Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW
Access to Technology and Know-how on Cleaner Production
ACTCLEAN is a project running from 2009 to 2011 within the context of the European Territorial Cooperation (formerly INTERREG) within the European Union. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in eight EU member countries are to be introduced to the advantages of the increased use of environmentally friendly production processes (cleaner production). Central to this are energy and material efficiency, compliance with legal obligations, increasing environmental awareness and improving companies’ chances against international competition.
Based on an investigation of the current situation regarding the use of environmentally efficient processes in SMEs within the countries involved (Germany, Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy), the most significant barriers and incentives that influence this use on a political and administrative level are being identified. The data from the individual countries is being used, step by step, to create an overall picture for Central Europe, the region covered by the scheme.
The Leipzig Fraunhofer Center is supporting the German project partner, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), in editing and evaluating the project findings, in communicating with the project partners and in the cross-border utilization of the data. The leading partner of the project is the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA).
Alongside SMEs as the intended beneficiaries of the project, ACTCLEAN is simultaneously targeting planners and decision-makers in politics and administration in an advisory capacity. Strategic recommendations in the form of a transnational strategy are being developed for them regarding how basic conditions for the introduction of environmentally friendly production methods in SMEs can be further improved.