines, and 4 in Vietnam.

EMS and ISO 14000 are powerful tools for green productivity, and related tools, such as environmental performance indicators (EPI), corporate environmental reports (CER), life cycle assessment (LCA), and environmental cost accounting (ECA), will only add momentum and accelerate the process. CDG and ASEP have already started a second series of ISO 14000 training sessions focused on EPI. Down the road, SMEs can enjoy the benefits of going green, building-up up their environmental capabilities, and sharing their integrated productivity and environmental experiences through the network.

(by Mr. Raymond Leung, President of ASEP, Bangkok, Thailand, and Deputy Executive Secretary, IGPA, Taipei, Taiwan, raymond@ema.org.tw)