Industry Sustainability Initiative (ISI)

The ISI Process

Inaugural Meetings:

- The ISI Cluster 1 of 10 companies - Members were invited to attend an inaugural ISI meeting in February 2003.
- The ISI Cluster 2 of 10 companies - Members were invited to attend an inaugural ISI meeting in Penrith on 1st July 2004.

Group Workshop Sessions: Participants will then be invited to one group workshop session every four - six weeks for 18 months. The Advanced Manufacturing Centre (AMC) will facilitate these 12 practical sessions, which will be held at the Australian Technology Park or on-site at one of the participating businesses.

These workshops will provide participants with:

  • Assistance in developing Sustainability Improvement Plans;
  • New techniques to gauge the impact of your production, such as the sustainability radar diagram, a tool which helps to track the company's progress with sustainability implementation;
  • Tools for assessing the environmental impact of your business;
  • Practical case studies and expert speakers;
  • Sessions based on themes such as water, energy, oil use and hazardous wastes, social impacts, ethical operations etc;
  • Site visits highlighting successful processes, technologies and systems; and
  • On-going support and monitoring of their projects.

    In-House Projects: Participants will be encouraged to implement Sustainability Projects to harness savings in their own operations.

    In the Pilot phase of the ISI Project, participants undertook exciting and groundbreaking projects, including the following:

  • Advanced Power developed ways to feed wasted energy from their production processes back into the power grid. The program will yield enough energy to power a city the size of Lithgow.
  • Thales Underwater Systems reaped a $60,000 return from a $35,000 project to change their packaging from one-off containers to reusable material.
  • Futuris Brakes International retrieved more than 200,000 used brake blocks every year, helping to yield 150 tonnes of steel plus 125 tonnes of friction material per year for re-use.

    On-Site Assistance: Targeted assistance will be provided to ISI participants at key stages of the project, equivalent to two days per company.

    Further information on the Industry Sustainability Initiative may be obtained through the Advanced Manufacturing Centre:
    ISI Project Coordinator
    Advanced Manufacturing Centre
    Phone 02 9209 4209
    Fax 02 9209 4470

 
Projects