United Nations University to hold Press Breafing on its Zero Emissions Research Initiative
The United Nations University (UNU) will hold a press briefing on its Zero Emissions Research Initiative (UNU/ZERI) on Friday, 11 July 1997, from 15.30-17.30 hours in the B1 Conference Room located at the UNU Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS).UNU/ZERI is part of the UNU/IAS programme on eco-restructuring for sustainable development. The three-year-old project aims to invent waste-free manufacturing processes. When industries are clustered, the waste from one can become the input for another. UNU/ZERI represents a new standard for industry where industries maximize the use of available materials, eliminating all emissions into air, water and soil.
The press briefing on 11 July will highlight the political, academic, business, and technological breakthroughs that the project has had over the past three years. Case studies will also be presented to demonstrate how UNU/ZERI's waste-free production processes work, including:
- how increased productivity at a fish farm in Fiji raised the output of fish from 3 to 15 tons per year;
- how a new plywood was produced in Malaysia from oil-extracted palm tree waste;
- how waste is being recovered from the industrial breweries along Namibia's coast;
- how five African countries are able to reuse water hyacinth by clustering industries; and
- how reforestation, resin production and the provision of clean drinking water in Colombia can all be integrated into one regional development plan based on zero emissions.
The project's three-year future development plan-including information on UNU's "Third World Congress on Zero Emissions," to be held in Jakarta from 31 July-2 August 1997-will be distributed at the briefing.
Professor Tarcisio Della Senta, Director of UNU/IAS, will chair the event. Mr. Gunter Pauli, Coordinator of UNU/ZERI, will provide detailed information on the project and answer questions. And Professor Motoyuki Suzuki, Director-General of the University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science, will briefly discuss the status of 52 Japan-based zero emissions projects.
Media representatives are cordially invited to attend the briefing.
More information on UNU/ZERI can be obtained by accessing http://www.ias.unu.edu . For additional information about the press briefing, please contact the UNU Public Affairs Section:
Tel.: (03) 5467-1243, -1246
Fax: (03) 3406-7346
