ABSTRACT
United States Environment Protection Agency's (US EPA) Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory published “Waste Minimization Opportunity Assessment Manual” in 1988. The terms “Opportunity Assessment” and “Audits” are interchangeable. The term “Audit” however, has a negative connotation as generally audits lead to reports that identify faults in a process. Hence, the term “Opportunity Assessment” is a better term as it focuses on improvements. Subsequently, in 2008, the sector specific best practice guidelines were updated and broadened by International Finance Corporation, working in close cooperation with the World Bank. The cleaner production and Resource Efficient Cleaner Production audits help in identification of several actions such as better housekeeping, process rationalization, process optimization, process/equipment change with more resource efficient technologies, using renewable energy to the extent possible and considering product redesign. An Environmental Management System (EMS) helps an organization to understand its impact on the environment and increase its environmental performance.
