IT’S hard to imagine now, but four years ago “sustainability” was hardly a buzzword the general public would have associated with the mining industry.

Now, thanks to the efforts of people like Stevan Green – CEO of the Co-operative Research Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CSRP) set up in 2003 – the push towards sustainability is, well, sustained.

“I guess it’s an emerging trend… if it’s been on the fringe for a while, then it’s certainly a lot more mainstream now,” says Mr Green, a born local who thinks global.

Mr Green says several major reports such as the Stern Report and reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have prompted resources companies to bring their discussions about reducing their ecological footprint into the public arena.

Even so, he admits to being amazed and very pleased at the Minerals Council of Australia Minerals Week Conference earlier this year, when the mining giants stood up and announced their commitment to sustainable production.

“I could have not have imagined listening to it in that sort of forum four years ago,” Mr Green says.

“Climate change has been debated for some time and most of the resource companies have had policies on it for a number of years; I think the main change is that people now feel able to have a public discussion without being branded too far on the fringe.

It’s a noble cause, but is it workable? Mr Green says yes, and without a commitment to sustainable development businesses will increasingly put their social license to operate at risk.

“The response to sustainability issues is not an easy one and also requires much longer term thinking,” he says.

“A lot of it just comes down to good business practice. Whichever commodity you look at – whether it be oil and gas or minerals or petrochemicals or whatever – the growth in those industries just continues to be exponential.

“If you look at what that means, the amount of minerals that’s going to be extracted from the earth over the next 20 years is more than has been extracted in the course of human history.

“Intuitively, a number of people are suggesting that we can’t keep going on like that – there must be a limit.”

The aim, Mr Green says, is to think outside the box to find ways to minimise energy and water consumption while ensuring a steady supply of commodities – no easy task.

“One limit is if we’re going to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050 – well, if you look at world demand for resources up to 2050, that growth in demand will require a similar growth in demand for the inputs, energy and water,” he says.

“There are a number of approaches to take; one is to try to limit demand. That’s perhaps possible in the first world, but in the third world that’s not possible.

“The other approach, which is the one we’re looking at, is to look at supply and demand and what will it take; how can you deliver more materials with fewer inputs and a smaller ecological footprint?”

The CRSP has innovative projects where good ideas have real potential to turn into positive outcomes for industry, primarily working with ores in minerals and metal production.

“If you apply sustainable development thinking at the early design stage of a project, then for example, you might eliminate current waste streams or find an efficient use for it so it becomes a beneficial by-product,” Mr Green says.

A product which has exciting potential is “re-sand”, which is sand that’s been recovered and re-used.

“Rather than mining or digging one hole to extract minerals and then digging another hole to extract sand, you can dig just one hole and extract both in the one operation,” Mr Green explains.

“In addition… we’re doing work to see if we can use mallee wood in place of coal in steel production.

“Mallee is a renewable resource and a new crop for farmers, which also has the benefit of helping the salt affected land; these things go beyond the boundary of a single industry.”

The centre is also in the throes of developing training courses to assist businesses to incorporate sustainable development into normal working practices.

“We’re getting a lot of interest from companies outside the mineral industry which have the same sorts of issues; there’s a business practice management technique which incorporates sustainable development thinking that can be applied to a number of different sectors,” Mr Green says.

“It’s now accepted by everyone that safety is an issue and we all play a part in it… that’s where we’d like to move sustainability to and it’s a good thing to be part of.”

For more information about the CSRP visit their website at www.csrp.com.au.