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The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems (1994)

Chapter: Front matter

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
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THE GREENINIG OF INDUSTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS

BRADEN R. ALLENBY and DEANNA J. RICHARDS, Editors

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1994

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
×

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20418

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievement of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

This volume has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a National Academy of Engineering report review process. The interpretations and conclusions expressed in the symposium papers are those of the authors and are not presented as the views of the council, officers, or staff of the National Academy of Engineering.

Funding for the activity that led to this publication was provided by the W. M. Keck Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Academy of Engineering Technology Agenda Program.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The greening of industrial ecosystems / Braden R. Allenby and Deanna J. Richards, editors.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-309-04937-7

1. Environmental sciences. 2. Factory and trade waste. 3. Environmental policy. 4. Conservation of natural resources. I. Allenby, Braden R. II. Richards, Deanna J.

GE105.G74 1994 93-46753

363.73'1—dc20 CIP

Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Cover art: Spinozza, mixed media on paper, courtesy of the artist, Karen Vogel, Washington, D.C.

This book is printed on recycled paper.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
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Steering Committee Members

ROBERT A. FROSCH, Senior Research Fellow,

John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and

Senior Fellow,

National Academy of Engineering

ERNEST L. DAMAN, Chairman Emeritus,

Foster Wheeler Development Corporation

SHELDON K. FRIEDLANDER, Parsons Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Director,

Air Quality/Aerosol Technology Laboratory, University of California at Los Angeles

HENRY R. LINDEN, Max McGraw Professor of Energy and Power Engineering and Management,

Illinois Institute of Technology

WILLIS S. WHITE, JR., Retired Chairman,

American Electric Power Company, Inc.

Staff

DEANNA J. RICHARDS, Project Director

BRADEN R. ALLENBY, J. Herbert Hollomon Fellow (January-December 1992)

MARION R. ROBERTS, Senior Program Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
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Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
×

Preface

Industrial ecology is the study of the flows of materials and energy in industrial and consumer activities, of the effects of these flows on the environment, and of the influences of economic, political, regulatory, and social factors on the flow, use, and transformation of resources. The objective of industrial ecology is to understand better how we can integrate environmental concerns into our economic activities. This integration, an ongoing process, is necessary if we are to address current and future environmental concerns.

We have made great progress in the last two decades in targeting specific sources of pollutants and controlling them at the ends of pipes, the tops of smokestacks, and in landfills. In the 1990s, however, many of our concerns are on sweeping regional and global issues such as acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion, global climate change, and dispersion of heavy metals throughout the biosphere. These new concerns and the approaches to addressing them require improved understanding of the environmental effects of industrial use and transformation of materials and energy, including consumer use and disposal of products. It also requires a better appreciation of the factors that influence such use, transformation, and disposal. This understanding can inform efforts to minimize environmental degradation.

At the most general level, the reshaping of industrial systems for environmental and economic success is based on efficient use of materials and energy, substitution of more abundant and environmentally preferable materials for those that are rare or environmentally problematic, reuse and recycling of products and materials, and control of waste and emissions. More derailed examination of the integration of environmental concerns into economic decision making raises a plethora of questions, beginning with the one that opens the overview of this book: "Paper or plastic?" This leads to more general questions: How do we assess the environmental preferability of one material over another? What improvements do we need in the design and management of materials or products? How can we

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
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integrate new environmental design and engineering concepts into industry practices and into engineering and management education? How can we overcome the failure to adopt existing technologies and methodologies that represent improvements over prevailing industrial practices? To what extent is that failure a result of competing priorities in management and marketing, or of conflicting economic incentives? How do we move to market-based initiatives for internalizing environmental costs when that generally implies increasing prices on less environmentally desirable materials, products, or practices?

This volume is a product of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) continuing program on Technology and Environment. It examines the greening of industrial systems through the lens of industrial ecology. It examines promising approaches to environmentally conscious design and manufacturing, as well as education and research needs. It promotes greater recognition of environmental dimensions in formulating technology policies and management strategies in both the public and the private sectors.

The case studies of emerging business practices described in this volume suggest fundamental management strategies of corporate environmental stewardship. These are in keeping with world-class manufacturing practices such as commitment of senior management to change, the setting of goals and priorities, using cross-function teams, baselining, forming partnerships with stakeholders, and managing the supplier chain. Arich set of examples and concepts on the subject of industrial ecology and environmentally conscious design is presented in this publication.

This book is the result of a two-year effort, based on a workshop held at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in July 1992. The workshop and planning effort were chaired by Robert Frosch. The concept for this activity may be traced to a proposal developed by Bruce Guile and Deanna Richards. In addition to these individuals, special thanks go to Braden Allenby, the NAE's second J. Herbert Hollomon Fellow, who organized the workshop, provided valuable ideas and contributions to the project, and in general helped further the NAE's effort in this area of industrial ecology. We are indebted to the workshop steering committee members (whose names appear on p. iii), to the authors for their excellent chapters, to an editorial team consisting of Braden Allenby, Deanna Richards, Dale Langford, Bette Janson, and Marion Roberts, and to Bruce Guile, director of the NAE Program Office, for his advice and assistance on the project and publication.

Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to the W. M. Keck Foundation for its generous support of this project and to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for supporting related elements of the NAE's program on Technology and Environment.

Robert M. White

President

National Academy of Engineering

Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
×

Contents

 

 

The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems: Overview and Perspective
Deanna J. Richards, Braden R. Allenby, and Robert A. Frosch

 

1

UNDERSTANDING INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY AND ITS CONTEXT

 

 

 

 

Industrial Metabolism: Theory and Policy
Robert U. Ayres

 

23

 

 

Energy and Industrial Ecology
Henry R. Linden

 

38

 

 

Input-Output Analysis and Industrial Ecology
Faye Duchin

 

61

 

 

Wastes as Raw Materials
David T. Allen and Nasrin Behmanesh

 

69

 

 

Economies and Sustainable Development
Pierre Crosson and Michael A. Toman

 

90

 

 

From Voluntary to Regulatory Pollution Prevention
Frederick R. Anderson

 

98

 

 

International Environmental Law and Industrial Ecology
Robert E Housman

 

108

 

 

Industrial Ecology: The Role of Government
Matthew Weinberg, Gregory Eyring, Joe Raguso, and David Jensen

 

123

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Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
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Suggested Citation:"Front matter." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. The Greening of Industrial Ecosystems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2129.
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THE GREENINIG OF INDUSTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS

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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.

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