After a short break from fires and the dire heat in August, this month, we will take a “50,000 foot” view of the general topics we feel should be in the forefront and maybe of interest. Our previous blogs touched upon several key issues, starting with the overarching concept of net-zero manufacturing and then delving into two specific topics:
The financial benefits of environmental investment
The case for industrial water reuse
These topics fall within the broader set of challenges for manufacturing that the Net-Zero Future Blog will be addressing:
Climate change effects on costs, risks and resource availability
Water shortages, increased costs and quality concerns
Regulatory actions at various community and governmental levels
Oversight by fiduciary entities focused on environmental behavior
Societal pressures and evolving perceptions of wasteful companies
Much to be tackled in that list. But what should not be overlooked is that the fundamental “work” largely remains undone. Given the climate commitment deadlines of the next 10 years, companies have a small window of time to make real changes. And as we wrote in May, the more you wait, the more costly it will get.
Covid Demonstrates that Business as Usual Isn’t Going to Work
The Covid pandemic has shown the industrial segment that it cannot continue as it has for the past 50 years. In this period of crisis, many long-standing processes collapsed, interfering with the timely delivery of essential resources and materials for ongoing manufacturing. None of us can continue to assume availability or accessibility of resources, if the practice of continuous use and waste (of water in particular) does not change.
Industrial leaders are grappling with the changes that need to be made, to not just survive but thrive. It is not enough to just comply with regulations, meeting day-to-day needs and not thinking how to operate to minimize global impact.
The manufacturing sector, along with the rest of the world, is facing a series of challenges, and these call for a real commitment to new practices as part of a long-term strategy. You can’t look the other way anymore— these concerns will not just go away.
What does this all mean for manufacturing site?
Exergy recommends that sites conduct a full-scale water use and waste review. A review of operating units with water consuming processes, will reveal the practices of needs to be modified or updated. Also, use and waste of material can be thoroughly evaluated, especiallyif it leads to water use and discharge. Exergy's proven strategy for the review of water- intensive manufacturing processes allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the opportunities for water use reduction and wastewater elimination. We have proven over andover again that this works leads to cost savings in operating costs as well as process quality improvement in every case.
Get Started with Exergy as Your Partner
Exergy is here to help support your vision, mission and goals, and to implement the most effective resource efficient operation. If need be, re-engineering and retrofitting manufacturing will allow many new possibilities in terms of operation and cost efficiencies, as well as greatly reducing your resource footprint.
In order to forge a fundamental shift, your path forward should be set clearly. Let us help you forge this path as your partner on this journey.
