<mark>system – resulted in substantial time and money savings. For instance, making the heat circulate into the oven eliminated the need for an additional heat exchanger and lowered fuel consumption by 25%.</mark> <mark>● Engineers at a major manufacturing plant in California needed to replace a faulty wet venturi scrubber operating on a waste-wood-fueled boiler. They wanted a system that would drastically lower flyash output, operate efficiently on the variable fuel, and resist fires. This system had to be engineered, fabricated and installed within eight months. The company looked at various ways it could clean the stack emissions generated by its fixed-grate stoker boiler, including fabric filters and dry electrostatic precipitators (ESP). A pilot study conducted on site by a control technology supplier, however, convinced the manufacturer that a wet ESP would meet their requirements. Thanks to the acquired information, the supplier then designed, engineered, and installed an air pollution control system that is keeping emissions well below current regulatory thresholds. The company thereby ensured to maintain a competitive edge over other manufacturers as regulation becomes tighter.</mark> _<mark>●</mark>_ <mark>A manufacturing company selling an array of flexible packaging to customers across the U.S. needed to control its VOC emissions and treat a wide range of solvents (its plant was located in a residential section of town with a hospital across the street). Its 15-year-old carbon-bed recovery system required a lot of maintenance work and consumed a large amount of fuel. The system also yielded unrecyclable solvents that resulted in significant monthly disposal fees. In addition, the restricted solvent diet that the system could handle was limiting manufacturing flexibility. To address the problem, a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) was built offsite and trucked to the packaging facility in close collaboration with engineers from an industrial equipment installation firm. Stack testing of the installed oxidizer produced an actual destruction efficiency of 98.9% - more than enough to satisfy the regulatory agency. Compared to the old solvent recovery system, the new system eliminated disposal fees and brought important savings in operating costs, with fuel consumption reduced by 80%. The RTO also eliminated the need for 9,000 pounds of water previously used for daily steam downs. Finally, the plant has been able to put the people in charge of the old solvent recovery system maintenance back into</mark> <mark>value-adding activities. By considering its cleantech supplier a partner rather than some arm’s-length dealer, this company was able to convert environmental compliance into a process of value creation.</mark> <u>Source: Author’s reading of the Institute of Clean Air Companies (www.icac.org)’s website information</u>

# **3.3  Within national borders**

While public pressure and the activism of environmental NGOs are certainly growing, **_governments still remain the main source of incentives to protect the environment within national jurisdictions._** Some environmental public policies – taxes, technology standards, inspections, legal liability, etc. – will significantly influence the efforts individual firms and branches of GVCs situated on national territory will devote to pollution prevention and the reduction of environmental risks (Johnstone, 2007).

As suggested in the introduction, **_in order to succeed nowadays, environmental public policy first needs to be endorsed (if not led) by industry_** . Table 3 below lists a number of government actions (beyond coercion) that might enhance the individual and collective participation of business firms.

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