Taking Stock Of Industrial Ecology

How can we design more sustainable industrial and urban systems that reduce environmental impacts while supporting a high quality of life for everyone? What progress has been made towards reducing resource use and waste, and what are the prospects for more resilient, material-efficient economies? What are the environmental and social impacts of global supply chains and how can they be measured and improved? Such questions are at the heart of the emerging discipline of industrial ecology, covered in Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology. Leading authors, researchers and practitioners review how far industrial ecology has developed and current issues and concerns, with illustrations of what the industrial ecology paradigm has achieved in public policy, corporate strategy and industrial practice. It provides an introduction for students coming to industrial ecology and for professionals who wish to understand what industrial ecology can offer, a reference for researchers and practitioners and a source of case studies for teachers.

This updated and revised edition outlines strategies and models for how to use technology and knowledge to improve performance, create jobs and increase income. It shows what skills will be required to produce, sell and manage performance over time, and how manual jobs can contribute to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources.

'The editors of this handbook have brought together 58 of the world's greatest environmental systems experts. These professionals have, in 46 specific topic headings, divided into six major sections, provided very insightful information and guidance as to what industrial ecology entails, how it can be implemented, and its benefits . . . a very valuable tool . . . This book provides essential information to mid- and top-level management that can enable industry to make more prudent business decisions regarding the manufacturing of its products.' - Robert John Klancko, Environmental Practice Industrial ecology is coming of age and this superb book brings together leading scholars to present a state-of-the-art overviews of the subject.

This book marks an important contribution by Matthias Ruth and Brynhildur Davidsdottir to the developing literature that seeks to integrate our understanding of physical and environmental systems, the built human environment, economics, and complexity. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in industrial ecology, material flow assessment, and the state of the world generally. Braden R. Allenby, Arizona State University, US This volume offers the state-of-the-art in dynamic modeling of the functioning of firms in industrial ecosystems. The systematic connection between insights from engineering, ecological, behavioral and organization theories makes the insights policy-relevant. The authors combine an impressive knowledge of innovative concepts and modeling techniques with data on real-world industrial ecosystems. Jeroen van den Bergh, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Industrial ecology provides a consistent material and energetic description of human production and consumption processes in the larger context of environmental and socioeconomic change. The contributors to this book offer methodologies for such descriptions, focusing on the dynamics associated with stocks of materials and capital, flows of raw materials, intermediate products, desired outputs and wastes, as well as the associated changes in behaviors of producers, consumers and institutions. The book begins by presenting analogies and analytical concepts pertinent to understanding the dynamics of industrial ecosystems, and offers a reflection on the use of those analogies and concepts, their limitations and potential extensions. Part II focuses on stocks and flows dynamics at the firm and industry level. Part III turns to the use of agent-based modeling and organization behavior theory to better understand and represent the dynamics within firms and the larger institutional environment within which they choose to use materials, energy and technology. Connections are made throughout between those dynamics and the associated changes in environmental quality. The concluding chapter addresses how to change a firm s environmental performance from within. Researchers and students in the fields of industrial ecology; resource and environmental economics; ecological economics; environmental, energy, and climate change policy; environmental engineering; and energy economics will find this comprehensive volume highly informative.

In contrast to the linear "take-make-dispose" model of resource consumption, a new industrial model is proposed in the form of a circular economy. This model aims to optimize the use of resources and to reduce or eliminate waste, and is based on re-use, repair, ecodesign, industrial ecology, sustainable supply and responsible consumption. Industrial ecology and short supply chains can contribute – particularly on a territorial scale – to the emergence of a real sustainable development. This book develops these concepts and presents experiments that are taking place in France and other countries, in addition to an integrated model which details the mechanisms through which industrial ecology and short supply chains can generate economic, social and environmental profits. The possible issues and obstacles facing these new practices are also analyzed, in order to develop the outline of an adapted management and governance which will enable them to be fully realized.

Examines strategic options for reducing wastes and pollution, and increasing the productivity of materials using an industrial ecology perspective. The volume analyzes 13 generic cases, beginning with four families of metals (aluminium, chromium, copper and zinc), several families of chemicals (phosphates and flourine; sulfur-based, nitrogen-based and chlorine-based), silicon and several different types of waste. The book also discusses opportunities for creating industrial ecosystems by deliberate design which, using new processes in some instances, would facilitate the use of low value by-products as feed stocks for useful products. Apart from surveying the technological possibilities, the book also considers the public interest, institutional barriers and the range of possible alternatives that might be applicable.

In the 1970s, the first wave of environmental regulation targeted specific sources of pollutants. In the 1990s, concern is focused not on the ends of pipes or the tops of smokestacks but on sweeping regional and global issues. This landmark volume explores the new industrial ecology, an emerging framework for making environmental factors an integral part of economic and business decision making. Experts on this new frontier explore concepts and applications, including: Bringing international law up to par with many national laws to encourage industrial ecology principles. Integrating environmental costs into accounting systems. Understanding design for environment, industrial "metabolism," and sustainable development and how these concepts will affect the behavior of industrial and service firms. The volume looks at negative and positive aspects of technology and addresses treatment of waste as a raw material. This volume will be important to domestic and international policymakers, leaders in business and industry, environmental specialists, and engineers and designers.

This book opens up a critical dimension to the interdisciplinary field of Industrial Ecology (IE) and one of its four areas - Industrial Symbiosis (IS). Presenting the concept of closed-loop thinking, this timely book explains how industries and societies can achieve environmental sustainability, a necessity for today’s businesses. Providing a critical review of the definitions and developments of both IE and IS, this study establishes their fundamental role in improving environmental sustainability. The author identifies valuable lessons to be learned and presents conceptual frameworks to guide future IE and IS applications. Transforming industrial systems into closed-loop industrial ecosystems dramatically reduces the negative impact of industrial activities on the environment. Therefore, this book is an important read not only for operations management scholars, but also those who are interested in ensuring an environmentally sustainable future.

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA) that was developed about three decades ago demands a broadening of its scope to include lifecycle costing and social aspects of life cycle assessment as well, drawing on the three-pillar or ‘triple bottom line’ model of sustainability, which is the result of the development of the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). LCSA refers to the evaluation of all environmental, social and economic negative impacts and benefits in decision-making processes towards more sustainable products throughout their life cycle. Combination of environmental and social life cycle assessments along with life cycle costing leads to life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This book highlights various aspects of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA).

Studies that integrate scientific, technological, and economic dimensions of industrial ecology and material flows. The use of economic modeling techniques in industrial ecology research provides distinct advantages over the customary approach, which focuses on the physical description of material flows. The thirteen chapters of Economics of Industrial Ecology integrate the natural science and technological dimensions of industrial ecology with a rigorous economic approach and by doing so contribute to the advancement of this emerging field. Using a variety of modeling techniques (including econometric, partial and general equilibrium, and input-output models) and applying them to a wide range of materials, economic sectors, and countries, these studies analyze the driving forces behind material flows and structural changes in order to offer guidance for economically and socially feasible policy solutions. After a survey of concepts and relevant research that provides a useful background for the chapters that follow, the book presents historical analyses of structural change from statistical and decomposition approaches; a range of models that predict structural change on the national and regional scale under different policy scenarios; two models that can be used to analyze waste management and recycling operations; and, adopting the perspective of local scale, an analysis of the dynamics of eco-industrial parks in Denmark and the Netherlands. The book concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of an economic approach to industrial ecology.