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Since its introduction in 1994, significant development for
the advancement of Green Productivity (GP) has taken place. This
includes the many demonstration projects, international and
regional forums & discussions, workshops and seminars held
in many member countries over the last few years. This is
possible due to the better and wider acceptability of GP as a
holistic approach in tackling environmental issues and problems,
whilst not forgetting the very basic of business
competitiveness, i.e., higher productivity.
While various efforts have been put forward by
different organizations in handling environmental concerns, such
as end-of-pipe treatment, waste minimization, source reduction,
eco-efficiency, cleaner production and cleaner technology,
APO’s holistic approach in GP seems to provide an all
encompassing methodology for the improvement of productivity and
the protection of environment. The greatest difference between
GP and the other methodologies is the taking into consideration
of the one big concern of manufacturers and businessmen, i.e.,
the synergies and vital relationship between pollution
prevention and higher productivity.
We acknowledge that for GP to be successful and sustainable,
it has to take a different approach, but at the same time,
address the fundamental concerns of business. Hence, GP not only
gives great emphasis to waste prevention, but also energy
conservation and pollution control. In addition, it has to be a
participative approach by the business concern and, therefore,
training of employees is also given top priority in GP. In this
regard, we are confident that the present publication of a
Training Manual in Green Productivity will be useful and a step
in the right direction. This manual will not only act as a
source of reference materials for the trainers, but also provide
the step-by-step methodology for entrepreneurs, especially SMEs,
in strengthening their efforts to tackle environmental issues
and problems.
While the idea of having a published training manual like
this one was in itself considered a milestone at the APO,
translating it into a concrete project was a formidable task. We
are fortunate to have a team, both within and without the APO,
who take great concern in improving the overall approach to
environmental issues and have taken up this project as personal
commitments.
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