The National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA), in its capacity as a key sustainability programme of the dti, will be hosting the country’s first Industrial Resource Efficiency Conference at Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg on 11 and 12 March 2013.  The evening of 11 March will also see the NCPC-SA Industry Awards 2012.  The two-day conference will engage key stakeholders from government and industry on different aspects of resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP), with a particular focus on the manufacturing sectors. The target audience for the conference includes decision-makers and key stakeholders of industry, relevant government departments, local government, academia and environmental experts as well as the media. It will address a range of topics that affect South African industry in their on-going challenge to become globally competitive and sustainable, in the context of resource efficiency. 

The event also coincides with the 10th year of the NCPC-SA’s existence, and will provide a platform to illustrate the impact of RECP on the competitiveness and profitability of South African industry over this period. Day one will set the scene, and will include a session entitled “Enhancing global competitiveness through sustainable best practice” to be chaired Dr Laurraine Lötter of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA).   The afternoon of day one and the day two programme will focus in on energy, water and materials efficiency and waste management.  These sessions will have a strong practical implementation focus, with industry challenges and learnings as well as case studies being presented.  A number of international experts and representatives of organisations such as the United Nations Development Organisation (UNIDO) will give an international perspective and share lessons learned. 

On the evening of 11 March, the NCPC-SA will acknowledge achievements in three categories at the NCPC-SA Industry Awards 2012.  Guests will include key industry stakeholders, representatives from all levels of government, and funding institutions. Awards will be presented to:
•         Winners of the 2012/13 Cleantech SME Accelerator Programme, which identifies and provides support and exposure to new innovation clean technologies developed by South African entrepreneurs.

•         Top achievers from the Sustainable Intrapreneurship Programme, which involves the placement of unemployed graduate engineers in companies to implement RECP cost-saving solutions while gaining valuable industry experience

•         Companies that have implemented RECP solutions and achieved significant cost savings, based on interventions by the NCPC-SA over the past ten years.

The Industrial Resource Efficiency Conference is open to all interested parties and whilst attendance is free, space is limited.  Companies are urged to apply for registration as soon as possible via the conference page on the NCPC-SA website:  www.ncpc.co.za <http://www.ncpc.co.za/>

A draft conference programme is attached.  The awards evening is a closed event, members of the media are invited to attend.