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Resource Analysis and Optimization
Our newest service offering focuses on
optimizing resource productivity. It draws on our
MetaFlowScopeTM
technology to analyze the flows of materials and energy through a
business/factory/process, quantify the economic and environmental impacts of
resource use, and find opportunities to increase resource
efficiency while
reducing costs.
Why Resource Efficiency?
We live in a resource-limited world. And yet, according to the
EPA, US industrial
facilities generate 7.6 billion tons of industrial solid waste each year. Much
of this is non-hazardous waste including materials that may have value in other
applications, but most businesses do not have an analytical method to evaluate
the economic and environmental values of their waste streams. In addition, food
waste is a serious problem in the food service industry. Waste reduction
alone could yield annual savings of hundreds of billions of dollars in the US
economy and cut national GHG emissions by 5-10%.
For more background and insights, please see our recent articles:
Our Solution
As the diagram below illustrates, we view a business operation or process in
terms of its metabolism: the flow of materials and energy.
MetaFlowScopeTM translates this to
rigorous analysis using a unique combination of technologies and methodologies
including material flow analysis, industrial metabolism, life cycle assessment,
and value chain analysis.
Our analysis will provide insights into the compositions and potential values of
various waste streams so that a company can decide how much effort it should put
into recovering certain wasted materials that may have a market value.
Preventing that waste in the first place may have an even bigger impact on the
bottom line. But not all waste is the same: some waste materials will always
have higher economic and environmental values (or environmental impacts) than
others, so businesses need to decide which ones are worth optimizing. Our
analysis will help prioritize material use and waste by quantity, economic
value and environmental value.
Waste outputs are not the only issue: resource productivity can be boosted by
better choices of raw materials and energy sources, changes in manufacturing
operations including efficiencies, alternative product packaging and
distribution, and many other such initiatives.
After completing a baseline analysis, we will work with you to select and run a
series of “what if” explorations of
economic and environmental costs and benefits of alternatives at design stage
(material substitution, energy requirements), manufacturing stage (process
optimization, energy conservation, energy substitution, waste reduction,
internal recycling of materials and energy), procurement stage (recycled
content, choice of suppliers, etc.), distribution stage (packaging,
transportation and logistics), and disposal stage (material recovery for
reuse/recycling, landfilling, product end-of-life handling) – all with the
single purpose of helping your business deliver the same outputs at a lower
economic and environmental cost.
(See our combined software and service
offerings.)
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CleanMetrics, CargoScope, CarbonScope, BuildingScope, CarbonScopeData,
FoodCarbonScope, Deep Carbon Footprinting, and MetaFlowScope are trademarks of CleanMetrics Corp. |
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