Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
Recognizing that industrial ecology itself is a part of a broader framework
makes it easier to understand this still nascent field of study. One of the ear-
lier definitions can be found in the first textbook on industrial ecology:
Industrial ecology is the means by which humanity can deliberately and rationally
approach and maintain a desirable carrying capacity, given continued economic,
cultural, and technological evolution.The concept requires that an industrial system
be viewed not in isolation from its surrounding systems, but in concert with them.
It is a systems view in which one seeks to optimize the total materials cycle from
virgin material, to finished material, to component, to product, to obsolete prod-
uct, and to ultimate disposal. Factors to be optimized include resources, energy, and
capital.
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The words “deliberately” and “rationally” make an important point about the
motivation for studying industrial ecology: the desire to develop the tech-
nological and scientific basis for a considered path toward global sustain-
ability, in contrast to unplanned, precipitous, and potentially quite costly and
disastrous alternatives. “Desirable” indicates that, in view of the potential for
different technologies, cultures, and forms of economic organization, a num-
ber of sustainable states are possible; it thus becomes an ethical imperative to
choose among them, and to then act so as to approach the desired state.
The electronics industry, especially in the United States, has been a leader
in developing industrial ecology and exploring its implementation through
Design for Environment (DFE) practices. Accordingly, it is instructive to
quote the definition provided in the White Paper on Sustainable Develop-
ment and Industrial Ecology issued by the Institute of Electrical and Elec-
tronic Engineers:
Industrial ecology is the objective, multi-disciplinary study of industrial and eco-
nomic systems and their linkages with fundamental natural systems. It incorporates,
among other things, research involving energy supply and use, new materials, new
technologies and technological systems, basic sciences, economics, law, manage-
ment, and social sciences. Although still in the development stage, it provides the
theoretical scientific basis upon which understanding, and reasoned improvement,
of current practices can be based. Oversimplifying somewhat, it can be thought of
as “the science of sustainability.” It is important to emphasize that industrial ecol-
ogy is an objective field of study based on existing scientific and technological dis-
ciplines, not a form of industrial policy or planning system.
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