Improving environmental and financial performance:
Durham Manufacturers Sustainability Program

In today's marketplace, sustainability and reducing the environmental footprint can positively impact a businesses' bottom line. Opportunities are abounding for manufacturers to achieve success on both of these fronts.

With a strong base in key sectors such as tech-based manufacturing and energy, Durham Region is an attractive place for many commercial and industrial businesses. Durham has effectively positioned itself as an economic-industrial hotbed in southern Ontario earning its reputation as an "emerging power." As a leader in manufacturing and energy, the region is moving forward with initiatives to identify opportunities for pollution prevention, waste reduction and process optimization.

To assist Durham manufacturers in improving their environmental and financial performance, Durham Region’s Economic Development & Tourism Department has partnered with the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA) and Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) to launch the Durham Manufacturers Sustainability Program (DMSP). The program promotes and encourages sustainable behaviour among businesses and provides small-to-medium sized (SME) manufacturers in Durham Region with technical and financial assistance to reduce their environmental impact.

Manufacturers in Durham Region with fewer than 500 employees at the facility level may be eligible for a 50 per cent cost-share subsidy on a multi-media pollution prevention assessment.

OCETA utilizes a formidable roster of pollution prevention experts with experience spanning an array of industry sectors, and can match a facility with a best-fit consultant. This consultant will identify opportunities for pollution prevention, waste reduction and process optimization specific to a facility, and provide the company with high, medium, and low-cost options to realize these opportunities. The result is improved environmental performance, reduced regulatory exposure, and money saved.

Since 2000, 54 manufacturers participating in the GTA-wide Toronto Region Sustainability Program have shown substantial improvement in environmental performance and collectively saved $4.5 million annually with an average return on investment of less than one year. The same opportunity for tangible improvement is now here for Durham manufacturers.

For more information on OCETA and the Durham Manufacturers Sustainability Program, please visit http://www.oceta.on.ca/TORSUS/dmsp.htm, or contact Fred Granek, Vice President Toronto Region Sustainability Program, OCETA, at fgranek ( @oceta.on.ca ).